Obama secretly extends US combat operation in Afghanistan

Published time: November 22, 2014

President Barack Obama has secretly signed an order that expands the United States’ direct combat role in Afghanistan throughout 2015, the New York Times reported.

Signed over the last few weeks, the secret order permits American forces to continue to battle the Taliban and other militants that pose a threat to either the Afghan government or US personnel. According to the Times, US jets, bombers, and drones will be able to aid ground troops – be they Afghan or US forces – in whatever mission they undertake.

Under the order, ground troops could join Afghan troops on missions, and airstrikes could be carried out in their support.

If true, this marks a significant expansion of America’s role in Afghanistan in 2015. Previously, President Obama said US forces would not be involved in combat operations once the new year begins. He did say troops would continue training Afghan forces and track down remaining Al-Qaeda members.

Obama signed the secret order after tense debates within the administration. The military reportedly argued that it would allow the US to keep the pressure on the Taliban and other groups should details emerge that they are planning to attack American troops. Civilian aides, meanwhile, said the role of combat troops should be limited to counter-terror missions against Al-Qaeda.

The Times said an administration official painted the secret order's authorization as a win for the military, but another said the US would not carry out "offensive missions" against the Taliban in 2015.

“We will no longer target belligerents solely because they are members of the Taliban,” the official said. “To the extent that Taliban members directly threaten the United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan or provide direct support to Al Qaeda, however, we will take appropriate measures to keep Americans safe.”

The change in direction came as the administration faces pointed criticism from those who say the US withdrew from Iraq too quickly, allowing the so-called Islamic State to make rapid gains in a country whose military proved to be easily intimidated and defeated.

Meanwhile, new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has a much softer position on the US presence in his country compared to his predecessor Hamid Karzai. Ghani reportedly asked the US to keep battling the Taliban into 2015. He also removed restrictions against US airstrikes and joint raids that were implemented by Karzai.

It appears that the number of troops that will be operating in Afghanistan next year will remain unchanged from previous plans. There will be 9,800 soldiers left throughout next year, and that number will be cut in half by the end of the year.

By the end of 2016, the remaining troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan, ending the US military presence in the country.

'Totally innocent' unarmed 28yo 'accidentally' shot dead by NYPD police

Published time: November 21, 2014

A rookie NYPD officer “accidentally” shot and killed an unarmed African-American man in a staircase in a New York apartment block. It happened as Ferguson is tensely waiting for a grand jury decision on a police officer who shot Michael Brown.

Akai Gurley, 28, and his girlfriend Melissa Butler were entering a staircase on the seventh floor in Pink House project in Brooklyn late Thursday evening when two policemen came down from the eighth floor. Peter Liang and his partner, Shaun Landau were doing a top-to-bottom patrol. Liang, a rookie on probationary assignment, fired a shot in Gurley’s chest without a warning, Butler said.

“They didn’t present themselves or nothing and shot him,” Butler told DNA info New York. “As soon as he came in, the police opened the [door to the] eighth-floor staircase. They didn’t identify themselves at all. They just shot.”

Gurley and Butler tried to go down the stairs but reached only the fifth floor where Gurley lost consciousness. There a neighbor called an ambulance. Butler says the policemen did not come to help nor called the ambulance. Gurley, who has a 2-year-old son, was pronounced dead on arrival to hospital.

An NYPD spokesperson said the police department's internal affairs bureau is investigating the shooting. Liang has been placed on modified assignment and was relieved of both his badge and gun.

The police are collecting information from witnesses and radio reports without talking to Liang as according to the policy, he will be interrogated in the District Attorney’s office first and then by internal affairs officers.

"What happened last night was a very unfortunate tragedy,'' police commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement. "The deceased is totally innocent. He just happened to be in the hallway. He was not engaged in any criminal activity.''

Bratton said it probably was an accidental discharge of weapon.

“So here’s an unarmed, black 28 year old in the stairwell,” former City Council member Charles Barron said as quoted by CBS New York. “Two officers, one Asian, one white, fully armed. He’s unarmed, they meet on the stairwell and he winds up dead with a bullet in his chest. I want to hear the justification for this one. Don’t tell me the hallway was dimly lit. That’s no reason to kill a black man on a stairwell.”

The incident happened while a grand jury decision concerning Michael Brown’s death is awaited. Unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson by police officer Darren Wilson in August. The shooting caused riots in the area and tensions between police and the African-American community.

