The birth of the ‘de-Americanized’ world
By Pepe Escobar – The Roving Eye – Asia Times

This is it. China has had enough. The (diplomatic) gloves are off. It’s time to build a “de-Americanized” world. It’s time for a “new international reserve currency” to replace the US dollar.

It’s all here, in a Xinhua editorial, straight from the dragon’s mouth. And the year is only 2013. Fasten your seat belts – and that applies especially to the Washington elites. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Long gone are the Deng Xiaoping days of “keeping a low profile”. The Xinhua editorial summarizes the straw that broke the dragon’s back – the current US shutdown. After the Wall Street-provoked financial crisis, after the war on Iraq, a “befuddled world”, and not only China, wants change.

This paragraph couldn’t be more graphic:

Instead of honoring its duties as a responsible leading power, a self-serving Washington has abused its superpower status and introduced even more chaos into the world by shifting financial risks overseas, instigating regional tensions amid territorial disputes, and fighting unwarranted wars under the cover of outright lies.

The solution, for Beijing, is to “de-Americanize” the current geopolitical equation – starting with more say in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for emerging economies and the developing world, leading to a “new international reserve currency that is to be created to replace the dominant US dollar”.

Note that Beijing is not advocating completely smashing the Bretton Woods system – at least for now, but it is for having more deciding power. Sounds reasonable, considering that China holds slightly more weight inside the IMF than Italy. IMF “reform” – sort of – has been going on since 2010, but Washington, unsurprisingly, has vetoed anything substantial.

As for the move away from the US dollar, it’s also already on, in varying degrees of speed, especially concerning trade amongst the BRICS group of emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which is now overwhelmingly in their respective currencies. The US dollar is slowly but surely being replaced by a basket of currencies.

“De-Americanization” is also already on. Take last week’s Chinese trade charm offensive across Southeast Asia, which is incisively leaning towards even more action with their top commercial partner, China. Chinese President Xi Jinping clinched an array of deals with Indonesia, Malaysia and also Australia, only a few weeks after clinching another array of deals with the Central Asian “stans”.

Chinese commitment to improve the Iron Silk Road reached fever pitch, with shares of Chinese rail companies going through the roof amid the prospect of a high-speed rail link with and through Thailand actually materializing. In Vietnam, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sealed an understanding that two country’s territorial quarrels in the South China Sea would not interfere with even more business. Take that, “pivoting” to Asia. …more

South Korea is Playing a Deadly Game By Fueling Bahrain’s Violent Crackdown
By John Horne and Ahmed Ali – 16 October, 2013

An unlikely, unexpected, and dangerous trade has formed between South Korea and Bahrain. South Korea has been exporting loads of teargas to Bahrain, turning a blind eye to the deadly harm that it is causing in the government’s efforts to crack down on protesters.

The Bahrain government has engaged in a relentless crackdown since February 2011 against a population calling for democracy, human rights, and socio-economic justice. Western governments, with strategic and commercial interests in the Kingdom, have continually turned a blind eye to ongoing torture, extrajudicial killing, suppression of free expression, and arbitrary persecutions. However, while policing equipment manufactured by U.S. and UK companies was documented in Bahrain in 2011, the scale of the violations has made further exports of purported “crowd-control” weapons unpalatable by those countries.

Accordingly, Bahrain has been turning further afield for assistance. One such country is South Korea, a G20 member and staunch Western ally, whose companies have found a ready market in Bahrain for teargas and other repressive equipment. The two states have formed closer commercial and security ties since the start of the 2011 uprising, despite Bahrain’s appalling human rights record since then.

On New Year’s Eve 2011, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed. Sayed Hashem was struck in the face with a teargas canister fired by Bahraini security forces during a peaceful anti-government protest. The graphic pictures of his body, like those of another child, Ali Jawad, show clear and visible marks of the canister wound. As Hashem lay in his own blood, a group of bystanders attempted to resuscitate him. They were subsequently shot at with teargas. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights reports that when the women at the scene accused the security forces of killing the young boy, they were told, “Shut up and don’t you dare speak of this.”

The canister that killed Hashem is visually identical to those manufactured by South Korean firm DaeKwang Industry Company Ltd and sold by Korean company C.N.O. Tech Ltd. DaeKwang has historically denied exporting to Bahrain, although it lists the country in its “global network” map. Another South Korean company, C.N.O. Tech, exports DaeKwang products and has a local reseller in Bahrain.

