På grund av ökad rysk aktivitet i Östersjön har Försvarsmakten gjort en så kallad beredskapsanpassning där extra förband tillförts Gotland från både armén och marinen.
”Bedömningen är fortfarande att hotbilden är oförändrad och sannolikheten för ett väpnat angrepp på Sverige är låg”, säger Tomas Ängshammar, kommunikationschef vid Försvarsmakten Gotland. Läs artikel
[…] As the United States continued to evacuate thousands of citizens and allies at Kabul’s airport this week, dozens of civilians and soldiers were killed in several Islamist attacks across a vast and dangerous three-border region that straddles Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. It was just another marker in a protracted fight that has killed thousands, displaced 2 million and — like Afghanistan — is considered by some as unwinnable. […]
“If there’s any lesson to draw, it’s that indefinite military solutions aren’t sustainable,” said Bakary Sambe, Senegal-based director of the Timbuktu Institute think tank.
“Sooner or later, there’s got to be an exit,” he said. […]
Macron announced in July France’s Barkhane operation would formally end early next year, with troops shrinking to up to half their current numbers and shifted to other anti-terrorist missions — notably forming backbone of the European Union’s fledgling Takuba force, currently aimed at helping Mali fight terrorism in the Sahel region. […]
Not under French consideration, though, is any dialogue with extremists — an effort controversially tried with the Taliban that is earning support among some Sahel authorities, at least when it comes to homegrown groups.
“The French have considered this a red line,” Guichaoua said. “Because that would mean somewhat that French soldiers died for nothing. But it is on the agenda for Malian authorities.”
Local-level negotiations with jihadi groups have long taken place, he said — to gain access to markets, for example, or get hostages released — but not high-level ones, “and the main reason is France.” Läs artikel
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I hamnarna i S: t Petersburg och Leningradregionen kommer logistikspecialister (MTO) i Western Military District (ZVO), som en del av en särskild övning för att tillhandahålla trupper, att utföra ett antal träningsuppgifter.
I synnerhet i hamnarna i Viborg och Ust-Luga, lastning av vapen och militär utrustning på ett civilt fartygs ägarfartyg med hjälp av en mobilkran på ett pneumatiskt körningsutrustning och en portaljärnvägskran, lastning av en militär nivå på egen hand på färjor, evakuering de skadade med flyg och transport av mer än två tusen ton kommer att övas i hamnarna i Viborg och Ust-Luga. dieselbränsle från järnvägstankar till tankfartyg. Läs artikel
The fall of Kabul to the Taliban on 15 August 2021 is a major political and ideological defeat for the American Empire. The crowded helicopters carrying US Embassy staff to Kabul airport were startlingly reminiscent of the scenes in Saigon – now Ho Chi Minh City – in April 1975.
The speed with which Taliban forces stormed the country was astonishing; their strategic acumen remarkable. A week-long offensive ended triumphantly in Kabul. The 300,000-strong Afghan army crumbled. Many refused to fight. In fact, thousands of them went over to the Taliban, who immediately demanded the unconditional surrender of the puppet government. President Ashraf Ghani, a favourite of the US media, fled the country and sought refuge in Oman.
The flag of the revived Emirate is now fluttering over his Presidential palace. In some respects, the closest analogy is not Saigon but nineteenth-century Sudan, when the forces of the Mahdi swept into Khartoum and martyred General Gordon. William Morris celebrated the Mahdi’s victory as a setback for the British Empire. Yet while the Sudanese insurgents killed an entire garrison, Kabul changed hands with little bloodshed. The Taliban did not even attempt to take the US embassy, let alone target American personnel. Läs artikel
Jag landade i Kabul 2009 när drömmen om ett demokratiskt, marknadsliberalt och modernt Afghanistan nådde sin kulmen.
Intrycken var överväldigande.
Det var byggboom. Kapitalet flödade. Staden som ligger som i botten av en kittel, omgiven av berg, insvept i smog, stod i snabb förvandling. Biståndskontor poppade upp som svampar ur jorden, drogbaroner byggde palatslika residens i den gräsliga stil som fick namnet narkotektur.