NHL player broke after parents borrowed millions in his name

Columbus Blue Jackets star Jack Johnson filed bankruptcy last month after his parents took $15 million in his name from his accounts.

by Allan Muir

The story of the financial ruination of the Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman that was told this morning by Dispatch writer Aaron Portzline is both shocking and heartbreaking. Johnson, currently playing the fourth season of a seven-year, $30 million deal, has less than $50,000 in assets and more than $10 million in debt, the result, Johnson says, of “picking the wrong people who led me down the wrong path.”

Those people, according to Portzline, were Johnson's own parents.

Earlier in his career Johnson had Pat Brisson, one of the best agents in the game, looking after his affairs. But the two parted ways in 2008 and Johnson signed a power of attorney that turned over full control of his finances to his mother, Tina Johnson.

In hindsight, the decision to put millions of dollars into inexperienced hands was incredibly naive. But these were his parents. The two people in the world he trusted the most. Put into the same situation, there are plenty of us who might have done the same thing.

Fortunately, most of us don't have parents like Johnson's. The picture of them that's painted by Portzline's research is beyond ugly. Instead of making safe, conventional investments that would protect the financial future of their son, the pair blew through past and future earnings via a complicated series of risky loans at high interest rates, defaults on which resulted in massive fees, higher interest rates and three lawsuits against Johnson.

There are also reports of lavish spending on houses and travel, leaving Johnson not just broke but essentially working for nothing as garnishments swallowed his massive bi-monthly paychecks.

“I’ve seen lots of instances of parents riding their kid’s coattails around,” a league source told Portzline. “I’ve never seen a case as ugly as this one, where the parents took such advantage of their kid.”

Johnson has since surrounded himself with competent attorneys and financial experts who actually have his best interests in mind. Assuming relief will be provided in bankruptcy, he has a chance to climb out of this hole, save his future and maybe put his focus back on playing hockey.

But his relationship with his parents? That's a tragic casualty of this mess. And one that no court can piece back together.

Former head of Iceland’s Landsbanki jailed for role in 2008 crash

Published time: November 20, 2014

Sigurjon Arnason, the ex- CEO of Landsbanki, one of the three Icelandic banks that crashed and ruined the economy in 2008, has been sentenced to 12 month in prison for manipulating the bank’s share price and deceiving investors in the bank’s dying days.

A court of Reykjavik found Arnason guilty, but nine months of his term will be suspended and served on probation.

Glitnir, Kaupthing and Landsbanki - the three largest Icelandic banks – spectacularly crashed in the autumn of 2008 after gaining assets equivalent to 10 times the size of Iceland's economy as they funded operations by local businessmen abroad. The former chief executives of the other major banks have already received jail sentences.

Ivar Gudjonsson, Landsbanki’s former director of proprietary trading, and Julius Heidarsson, a former broker, were sentenced to 9 months of which 6 months will be suspended. They were accused of manipulating the bank’s share price by lending funds to investors provided they buy shares.

All the accused pleaded not guilty.

"This sentence is a big surprise to me as I did nothing wrong," Sigurjon Arnason told Reuters after the hearing. His attorney said he would appeal the verdict, according to Icelandic media.

Unlike other western countries Iceland is actively targeting the former top management of its banks as it investigates alleged financial crimes committed in the lead up to the crisis of 2008.

‘West has no idea what a dictatorship is’ – Che Guevara’s daughter says

Published time: November 20, 2014 by RT.COM

The West keeps calling dictators those leaders who are raising cultural, healthcare and educational standards, Che Guevara’s daughter Aleida told RT, adding that her father would certainly give a hand to those changing peoples’ lives for the better.

RT: Miss Guevara, it’s a pleasure to see you here in Moscow again.

Now, you once said once that your father’s ideas will last as long as there is injustice in the world. If your father was alive, what do you think would upset him the most today?

Aleida Guevara: Actually, I don’t really like having to deal with this sort of question about my father, who is not with us anymore. It’s difficult for me to speak for him or say what he would be doing. But judging by the speeches he made, by his personal notes and letters, I can say that he always cared a lot for his people and for the poor in particular. And I am convinced that he would be deeply concerned over what is happening in the Arab world now. He would definitely be thinking of ways to help. He was always respectful of people. And though he criticized socialism quite heavily, he had a lot of respect for the Soviet people, too. That’s why I believe he would have been deeply frustrated over what is going on between Russia and Ukraine – after all, these people have lived in harmony for so many years… That’s why all of this aggression looks so unnatural to us. So yes, I think my father would take a keen interest.