Over 100 people have been killed as a consequence of the government’s crackdown on protesters. Over 30% of the deaths caused by security forces have been as a result of teargas which is usually fired at protesters in massive quantities over residential areas as a form of collective punishment. At least four of those killed were shot directly with teargas canisters. Most recently, 20-year-old Mahmood Al Jaziri was filmed being shot in the head intentionally by security forces. He died a few days later on Feb. 22. An 8-year-old boy also lost his life in January after exposure to large amounts of teargas fired into his village. His funeral procession, like those of others killed by Bahrain’s police, was also targeted with teargas. This is one of the many, reckless, ways that security forces enact petty repression in the form of systematic reprisals against those deemed in opposition to the government and ruling family. …more

NYT decontextualizes (ethnically-cleansed) Jaffa in hipster fashion piece
Philip Weiss – October 16, 2013 – Mondoweiss

Jaffa was once the pride of Palestinian culture, the bride of the sea. Then it was ethnically cleansed in 1948, by Zionist terrorist militias. A lot of the folks who lived there are in Gaza. You’d never know any of this from watching this new video of hipsters in Jaffa, on the NYT website, “Free Style in Tel Aviv.” …more

Study: Half a million Iraqis died from war-related causes since US invasion
16 October, 2013 – Al Akhbar

Nearly half a million people have died from war-related causes in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, according to an academic study published in the United States on Tuesday.

That toll is far higher than the nearly 115,000 violent civilian deaths reported by the British-based group Iraq Body Count, which bases its tally on media reports, hospital and morgue records, and official and non-governmental accounts.

The latest estimate by university researchers in the United States, Canada and Baghdad in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Health covers not only violent deaths but other avoidable deaths linked to the invasion, insurgencies and subsequent social breakdown.

It also differs from some previous counts by spanning a longer period of time and by using randomized surveys of households across Iraq to project a nationwide death toll from 2003 to mid 2011.

Violence caused most of the deaths, but about a third were indirectly linked to the war, and these deaths have been left out of previous counts, said lead author Amy Hagopian, a public health researcher at the University of Washington.

Those included situations when a pregnant woman encountered difficult labor but could not leave the house due to fighting, or when a person drank contaminated water, or when a patient could not get treated at a hospital because staff was overwhelmed with war casualties.

“These are all indirect deaths, and they are significant,” Hagopian told AFP.

The aim of the study was to provide a truer picture of the suffering caused by war, and hopefully to make governments think twice about the harm that would come from an invasion, she said.

“I think it is important that people understand the consequences of launching wars on public health, on how people live. This country is forever changed.”

The research team from the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University, Simon Fraser University and Mustansiriya University conducted the work on a volunteer basis using pooled internal resources instead of seeking outside funds.

Their tally was compiled by asking adults living in 2,000 randomly selected households in 100 geographic clusters across Iraq if family members had died, when and why.

Researchers used the survey data, which was completed by 1,960 of those chosen, to calculate the death rate before the war and after. When multiplied by the whole population, they returned a number that represented “excess deaths.”

Researchers estimated there were 405,000 excess Iraqi deaths attributable to the war through mid-2011.

They also attempted to account for deaths missed because families had fled the country, and estimated 55,805 total deaths, bringing the total to nearly 461,000. …more

UK demands Bahrain commitment to human rights
16 October, 2013 – PressTV

British Foreign Office Minister for Middle East Affairs Hugh Robertson has called on the al-Khalifa regime in Bahrain to fulfil their obligations concerning human rights.

Robertson, who took the position on October 7, also said Britain will seriously follow all cases of human rights abuse in Bahrain, including mistreatment of detainees.

The comment came after the death of Bahraini Shia activist Yousef Al-Nashmi who died on Friday due to what the Bahraini non-governmental organization Bahrain Center for Human Rights said was denial of medical treatment and torture.

“The BCHR is gravely concerned that Al-Nashmi, like Mohammed Mushaima, is the victim torture and denial of adequate medical care causing death. Prisoners in Bahrain are systematically denied adequate medical care,” the organization said.

“The continuation of the current violations against all prisoners in Bahrain may lead to future loss of lives,” it added.

Bahrain has recently faced scathing criticism internationally for its treatment of pro-democracy protesters and prisoners.

During the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva back in September, 47 governments issued a joint statement on the matter which accompanied a damning resolution by the European Parliament and a public reproach from the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, the British ambassador in Geneva said at the time that the Bahraini government had misrepresented a private meeting he held with the Bahraini minister for human rights by claiming London backs the al-Khalifa’s human rights record. …source

Saudi Arabia, UAE seek $10.8 billion in U.S. weapons
16 October, 2013 – USA Today

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates say they are seeking $10.8 billion in advanced U.S.-made missiles and other weapons as part of bids by Western-allied Gulf states to stay ahead of claimed military strides by rival Iran.