I Kabulbubblan minglade det internationella folket med inhemsk elit; på klubben L’Atmosphère, bevakad av kulsprutenästen, flödade alkoholen, i poolen simmade västerländska biståndskvinnor i minimala bikinis medan afghanska tjänsteandar passade upp. Några stenkast därifrån låg myndigheten för religiösa affärer, i flyktinglägren någon stadsdel bort dog småbarn av sjukdom och undernäring. Läs artikel
Rather than focusing on how we got out, it would be far wiser to focus on how we got in.
Under President George W. Bush, the early mission — to defeat al-Qaeda and get Osama bin Laden in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — quickly turned to nation-building. The United States would seek to build a democratic state in an impoverished country with entrenched divisions and cultural, language and religious traditions of which U.S. national security managers and military officials remained utterly ignorant. […]
We also need accountability and truth-telling in Congress. As Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has proposed, it’s time for public hearings to probe the bureaucracy about its pattern of lying, while strengthening the War Powers Act and congressional oversight. Läs artikel
[…] It is easy to forget, given Washington’s unilateral withdrawal without consultation, but this was in fact a Nato war with the heavy participation of European countries. It is Germany’s largest military intervention since the Second World War, with around 150,000 German soldiers deployed there over the past two decades and 12.5 billion Euros of German taxpayer money spent in 20 years of training for an Afghan army that collapsed in just a week. At the war’s end, Germany had the second largest contingent of troops in Afghanistan after the United States.
And yet, despite those 20 years of German commitment and the refugee risks presented by the hasty withdrawal, Germany and other European Nato members were not consulted about when and how to end this war. President Trump unilaterally made his peace deal with the Taliban last year, setting an exit date of May 2021 in contravention of the Nato policy of conditional withdrawal.
President Biden promised to be different than his predecessor and consult with Europeans about their shared war, saying: “We went in together, we’ll go out together.” But in the end, he ran roughshod over concerns expressed by Italy and the UK at the June 2021 Nato summit about the pace of withdrawal, delaying the exit date by just four months. […]
the UK, Germany and eastern Europe. CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet broke some major German taboos on Monday when he called this “the biggest debacle that Nato has suffered since its founding” which must prompt “a no-holds-barred analysis of errors in Germany, with our allies and in the international community”. Former British Prime Minister Theresa May went even further in a speech to the House of Commons on Wednesday, saying: “Surely one outcome of this must be a reassessment of how Nato operates … What what does it say about us as a country, what does it say about Nato, if we are entirely dependent on a unilateral position taken by the US?” Läs artikel
Norwegian F-35 fighter aircraft operated with NATO AWACS and U.S. Air Force and Navy assets in a multi-domain exercise off the Norwegian coast on August 18, 2021.[…]
Norway supported the exercise with F-35 fighter aircraft from 332 Squadron based at Ørland and F-16 fighter aircraft from 331 Squadron based in Bodø. Both Squadrons are under the command of 332 Air wing at Ørland.
”Norway is dependent on this type of exercise and cooperation with Allied forces. Today’s training is a good example of us moving in the right direction and that we are on the right track in utilising F-35 effectively in a multi-domain operation, with Allies, under a significant Anti-Access/Area-Denial or A2AD threat,” says Lieutenant Colonel Ole-Marius Tørrisplass at Norwegian Air Operations Centre, Royal Norwegian Air Force.
United States Air Force in Europe-Air Forces Africa supported the event with personnel from Combat Communications Squadron out of Ramstein Air Base, Support Operations Group personnel from U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, Germany and Air Control Squadron personnel out of Aviano Air Base Italy. USS Arleigh Burke, a U.S. Navy Europe guided missile destroyer and assets from U.S. Space Command contributed to this complex combined training event. Läs artikel
För två år sedan gick regeringen på pumpen i Lagrådet, när man genom en vanlig lag ville straffbelägga ”deltagande” i en terroristorganisation. De höga juristerna i lagrådet ansåg att förslaget var oförenligt med föreningsfriheten i regeringsformen (RF).
