IMF Head: Food Shortages Can Spark War

From CBS News:

(CBS/AP) The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Friday that soaring world food prices can have dire consequences, such as toppling governments and even triggering wars.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn told France's Europe-1 radio that the price rises that set off rioting in Haiti, Egypt and elsewhere were an "extremely serious" problem.

"The planet must tackle it," he said.

The IMF chief said the problem could also threaten democracies, even in countries where governments have done all they could to help the local population. Asked whether the crisis could lead to wars, Strauss-Kahn responded that it was possible.

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My Comment: Hunger and conflict have always walked hand in hand.

South America's Most Troubled Border

From Time Magazine:

Wisps of evaporating water rise from the dark green Amazon rainforest as an Ecuadorian military helicopter swerves along the San Miguel River. Each day, slim boats with outboard motors ferry dozens of people between the hamlets of Puerto Nuevo, Ecuador, and Teteye, Colombia, across the brown and winding border waterway. Most are doing business or visiting relatives. But this year boatmen are increasingly carrying Ecuadorian mourners to retrieve the bodies of loved ones. Most, they say, were killed by Colombian troops because they were suspected of aiding the Marxist guerrillas known as the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, or FARC. One was Antonio Jimenez, shot a month ago. Insists one Puerto Nuevo woman who knew him well, "He just went over to buy banana seedlings."

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My Comment: Nationalism, oil and resource wealth, failing economies,cocaine and other narcotics ..... yup .... a perfect mix for conflict.

Another Iraq In The Horn Of Africa?

From Newsweek -- Somalia: Dilemmas Of The Horn

The jihadist leads a double life. By day he's a government functionary in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Standing in the shade of a crumbling, Mussolini-era balcony, a phone headset clipped to his ear, he affects a casual, corporate air. But then he pulls his blue oxford shirt aside to reveal a fresh bullet scar. He spies on his co-workers, he admits, and feeds information about them to the Islamist rebels who are laying siege to Mogadishu. "God willing, we'll take over the country soon," he tells a NEWSWEEK reporter, one of the few Western journalists who have ventured into Somalia in months. The State Department recently added al-Shabaab (meaning "youth") to its list of terrorist organizations, making the group a target for attacks by U.S. forces operating in the Horn of Africa. The jihadist is unconcerned. "We're like a centipede," he says. "You cut off one of our legs, we just keep going."

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Update: Dozen Killed In Fierce Fighting In Somalia -- MSNBC

Update #2: Deadly Clashes Erupt In Mogadishu -- BBC News

My Comment: Like the previous civil war in Angola, this is a conflict that is going to last for decades.

Al-Qaeda Warns Of Iranian Threat

From The Times:

DUBAI Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, said in an audio message to mark five years since the US-led invasion of Iraq that Washington's war had met with nothing but failure and defeat.

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My Comment: There is not much detail in the Time's report on Zawahri's warnings, but it is clear that many in Al Qaeda are shifting their focus to Iran's growing influence in the Middle East and its intentions to be a major power in the region. In many ways Zawahri's comments are mirroring what many leaders in Arab countries are now saying about Iran.

Zimbabwe's Secret Police Are Still At Work --Updates On Zimbabwe

From The Times: Eight Days Of Fear In Mugabe's Machine

He may be aged, isolated and facing economic ruin, but Robert Mugabe still clings to power thanks to a feared state security apparatus that continues to function across Zimbabwe.

As the 84-year-old leader marked nearly three decades in power yesterday with a defiant speech against Britain, the Africa correspondent of The Times recalled, just 48 hours after his release from jail, his experiences of Mr Mugabe’s ruthless regime.

Jonathan Clayton spent eight days imprisoned in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, where he was interrogated, beaten and tortured by a senior officer in the feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). He was eventually released after paying a Z$20 billion fine, about £200, for misleading an immigration officer.

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Update: Full Zimbabwe Crisis Coverage -- Times Online

Update 2: Zimbabwe Recounts Ballot In 23 Constituencies -- Times Online

Update #3: Mugabe warns 'British Thieves' To Leave His Country Alone -- The Independent

Update #4: Chinese Troops Are On The Streets Of Zimbabwean City, Witnesses Say -- The Independent

Update #5: Mugabe's Prisoner -- Newsweek

Update #6: Zimbabwe Weapons Ship Headed For Angola -- CNN

Update #7: Annan Demands Action On Zimbabwe -- BBC News

My Comment: If Mugabe was a white man, the world will be screaming for bloody murder.

Progress In The Tribal Regions Of Iraq

Now They Have Turned to the Tribes -- Middle East Journal

Sheikh Sattar Abu Risha, leader of the Iraq’s Anbar Salvation Council before he was murdered by a car bomb in front of his house in late 2007, summed up the Anbar Awakening movement in a few concise sentences to Johns Hopkins University Professor Fouad Ajami. “Our American friends had not understood us when they came,” he said. “They were proud, stubborn people and so were we. They worked with the opportunists, now they have turned to the tribes, and this is as it should be. The tribes hate religious parties and religious fakers.” The tribal system in Anbar Province is ancient. Attempts to overthrow it are not wise. Both Americans and Al Qaeda learned that the hard way.

Marine Captain Quintin Jones, commanding officer at Outpost Delta in the city of Karmah, told me he works with tribal authorities as well as the mayor every day and can’t get much done if he doesn’t.

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My Comment: The U.S. is not only beginning to learn all that there is to know about our enemies ..... they are also starting to learn who our friends and allies are.

Nearly 1 In 5 Troops Has Mental Problems After War Service

From Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON - Roughly one in every five U.S. troops who have survived the bombs and other dangers of Iraq and Afghanistan now suffers from major depression or post-traumatic stress, an independent study said Thursday. It estimated the toll at 300,000 or more.

As many or more report possible brain injuries from explosions or other head wounds, said the study, the first major survey from outside the government.

Only about half of those with mental health problems have sought treatment. Even fewer of those with head injuries have seen doctors.

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My Comment: A personal story. My father served in the Russian Army during the Second World War. His tour of duty started from July 1941 to the fall of Berlin in 1945. My godfather who also served also experienced the worse that war can bring .... ending his life by committing suicide 15 years after the end of the war.

Living with family members who suffer from post-traumatic syndrome is very difficult and hard to understand (especially from a child's point of view). I learned that the best way to confront this illness is to always keep an open mind, to give the soldier the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his war experience, and to always be available to be an open ear when they start to talk about it.