Informed Comment

The good and bad
that are in human nature,
the joy and grief
that are in fate and destiny–
do not attribute them to
the movement
of heavenly bodies;
for according to the path of science,
the stars are a thousand times
more helpless than you.

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Below, the USG Open Source Center translates an article from Russian about President Dmitry Medvedev’s reaction to Mitt Romney calling Russia the “number one geopolitical foe” of the United States. The Russian leader reminded Romney that the Cold War has been over for a while, suggested that he has seen too many Hollywood movies, and urged him to put some sort of filter between his random thoughts and the words that come out of his mouth. Medvedev seems for some strange reason to think that candidates for the presidential nomination need to “switch on sensible reasoning” when speaking in public. Ain’t it the truth.

Romney had earlier pledged to take on China over currency valuation, warning that it is an American, not a Chinese century. (Bruce Ramsey sensibly wants to know why it can’t be both.)

Then Romney had written that [pdf] Iran is the biggest challenge since the Soviet Union and before that, Nazi Germany. Since Iran has almost no air force or navy and a poorly equipped military and since its military budget is somewhere between that of Singapore and Norway– and since Iran hasn’t aggressively attacked another country for at least 150 years, I think it is fair to say that Romney was scaremongering about Iran, which is a minor challenge for the US.

And, as Daily Kos points out, before that he was fixated on ‘Islamic Jihadism” as the primary enemy. The scary thing is that Romney cannot distinguish between a terrorist organization like al-Qaeda and a political party like the Muslim Brotherhood, which now dominates the Egyptian parliament. And he thinks Shiites want a caliphate (actually Shiites are critical of the Sunni caliphates.)

So Romney just wants to scare us, and he tries to twist rivals into dire enemies or build up ramshackle third world countries as the equivalent of a nuclear-armed, tank-heavy Soviet Union.

Now the Russian Federation is the number one enemy. Romney seems to have a number one enemy du jour. In fact, there are many areas of economic and other cooperation between Russia and the US. Likewise, the two are allies with regard to Afghanistan and have increasingly close military cooperation.

But the main thing is that Romney has opened himself to ridicule from the Russian president, and transformed a minor gaffe on President Obama’s part into a major gaffe on his own part.

“Medvedev Says Romney’s Statement On Russia ‘Smells Of Hollywood’
Interfax
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 …
Document Type: OSC Translated Excerpt…

Excerpt from report by corporate-owned Russian news agency Interfax

Seoul, 27 March: Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev has said that pre-election statements by US presidential candidates sometimes “smell of Hollywood” and advised them to switch on sensible reasoning, as well as pay attention to the fact that it is not the middle of the 1970s at present.

“As regards various ideological cliches, I am always wary of any particular side using constructs like ‘number one enemy’ and so on. This strongly smells of Hollywood and particular periods,” Medvedev told journalists in Seoul, responding to a request to comment on a statement from a Republican Party presidential race hopeful, Mitt Romney.

Medvedev added: “Thus I would tell all contenders for the post of the US president, not excluding the person whom you’ve just mentioned, two things at the very least: the first is to switch on sensible reasoning when establishing a position – using one’s head is not a bad idea for a presidential candidate. And second, check your watch – it is now 2012, not the middle of the 1970s”. (Passage omitted to end)

(Description of Source: Moscow Interfax in Russian — Nonofficial information agency known for its extensive and detailed reporting on domestic and international issues) “

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Khayyam, your body 
is like a royal tent;
your spirit is king
and its residence is temporary.
The angel of fate
strikes this tent
when the king moves on,
in favor of another dwelling.

Translated by Juan Cole
from [pdf] Whinfield 82

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There were two attacks on US and British troops in Afghanistan on Monday, by members of the Afghanistan armed forces. The American was killed in “the east,” while the two British officers were shot in Helmand province.

The USG Open Source Center translated a Pashto report on the Helmand incidents:

‘ Man in Afghan military uniform kills two ISAF soldiers in south
Afghan Islamic Press
Monday, March 26, 2012
Document Type: OSC Translated Excerpt…

Excerpt from report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency:

Kabul, 26 March: An armed man wearing Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform has killed two ISAF soldiers.

ISAF forces say that an armed man who was wearing ANA uniform has shot dead two ISAF soldiers in southern Afghanistan.

(Passage omitted: ISAF statement)

Meanwhile, a well-informed news source in Lashkargah city, capital of Helmand Province (southern Afghanistan), told Afghan Islamic Press this incident took place in a PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) centre of foreign forces in Lashkargah city.

Officials in Helmand and Ministry of Defence have not commented so far.

(Description of Source: Peshawar Afghan Islamic Press in Pashto — Peshawar-based agency, staffed by Afghans, that describes itself as an independent “news agency” but whose history and reporting pattern reveal a perceptible pro-Taliban bias; the AIP’s founder-director, Mohammad Yaqub Sharafat, has long been associated with a mujahidin faction that merged with the Taliban’s “Islamic Emirate” led by Mullah Omar; subscription required to access content; http://www.afghanislamicpress.com)’

Bad relations between the US and Afghanis have been fueled by a Qur’an-burning incident, in which the US disposed of the Qur’ans used by prisoners at Bagram prison at an incinerator, and the Panjwai massacre in which a US sergeant stands accused of indiscriminately killing civilians, mainly children.

The gloomy outlook for the war in the short term is being mirrored in a new opinion poll that shows that 69 percent of the US public want to see their country withdraw from Afghanistan. Just last November nearly half of the public still wanted to stay.

Now, only a third say that the US should stick to its timetable for withdrawal by 2014. Most want to get out sooner.

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(From this site).

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