Vad betyder det då att en lag eller ett lagförslag är ”oförenligt” med RF, som är en grundlag? Om en grundlag som RF garanterar exempelvis att medborgarna ska ha en viss rättighet eller att det inte får förekomma dödsstraff, så får inte en vanlig lag innehålla något som strider mot det. Ifall riksdagen trots det stiftar en sådan lag, så får domstolarna ändå inte tillämpa den. Det beror på att grundlagen har, som man säger, högre konstitutionell valör än vanlig lag. För att ändra grundlag krävs två riksdagsbeslut med mellanliggande val.
Enligt RF är det redan idag möjligt att genom lag begränsa föreningsfriheten. Men bara ifall det handlar som ”sammanslutningar vilkas verksamhet är av militär eller liknande natur eller innebär förföljelse av en folkgrupp på grund av etniskt ursprung, hudfärg eller annat liknande förhållande”. RF ger således inget stöd för att genom lag förbjuda folk att bilda terroristorganisationer eller att delta i sådana. Läs artikel
Ifølge et nytt lovforslag vil Justis- og beredskapsdepartementet straffe «den som rettsstridig samarbeider med fremmed etterretningstjeneste om å utøve påvirkningsvirksomhet». Med «påvirkningsvirksomhet» mener departementet «virksomhet som fremmed etterretningstjeneste utøver med sikte på å påvirke beslutninger eller den allmenne meningsdannelse».
Departementet erkjenner at det å «påvirke beslutninger» eller «den allmenne meningsdannelse» er i kjernen av ytringsfriheten. Like fullt mener man at dersom ytringene har sitt utgangspunkt i en annen stat som vil forsøke å påvirke beslutninger eller meningsdannelsen i Norge, så vil dette «i alminnelighet være av begrenset samfunnsmessig interesse og kan bidra til å undergrave den offentlige debatten i samfunnet.»
Det er all grunn til skepsis når noen vil innføre straffebestemmelser som bygger på at politiet og PST skal avgjøre hvilke ytringer som har samfunnsmessig interesse. Et annet spørsmål er om man kan gradere ytringsfriheten ut fra hvem det er som ytrer seg. Etter Grunnloven er ytringsfriheten lik for alle.
Det er ikke ytringen i seg selv som skal gjøres straffbar, men påvirkningen. Dette vil etter vår mening være en nærmest umulig oppgave å bevise. Läs artikel
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged the United States to abide by the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, sever military links with Taiwan and stop arms sales to the island.
There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, said spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing on Tuesday, which marks the 39th anniversary of the issuance of the August 17 Communique.
Citing relevant U.S. commitments made in the August 17 Communique concerning arms sales to Taiwan, Hua said the three China-U.S. joint communiques constitute the political foundation of bilateral relations, the essential core of which is the one-China principle, which the U.S. side should strictly follow.
Hua said that, in fact, the United States has conducted ”official” exchanges with Taiwan and sold various kinds of weapons to the island in constant breach of its own promises, to help Taiwan expand the so-called international space. She cited multiple batches of arms sales to Taiwan by U.S. administrations, including a plan recently announced by the Biden administration to sell weaponry to Taiwan worth around 750 million U.S. dollars. Läs artikel
Under 1800-talet låg Afghanistan klämt mellan två expansiva stormakter: Ryssland i norr och brittiska Indien i sydost. Kampen om inflytande i den här delen av Asien – i kolonialistisk anda kallat the Great Game – har kommit att prägla Afghanistan långt in i vår tid.
Indien var det brittiska imperiets pärla och från denna position kände sig Storbritannien hotat av det makthungriga Ryssland. Dess tsarer kom under 1800-talets lopp att lägga en rad khanat och emirat kring Kaspiska havet under sig. I London såg många en ockupation av ”buffertstaten” Afghanistan som lösningen på problemet. I den brittiska pressen beskrevs landets härskare, Dost Muhammed Khan, som oroväckande ryssvänlig och röster höjdes för att han borde ersättas av en mer brittisktrogen regent.
Hertigen av Wellington var skeptisk, men utrikesministern lord Palmerston och generalguvernören i Indien, lord Auckland, blev allt mer entusiastiska, ivrigt påhejade av journalister och allmänhet. Läs artikel