US launches missile attack on Libya

March 20 - 19:55GMT:  US reportedly launches missile attack on Libya, France says US would enhance assault on Gaddafi forces.

Political map of Libya

U.S., France and England Geared for Libya War

The French government is opposing any aggression by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi against the population of Benghazi. According to CNN, French fighter jets patrolled over Libya today.

March 20 - 19:55GMT:  US reportedly launches middle attack on Libya, France says US would enhance assault on Gaddafi forces.

Political map of Libya with respect to France:

Political map of Libya - France

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WikiLeaks - A new way to Journalism

What is WikiLeaks?
WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organization that publishes submissions of private, secret and classified media from anonymous news sources and news leaks. It is a media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public. It is created by Jullian Assange in 2006 and is owned by The Sunshine Press.

What is the purpose of WikiLeaks?
WikiLeaks states that its "primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behaviour in their governments and corporations."


What is the legal status of WikiLeaks?
The legal status of WikiLeaks is complex. Assange considers WikiLeaks a whistleblower protection intermediary. Rather than leaking directly to the press, and fearing exposure and retribution, whistleblowers can leak to WikiLeaks, which then leaks to the press for them.


WikiLeaks states "...We derive these principles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 inspires the work of our journalists and other volunteers. It states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 


Important Leaks?

1. Video: Collateral Murder
2. War Diary: Afghanistan War Logs
3. War Diary: Iraq War Logs
4. Cablegate: 250,000 US Embassy Diplomatic cables
5. Tax Evasion by the Rich and Famous (Coming Soon)

How it affected the world?

It has become a "new way to journalism". Jasmine Revolution has also some roots in Diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks also tells us that Information Technology Revolution has changed the world and has potential to spread the information to each corner of the world.

Some facts about Sino-American relations

- America was having $58 billion direct investment in China in 2005.

- More than 100 multinational American companies are operating in China. Mainly in Hotel and petrochemical industry.

- According to some estimates, China will cross the economic power of America in 2025.

- US is a military power. Total defense budget of America is more than the combined defense budget of 100 big nations.

- Total trade between China and America was 33$ billion in 1992. In 2005, it rose to $284.5 billion.

- Total trade deficit of America with China was $200 billion in 2005.

- China is second largest importer of America.

Important Issues between China and America:

- Devaluation of Currency (Yuan) by China

- Republic of China (Taiwan)

- North Korea

- Human Right Violence in China

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NATO gets its supply route from Russia: What it means for Pakistan?

The summit between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev at the Kremlin on Monday has produced an agreement that will let the NATO-US forces fly their troops and weapons across Russian territory. The agreement allows 4,500 US military flights annually over Russia “at no extra charge”. A White House announcement stated: “This agreement will enable the United States to further diversify the crucial transportation routes used to move troops and critical equipment to re-supply international forces in Afghanistan”.The joint statement issued after the summit had the following comment bearing on the situation in Afghanistan: “The two countries will work together to help stabilise Afghanistan, including increasing assistance to the Afghan army and police, and training counter-narcotics personnel. They will work together with the international community for the upcoming Afghan elections and they will help Afghanistan and Pakistan work together against the common threats of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking.” President Obama’s own comment after the summit made it clear that the two countries had resolved “to reset US-Russian relations so that we can cooperate more effectively in areas of common interest”.The highlight of the summit, of course, was the supply route for NATO which Russia had opposed in the recent past. The next highlight of the summit, not spelled out but certainly a subject of mutual understanding, was NATO policy towards Russia, especially its US-led move to include under its umbrella those states that Russia considers within the orbit of its own influence. The Americans may therefore have agreed to soft-pedal on the Ukraine front, and policy rollback in Georgia, also a former member republic of the USSR, which Russia had attacked last August to target the military installations the Georgians had built according to NATO standards.The transit route issue has clearly forced the Obama administration to step back from the Russia policy of the Bush administration, signalled by the Monday summit’s new agreements on nuclear arms cuts and replacement of a key disarmament treaty, including figures for reduction in nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 within seven years. This came under the unspoken rubric of undoing the Bush administration’s decision to renege on disarmament with Russia. Before the summit Kyrgyzstan had already indicated that it would “renegotiate” the American bases on its soil and will not insist on their immediate removal. Russia had been mollified and this mollification must have embraced Russia’s complaints in relation to the expansion of NATO in particular and the general feeling in Russia that America was spreading its tentacles eastward after destroying a Slav state in the Balkans in 1999. The consequent thaw will have direct bearing on the situation in Afghanistan; and it will include a nod from China which fears the terrorists more than the expansion of American influence in the region.Will this mean a reduction of Pakistan’s leverage in any way? Islamabad remains important because of the land route it provides for NATO supplies. If there is any reduction it will be bought by the US only at a big financial cost. But far more than that is the developing consensus in the neighbourhood of Pakistan behind the NATO presence in Afghanistan and the success of its mission against terrorism. This development will affect Pakistan’s policy of assistance to this mission conditional to rolling back the Indian encroachment in Afghanistan and resultant interference inside Pakistan. No one at the international level seems to worry about Governor NWFP Owais Ghani’s warning about “dangerous” American activities across the Durand Line.The summit will disabuse a lot of Pakistani analysts who have been hoping that Russia would defeat America, now that it is stuck in Afghanistan, the same way America had defeated Russia when it was stuck in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The other jolt the development will deliver is to the strategists who think nothing of the regional consensus gelling against Pakistan’s lingering policy of “strategic depth” and its permanent posture of deterring and challenging India. The general feeling in Pakistan is that if the NATO-US forces leave Afghanistan, the power vacuum thus created would be filled by Pakistan. That may be an erroneous conclusion. *

Source: Daily Times

Independence Day (United States)

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

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