Zuma

The South African Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling dismissing ANC leader Jacob Zuma of graft charges today.  This comes just months before elections in that country which Zuma declared he would be running in.  

Nonetheless, reports the Mail & Guardian, the decision may prove unlikely to stop him from being elected.  

The 18-Year Refugee Crisis You've Never Heard of

Here is a very interesting article on a refugee crisis most people are unfamiliar with.  

In the early 1990s in the tiny Himalayan nation Bhutan, the majority-supported Drukpa (a Buddhist sect) ruling elite began a campaign that purged the nation of it's minority Lhotsampas' -- people of Nepali origin that lived in the south of Bhutan.  That population, now near 107,000, have sat idly for the past 18 years in a group of UN refugee camps in the east of Nepal.  

This past year the U.S. and some other western nations declared they would offer resettlement to up to 60,000 of those refugees.  Chicago was a major destination for many of those participating in the resettlement program.  

I was fortunate enough to become friends with a young refugee now living in Chicago, along with his six-member immediate family, plus an extended family too numerous to count.  I did some reporting on the refugee situation and the resettlement process for a class that I hope to submit somewhere once I brush it up a little.  For those interested, here is a link to a very very rough draft of that continuing story.  

Like a Phoenix . . .

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced today his nation is likely to be the first to emerge from the world's financial sinkhole and anticipated new measures to bolster the Chinese economy in the next few months, reports China Daily.  

Key policies include tax and credit incentives to keep auto sales continuing and, in turn, auto manufacturers working.  

Chinese exports dropped in November for the first time in seven years.  

C.R.E.A.M.

Disputes over the history of WWII have crippled relations between Japan and South Korea in the past.  South Korea has accused Japan of rewriting history in national textbooks to ignore atrocities committed by Japan during the war.  

But as the great 20th-century political thinker Method Man once observed, "cash rules everything around me."  The economy has proven a remedy in putting that dispute aside as the two nations leaders met today to forge new economic relations to overcome the worldwide downturn.  

The two leaders discussed the future of their financial structures and vowed to work closely together in dealing with trade negotiations, both agreeing to broaden foreign investments.  

They also discussed their mutual commitments to dissuading North Korea from continuing nuclear plans.  

Kuwait

Kuwait swore in a new cabinet today.  You can read more about the swearing in ceremony at the Kuwait News Agency.  

Secrets

For those of you who missed this very interesting NY Times article yesterday, it appears that President Bush declined secret Israeli requests for bunker-busting bombs and permission to fly over Iraq for an attack on Iranian nuclear sites last year.  Bush told Israeli officials he had initiated covert operations on the ground aimed at dismantling Iranian nuclear ambitions from within and that an overt attack would not be necessary.  The report questions whether Israel had plans to carry out the attack or was seeking to engage Bush in more aggressive planning before he left office.  

Bush was continually briefed on the options for an overt American air strike on the Iranian nuclear targets but never told the Pentagon to move beyond contingency planning.  Some in the administration, led Defense Secretary Robert Gates, warned such an attack would be ineffective, likely result in the expulsion of international inspectors and possibly spark a broader Middle East war.  

The Israeli requests came after a National Intelligence Estimate (N.I.E.) from last year that painted a very calm picture of Iran's enrichment program and progress towards nuclear weapons manufacturing, but the report was viewed skeptically by almost everyone in the Bush administration and Israel.  

The covert operations, questions of their efficacy, questions of how they may or may not interfere with efforts to engage Iran in talks, as well as Israel's willingness to settle for such a plan will all be handed off to Barack Obama on the 20th, adding to an already staggering list of problems he will be confronting.  

The article is a fascinating read, one of those rare glimpses into the secret world of international negotiations and covert operations most often not revealed until decades after a conflict has cooled.  Certainly, check that out.  

As Ugly as Reality

Israel has slowed its air assault on Gaza overnight, though ground forces have been stepped up, reports the BBC.  Reserve forces have been sent into Gaza via ground.  While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denies any increase in ground fighting, some reports claim reservists are being sent in to secure already won areas while front-line troops move further inward.  With no international reporters allowed on the ground, such reports can neither be confirmed nor denied. 

A military spokesman said that while reservists are being called in mostly to provide relief for engaged soldiers, this does not signal an escalation in ground fighting.  Forces in Israel continue training in the case of an expanded ground invasion.  

Olmert says Israel is nearing its goals in Gaza, and some claim an Egyptian-brokered cease fire is progressing, though we've heard this before.  

Meanwhile, the Washington Post seems to sound a more alarming note, saying that with the strong back-up from the reserve units, Israel is bracing for what may be the "fiercest fighting yet" as they push into the major population centers in the so-called "phase three" of the operation.  

Talks in Cairo hinge on Israeli calls for an Egyptian monitor at the Gaza-Egypt border to ensure that no more weapons are smuggled into Gaza -- a request which Egypt has so far balked at.  

An all-out push into Gaza City will mean increased death tolls and heavy destruction on both sides.  The question seems to be whether or not Israel should use the position they've gained in weakening Hamas to negotiate (yet another) cease fire, or should move to debilitate Hamas to such an extent they cannot fire rockets, if not wipe them out completely -- a question that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barack, both of whom are vying to be the next PM, disagree on.  

In a strictly military-strategic perspective, as ugly as it may sound, I think their only option is to push ahead.  Any cease fire will prove as transient as any in the past.  True, the elimination of Hamas will by no means mean peace in the Middle East, but it will reduce Iranian influence in the area and restore a (perhaps only slightly) longer peace in the area from which to build. Israel's reputation is as bad as it will be -- a further offensive will probably not change that.  

One note to add -- if any traces of phosphorous munitions are found in an area like Gaza City, that will and ought to be the end of Israel's bargaining position.  UNHRC has already declared Israeli actions have "resulted in massive violations of human rights."