Comments on africa comments: Somalia thread for the week ending August 16

maxcrat - i'm not sure that it is so "hal...

2009-08-16T11:11:03.374-05:00

maxcrat - i'm not sure that it is so "half-hearted". disregarding the lazy sentence construction which appears to give the combatant command an omnipotent AOR ,the 'key judgments' summary of that rpt states "If AF cannot provide the proper oversight of the peace support operations and security programs it runs, then the day-to-day implementation of peace support operations, capacity building, programs, events, and activities should become the responsibility of [AFRICOM], in keeping with what is already the norm in other geographic bureaus."

philippe - thanks for the info. i'll watch for the new release.

now to figure out why the creator of the 'last comments' widget didn't unescape the html entities before displaying.

Hi breal (and b.), (slightly O.T.) That copy-pasti...

2009-08-15T10:05:33.010-05:00

Hi breal (and b.),
(slightly O.T.) That copy-pasting problem is a javascript bug in Firefox, both 3.0x and 3.5.x. It appears to work fine in the nightly build I'm using (what will be Firefox 3.6 when it is released). I'm surprised blogger.com doesn't try to find a workaround.

Oh great - transfer State's African peacekeepe...

2009-08-13T19:45:08.166-05:00

Oh great - transfer State's African peacekeeper training to Africom....heck, why have a State Department presence at all, just let Africom do it all.

I'm referring to a half-hearted recomendation in the IG's report discussed in the Foreign Policy article

b - i have the same problem w/ the comments on thr...

2009-08-13T11:35:05.485-05:00

b - i have the same problem w/ the comments on three out of five computers, all having relatively identical setups and using firefox. right-clicking and selecting 'open frame in new window' is the only solution i've figured out for now. haven't had enough time to research the issue, but there are several deficiencies in the software that i've noticed so far.

thanks & here's the full link to that fp story - Internal State Department report criticizes Africa Bureau

xcroc - thanks for the link on inhofe. speaking of clinton, here's a story that has implications for her recent jaunt around africa
US Secretary of State Clinton’s Micro-Management of the [Millenium Change] Corporation that Funds the Honduras Coup Regime: Records Demonstrate that the Secretary Has Hands-On Control of the Fund that Gave $6.5 Million to the Regime After the June 28 Coup

Senator Inhofe (R-OK) is an active member of The F...

2009-08-13T09:56:39.543-05:00

Senator Inhofe (R-OK) is an active member of The Family. I saw this note on the C Street house:

It’s also a place where at least one senator—Republican James Inhofe of Oklahoma—meets with African ambassadors to discuss foreign policy.

He has made 108 visits to Africa. He is now on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. With The Family's emphasis on power above all other values, this looks potentially disastrous for US Africa relations and for the ongoing safety of people throughout the continent, encouraging and reinforcing the worst of African leadership. He appears to be one of the Republican leadership here, although in so far as I've observed him, he seems to rate quite high on the mean/dumb scale.

Obama and Clinton may be saying don't be corrupt. But if this guy is beetleing around telling leaders that so long as you are powerful, then God and the US like what you do and will reward you, Obama and Clinton are wasting time and breath. The despots will get all the arms they want.

There is some problem with pasting text in here .....

2009-08-13T09:49:57.727-05:00

There is some problem with pasting text in here ... had to open the frame in a new tab to get it done.

Anyway:
Some probably interesting bits in this one:

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/08/12/internal_state_department_report_criticizes_africa_bureau
Internal State Department report criticizes Africa Bureau