This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com:
- New fighting between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
- Switzerland's Wegelin bank to close after U.S. indictment
- Three scenarios for an accidental South China Sea war
New fighting between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
India is blaming Pakistan for an "unprovoked attack" by Pakistani
forces crossing the Line of Control (LoC) separating the Pakistani and
Indian controlled portions of Kashmir, and killing two Indian soldiers
and wounding a third. The body of one of the dead men was found badly
mutilated and beheaded on the Indian side of the border. This
incident follows by two days the wounding of two Pakistani soldiers in
a firefight at the LoC, as we reported. Kashmir has been mostly peaceful in the last few years,
though there were a number of conflicts at the LoC since the end of
the bloody, genocidal 1947 war between Hindus and Muslims whose
epicenter was Kashmir. However, there are large Pakistani and Indian
armies on their respective sides of the Line of Control, and new
hostilities could break out at any time. Global Post
Switzerland's Wegelin bank to close after U.S. indictment
Wegelin & Co, a private Swiss bank founded in 1741, will close its
doors, after pleading guilty in U.S. district court to violating
American laws by keeping the names of American depositors secret.
The bank had no offices in the United States and was not violating
any Swiss laws, but somehow they were guilty of violating American
laws anyway.
The Obama administration is vigorously investigating and charging
foreign banks that it believes are violating secrecy laws. Banks
under criminal investigation include Credit Suisse, UK-based HSBC
Holdings and three Israeli banks, Hapoalim, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd
and Bank Leumi.
Long-time readers can easily guess what I'm going to say next. The
Obama administration has adamantly refused to investigate and charge
Citibank, Bank of America, and other banks that made big campaign
contributions to Obama, even though it's provable that they committed
massive fraud that created the financial crisis. (See "Financial Crisis Inquiry hearings provide 'smoking gun' evidence of widespread criminal fraud")
Instead, they go after foreign banks that committed far lesser crimes but never made any contributions to the Obama campaign. It's a joke.
Reuters
Three scenarios for an accidental South China Sea war
With China's aggressive military buildup, and with nationalism
increasing in China and in the countries of the surrounding region,
the risk of an armed clash in the South China Sea that would involve
the United States and China is significant. There are at least three
possible scenarios:
- A clash stemming from U.S. surveillance activities in the
South China Sea, which the U.S. insists it has the right to do, while
China insists that those activities violate Chinese and international
law. China has militarily intercepted U.S. ships in the past, and a
future confrontation might force the U.S. to respond militarily.
- Under contract from the Philippines, a UK-based energy firm
plans to start drilling for gas in Reed Bank this year. Reed
Bank is clearly in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ),
but China has harassed and threatened Philippine surveillance
ships in Reed Bank in the past. If there's a conflict between
China and the Philippines, the U.S. could be drawn in because
of a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the Philippines,
which says:
Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the
Pacific Area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its
own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the
common dangers in accordance with its constitutional
processes.
- Similarly, Vietnam is pursuing drilling rights in the South China
Sea. A military clash between Vietnam and China is less likely to
draw in the U.S., but it's still a possibility.
Council on Foreign Relations
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