Gulf nations regularly spend billions of dollars on U.S. military equipment and upgrades amid lingering regional tensions with Iran, which often conducts major military exercises and claims to have made advances in drone technology and other areas.

Notifications posted late Tuesday on a Pentagon website say Saudi Arabia is seeking to purchase $6.8 billion in missiles, bombs, launch systems and other ordnance. The UAE is seeking approval for a similar ordered estimated at $4 billion.

…source

Sarah Brown: “A girl with an education is the most terrifying force in the world”
By Milana Knezevic – Xindex – 16 October, 2013

World leaders need to deliver on their pledges to institute universal primary education — especially for girls — if the world wants to empower the next generation, campaigner Sarah Brown said in a speech at the launch of the autumn issue of Index on Censorship magazine on Tuesday.

“The women who lead, read,” Brown said. “A girl with an education is the most terrifying force in the world.”

The campaigner argued passionately for education being a key, vital factor in advancement of women and girls around the world. Brown cited statistics that underlined her point: Educated girls grow into women who are more likely to educate their own children, have them vaccinated and have jobs that support a better financial life for their families.

“Why is the most terrifying thing for the Taliban a girl with a book?” she asked when talking about the role of Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who was targeted for campaigning for girls’ education. Brown is co-founder of A World At School, the campaigning education organisation that helped convene Malala Day at the United Nations this summer.

Speaking at the Lilian Baylis Technology School in London, where she also met with students, Brown followed up the speech with a question and answer session, chaired by Helen Lewis, deputy editor of New Statesman magazine.

“I don’t understand why there is so much anger at women who speak out,” Brown said when Lewis asked about Twitter trolls.

Referencing the vicious Twitter attacks on Caroline Criado-Perez, she remarked: “It’s clear that the public square does not offer a safe space for Britain’s women.”

But she also spoke on the positive sides of online speech, saying Twitter can be a “space to describe yourself as you want to be described.”

Brown conceded there is still a lot of work to be done to reach universal education. With two years left to reach the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education, millions of children around the world still don’t have access to it.

Brown said it was appropriate for her to speak at the launch of the latest issue of Index on Censorship magazine, which includes a special report on ignored, suppressed and censored voices. …source

Indications of a ‘grand bargain’ between Washington and Tehran make it imperative for Gulf states to stand together economically, militarily and politically

Is the US plotting regional mayhem?
By Khalaf Al Habtoor – Gulf News – 14 October, 2013

Something’s cooking in the White House and the smell drifting towards Saudi Arabia, the other Gulf states and Egypt is far from pleasant. America is one of our closest western allies, or so we’re meant to believe. Recent disclosures suggest otherwise. The Obama administration’s policy vis-a-vis the Middle East and the Gulf lacks transparency and is marked by contradiction and confusion — perhaps deliberately so. This column aims at giving you a clearer picture.

One of my biggest fears may be close to realisation. For years, I’ve been warning about a future unholy alliance between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran to the detriment of Gulf Cooperation Council states in numerous articles. Under the title ‘Are Sunnis victims of a new Great Game’, published in April 2012, I wrote: “There is a credible school of thought that Washington’s long-term agenda revolves around luring Iran into its camp on the premise that Arab Shiites would follow … In theory, Washington would like to appoint a powerful entity like Iran as its proxy regional caretaker just as the Shah was until he suffered delusions of grandeur. But, first of all, it would be obliged to throw predominantly Sunni states under a bus.”

A year ago, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was still spouting his unhinged rants, some readers may have found the above analysis hard to believe, even though a US rapprochement with Iran has long been promoted by various US think-tanks as well as prominent American writers, analysts and politicians, including John Kerry. You’ll recall that President Barack Obama pledged to reach out to Iranians during his first term, saying the US wanted to end the strained relationship. That approach failed, mostly because a US president can’t engage in photo-ops with a Holocaust denier without locking horns with the pro-Israel lobby.

Then along comes Hassan Rouhani who worked his treacle-coated magic when, hey presto, he makes history as the first Iranian leader to have a phone conversation with a US president since 1979. Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice says normalisation of US-Iranian relations could ensue. King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia is not amused while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is practically foaming at the mouth calling Rouhani a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Not only is Obama alienating his traditional allies with his bearded new best friend, he has astounded Egyptians by showing support for the Muslim Brotherhood and condemning the interim government for arresting its leaders. There is a belief among Egyptians that the US president funded the Brotherhood’s campaign prior to last year’s elections in connection with some kind of deal. Conspiracy theory! I thought so until I read an article in the World Tribune some days ago quoting former US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Hugh Shelton, who revealed to Fox News that the Obama administration had been working towards destabilising Egypt and Bahrain for the last two years. …more