20 years of war in the Middle East have cost 12 trillion dollars

A study has been presented estimating the immense cost of the conflict in the region since 1991. The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq, are the most costly wars.

Asia News | Jan 24, 2009

Geneva (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Countries involved in Middle East conflicts have paid more than 12 trillion dollars since 1991.

The estimate, the first of its kind, was revealed yesterday at the office of the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland), in a report from the India-based Strategic Foresight Group, and also includes an evaluation of the lack of development and the effects on the standard of living in the countries affected. The highest costs are connected to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, in Lebanon, and the invasion of Iraq by the United States.

Sundeep Waslekar, who coordinated the study, has explained that income for both Israelis and Palestinians since the Madrid conference of 1991 would have been at least double, if a lasting peace had been agreed. If there were immediate peace, the average Israeli income would rise significantly, even if Tel Aviv agreed to compensate Palestinian refugees and move its more than 150,000 settlers out of the West Bank.

In the same way, the income for Palestinians would be more than double, even if they accepted their current situation.

For this reason, Waslekar maintains that failing to choose peace means, for every country, simply continuing “the devastation” and racking up greater and greater costs. Peace would even have very positive effects for countries at the edges of the conflict: for example, with an increase of 1,250 dollars in per capita income in Jordan, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees are living.

In Iraq, without the war and the previous sanctions, the national income would be 38 times higher, totaling 2.2 trillion dollars.

Waslekar says that the study has precise limits, in that “there are costs you can’t measure – like the cost in human dignity.”

Shanghai reports coldest winter for 18 years

Xinhua | Jan 24, 2009

SHANGHAI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) — East China’s business hub Shanghai reported a temperature of minus 5.9 degrees Celsius in its downtown Saturday, the lowest for 18 years, as a cold snap swept China from north to south, the municipal meteorological observatory said.

The temperature in the Xujiahui area in downtown Shanghai reached minus 5.9 degrees Celsius early Saturday, the lowest since1992, the city’s Central Meteorological Observatory said.

Records show the lowest temperature in downtown Shanghai was minus 8 degrees Celsius in 1991.

The observatory said the city’s temperatures would also be below minus 5 degrees Celsius Sunday, the eve of Chinese New Year. But it forecast the city’s temperatures would rise from Monday.

China Central Meteorological Observatory forecast the cold snap, which has caused a temperature drop of about 15 degrees Celsius in parts of east and south China, would end Sunday.

Neo-Nazi Group Joins Adopt-a-Highway

politonomist.com | Jan 24, 2009

by Giuseppe

A Missouri-based detachment of the Nationalist Socialist Movement, the political party which follows in traditional Nationalist Socialist footsteps, has joined the states Adopt-A-Highway volunteer litter pickup program, taking advantage of a first-amendment ruling won a number of years ago by the Ku Klux Klan, a white pride movement established in Tennessee in 1865.

A half mile section of Highway 160 right at the exit from Springfield has been adopted by the district’s Nationalist Socialist movement, volunteering to pick up trash and keep the area clean in exchange for having their name on the Adopt-a-Highway sign next to the road – a move, which has outraged a number of those most offended by the association with Nazi Germany and other historic issues.

The state and transportation department responded to those most offended on Thursday, saying that due to First Amendment rights, and the right to protect free speech – especially that of unpopular speech, such as Nationalist Socialist beliefs – gives them no legal way to reject the application.

“It’s a First Amendment thing, and we can’t discriminate as long as they pick up the trash,” said Bob Edwards to the Associated Press, from the state’s transportation department.

A number of political analysts believe that case demonstrates an interesting perspective and the importance of the power of free speech from those who have found themselves offended by the beliefs and associations of the group.

US military releases “Capstone Concept” for Joint Operations

USJFCOM will test the Capstone concept in a series of experiments this year, Davenport said.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently released a document U.S. Joint Forces Command helped prepare which will help drive future joint solutions.

The national security challenges addressed in the CCJO include responding to civil crises.

USJFCOM | Jan 23, 2009

Capstone Concept for Joint Operations released

By USJFCOM Public Affairs

(NORFOLK, Va. – Jan. 23, 2009) — A recently signed document will help drive future joint solutions and guide future work at the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) according to command officials.

USJFCOM assisted in the preparation of the Capstone Concept for Joint Operations (CCJO) which was signed by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Navy Adm. Mike Mullen Jan. 22.

Representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard as well as U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Strategic Command also assisted in the CCJO development.

The CCJO describes the chairman’s vision for how the joint forces circa 2016-2028 will operate in response to a wide variety of security challenges.

According to command leaders, the CCJO will drive joint solutions today and in the future.

“The CCJO discusses broad national security challenges that likely will require the employment of the joint forces,” said Navy Rear Adm. Dan W. Davenport, director, joint concept development & experimentation for USJFCOM. “We’ll use this document to guide the study, development, experimentation and evaluation of joint concepts and capabilities.”

The national security challenges addressed in the CCJO include: winning the nation’s wars; deterring potential adversaries; developing cooperative security; defending the homeland; and responding to civil crises.

These challenges form the context for exploring how the joint force will operate in the future. The CCJO states that, “Above all, joint forces in the future will need to be able to apply combat power in more varied, measured and discriminate ways than ever before.”

CCJO describes the operational art of employing the future joint force as the arranging and balancing of operations to meet the specific situation, with continuous assessment and adaptation as needed to produce the desired results.

Davenport provided an example of how the CCJO will be used to guide USJFCOM work.

“The CCJO makes the case that future U.S. forces must be powerful, balanced, adaptable and versatile to cope with the uncertainty, complexity, unforeseeable change and persistent conflict that will characterize the future operating environment. At USJFCOM, we must continually examine the operating environment and improve our ability to provide forces in a careful and considered manner.”

USJFCOM will test the concept in a series of experiments this year, Davenport said. Planners will use the results of these experiments to inform the next Quadrennial Defense Review.

USJFCOM also participated in the CCJO through work on the related Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008). The JOE identifies the nature of the world in which the future joint force will operate and provides much of the strategic context for the CCJO.

Copies of the CCJO and JOE 2008 have been distributed to senior leaders throughout the national security community.