Bad Bombing Causing Fallout for Favored Fräulein
watch on iPhone/iPod TouchSynopsis: September is turning into a seriously sloppy surprise for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. After German forces in NATO were to blame for a bloody civilian bombing accident, Merkel and her country have been berated and badgered by fellow NATO allies….but that’s just the tip of the weinerschnitzel for Merkel. This misplaced mortar may be responsible for her losing a re-election bid, as her political opponents try to rally a overwhelmingly anti-war German public to vote to end Germany’s participation in the NATO Afghan campaign. The Avenger describes this situation, and why this election has repercussions for the US, for NATO, for Afghanistan, and the world.
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Mrs. Merkel's War
The Left party trumps with anti-war card in election campaign
In Afghanistan, Germany is the Weakest Link
Germany’s Merkel under siege after Afghanistan airstrike
German election: Left tries to make war a decisive campaign issue
Keywords: Angela Merkel, Germany, NATO, Afghanistan, US, EU-3
China’s Wang in a Pinch
watch on iPhone/iPod TouchSynopsis: The Plaid Avenger travels deep into central Asia to report on on the on-going ethnic violence plaguing the Xinjiang Autonomous Province in northwestern China. He explains how and why this Han/Uyghur friction has accelerated in the last few decades, how ti is manifesting itself today in these bizarre needle attacks reported widely in the news, and the greater repercussions they hold for the central Chinese leadership as they ponder what to do about their Wang.
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Chinese syringe attackers jailed
44 more Urumqi riot arrest warrants issued
All Eyes on Regional Official After Latest Unrest in W. China
China blames ethnic separatists for needle attacks
Keywords: China, Xinjiang, Urumqi, Han, Uyghur, Hu Jintao, Wang Lequan, "Tetanus Terrorists"
Chaos in Kandahar, Afghanistan Afire!
watch on iPhone/iPod TouchSynopsis: While most of the world sits idly by, the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan is quickly going to hell in a hand-basket. Despite US President Barack Obama sending an additional 17,000 US troops to stabilize the country (mostly in an effort to have the recent elections go smoothly), the US and its NATO allies are losing ground to the Taliban…badly. This plaidcast covers some of the reasons for the Taliban resurgence, why this effort is not solely a US one, and most importantly why the entire world has a vested interest in the US not losing this fight.
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August deadliest month for US in Afghanistan
Abdullah Abdullah warns survival of Afghanistan is at risk
Fury at Nato's Afghan clinic raid
Afghanistan’s Election Matters as Much for the Country as for the World
Keywords: Afghanistan, Taliban, al-Qaeda, US, NATO, Hamid Karzai, Pakistan, India, Russia, China
Pakistanis Primary Problem: Indecisive Intelligence and Murky Military Motives
Synopsis:
Pakistan has been on the brink of full-on catastrophe and chaos for some time now, and most look to the woes of the struggling democracy as reason for the calamity. However, the Plaid Avenger wants you to consider the indecisive nature of the the military and the intelligence communities within Pakistan as the primary problem behind the current calamity in Afghanistan, in the Swat Valley,and in the entire western side of Pakistan….which taken together may spell the possible future failure of the state itself.
Keywords: Pakistan, al-Queda, Taliban, Swat Valley, Afghanistan
Touting Religion, Grabbing Land
India has 'proof' of Pakistan role in Mumbai attacks
Briton: Extremists in Pakistan a Key Target
Taliban Militants Attack NATO Supply Convoy In Northwest Pakistan
Pakistan Says U.S. Should Review Baluchistan Strikes
Uncle Sam Kicked Out of Kyrgystan
Kyrgyzstan announced that it was closing a major US air base in their country which is a strategic center of the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan. This comes one week after a promise of huge amounts of aid to Kyrgyzstan from the Russians, as well as a joint security venture including these two sates and others. But the Russian motives are more complex than just pissing off the US. This move increases western reliance on Russia's aid and influence to fight the Afghan campaign….thereby having a strategic lever by which to get what is wants out of the US/NATO, namely no more NATO meddling in Ukraine and Georgia, and possibly stopping the development of the proposed NATO missile defense shield in eastern Europe.
In the news:
Analysis: US base falls victim to Kyrgyz crisis
Russia's Silver Bullet for Afghanistan
Kyrgyz vote on US base held up by Russian aid
Kazakhstan helps out US on Afghanistan
