This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Bodies pile up in Central African Republic as French arrive
- Biden in S. Korea rejects China’s air defense zone (ADIZ)
- ‘Al-Qaeda in Syria’ has become official
Bodies pile up in Central African Republic as French arrive
French troops in armored vehicle in Bangui on Friday (Reuters)
Hundreds of bodies are littering the streets of Bangui, the capital ofthe Central African Republic, as French troops began to arrive onFriday in the former colony. France’s deployment was sped up out offear that the situation would completely spiral out of control.Some 400,000 people have already fled their homes to escape thefighting.
The violence began last year when a Muslim group ofmilitias called Séléka staged a coup, installed a new president, andthen continued attacking Christians. The Christians have now formedtheir own “anti-Balaka” militias.
The French troops, along withtroops from the African Union, are patrolling in Bangui, but there areno troops to control fighting in other towns. According to the CIAFactbook, the religious breakdown of C.A.R. is: indigenous beliefs35%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%. Reuters
Biden in S. Korea rejects China’s air defense zone (ADIZ)
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in statements made during a visit toSouth Korea on Friday, said that America always keeps its promises,and that the U.S. was rejecting China’s announced air defenseidentification zone (ADIZ):
I want to make one thing absolutely clear. PresidentObama’s decision to rebalance to the Pacific basin is not inquestion…
The United States never says anything it does not do. [It has]never been a good bet to bet against America … and America willcontinue to place its bet on South Korea.
This is kind of laughable, in view of President Obama’s huge flip-flopsin the Mideast, which many people are describing as outsourcingAmerica’s foreign policy to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
In a later statement, Biden said:
I was very clear we do not recognize the zone. Itwill have no effect on America’s operations. Just ask mygeneral. None. Zero.
Some Koreans are expressing concerns that the U.S. is softeningits position on the issue.
In another statement, Biden said that the U.S. would not toleratea nuclear North Korea. Once again, this is laughable, sinceNorth Korea has been “nuclear” for several years.
In the meantime, the South Koreans have taken their own steps: They’reexpanding their own ADIZ, and they’re refusing to recognize China’sdemands, sending warplanes and airlines into China’s ADIZ withoutnotifying China’s military. Yonhap (Seoul) and VOA
‘Al-Qaeda in Syria’ has become official
Ayman al-Zawahiri and the main al-Qaeda leadership inAfghanistan-Pakistan is declaring that Jabhat Al-Nusra, the al-Qaedalinked group in Syria, is now an official part of al-Qaeda’s globalnetwork. Concurrently, al-Zawahiri is sending cadres of operatives toSyria to offer ideological guidance, military expertise and training,organizational consultation, and so forth.
For months I’ve been reporting that Syria has become a magnet forSunni jihadists from regions as far away as Pakistan, Algeria, andDagestan. This is the next step in that process, as Syria and Iraqbecome a major center for jihadist activity in the Mideast.
Once again, I have to identify where the fault lies. Syria’sShia/Alawite president Bashar al-Assad is a genocidal monster who hasused heavy weapons and even chemical weapons to kill hundreds ofthousands of Sunni women, children, and other civilians, and has driven millions of people from their homes. Russia and Iran areactively contributing to this genocide by supplying weapons andsoldiers to al-Assad. This has been an absolutely disastrous policyby Russia and Iran, with the full support and cooperation of PresidentBarack Obama. Memri andReuters
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Central African Republic, Bangui,France, Séléka, anti-Balaka,China, Air Defense Identification Zone, ADIZ,Joe Biden, North Korea, South Korea,Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda in Syria, Jabhat Al-Nusra,Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.