RT: In one of your interviews with RT you said that if Ernesto Che Guevara were alive, he would be supporting Hugo Chavez in every possible way. Unfortunately, Chavez passed away some time ago. So who would Che Guevara be backing today, and in what ways?

AG: He would be backing all the revolutionary movements, I guess. He was a great revolutionary himself, and he would be helping all the men and women who are trying to change their lives. I have close connections to the landless workers’ movement in Brazil, who are fighting for access to land in order to make a living. In spite of the difficulties that the movement has faced for more than 25 years, they’ve been able to make huge progress across the continent and in Brazil in particular. And frankly speaking, I do believe that this movement does encourage Latin America to move ahead. But decisions made by Evo Morales, Nicolas Maduro and Rafael Correa are also important. My father always appreciated staunch advocates of a certain ideology who know exactly what they want in life. No matter if he agreed or disagreed with them, he would certainly give a hand to those leaders who are willing to change their peoples’ lives for the better.

RT: The West sees Cuba as a dictatorship. What would you say to that?

AG: They have no idea what a dictatorship is. No dictator would educate his people, because the more educated the people, the freer they are.

No dictator would introduce free education for everyone. All this time our government has been working on raising cultural standards. Such initiatives are at odds with the features of a dictatorship. The more people think about the world they are living in, the freer they become. They have more choice and they can understand exactly what they want. So we’re talking about an approach that is totally uncharacteristic of a dictatorship. What kind of a dictator wants his people to be healthy and have free education? What kind of a dictator would take steps to teach his people solidarity with other nations? What kind of a dictator would send sports coaches to help out in other countries? You can’t even mention those things in the same breath. But this is what’s happening in Cuba. Solidarity, respect, love for other peoples and self-sacrifice for the good of others are the principles which are Cubans taught. How can you associate that with a dictatorship? I think it’s impossible, and I can’t understand that.

RT: The majority of the UN member states once again condemned the US embargo on Cuba. However, some believe that there are people in the US who are interested in lifting the embargo in order to infiltrate Cuba and put an end to the Cuban Revolution. Is Cuba ready for the possibility of the embargo being lifted? Do you have any concerns about that?

AG: None. If the embargo was lifted today, Cuban economy would be thriving tomorrow. And if our everyday life improved, if there was affordable housing, then our public transport, diet and entertainment industry would take a turn for the better as well. More things and services would become available to our people. A time of prosperity would begin for our country. I’ll give you an example so that you understand what the embargo really means. The USSR sold and gave us a great number of trucks back in the day. But the USSR has always been an oil-rich country, so your trucks and cars were manufactured with no particular concern over fuel efficiency. We still use those Soviet trucks in Cuba, but we don’t have the oil that the USSR used to supply. We simply don’t have it anymore, so we had to try and find more fuel-efficient engines. We decided to go to Italy, a country with large-scale car production.

We contacted the Ferrari Company owners, and visited to them to discuss a possibility of purchasing their fuel-efficient engines. We were in the midst of negotiations when the FBI found out about their potential deal with Cuba. The Ferrari owner received a letter from them, in perfect Italian, which I saw with my own eyes. The letter said, ‘If you maintain trade relations with Cuba neither you nor your family members will be able to set foot on US territory. If you sell to Cuba you will not be able to sell any of your products in the US.’

As you can imagine, we never got to purchase a single engine from Ferrari. That was the end of this story. That’s the kind of blockade I am talking about – it affects the entire Cuban economy. It’s like an older boy trying to take a toy away from his baby brother. I’d go as far as to call it cruel, because the embargo affects even food and medicines. We have children with complicated pathologies in Cuba. The medication that they require is patented in the US, so no company is allowed to sell it to us. We do have the money to buy it, and we are in no way asking for it for free. Yet, as a part of this economic embargo the US prohibits companies from selling this medication to Cuba. And if they do they would face a 5 to 10 millionn-dollar fine, or would be banned from selling their products in the US. Consequently, we cannot just buy it. Sometimes we have to go through five or six different intermediaries to get this medication, as it is one of a kind in the world, and we desperately need it here.

The medication is expensive as is; one can imagine how its cost grows as each of these intermediaries tries to make money off it. The medication becomes incredibly pricy for Cubans. If the economic blockade is lifted we would be able to buy it at its market price, which would mean saving the costs for people significantly. So this gives you an idea of what Cuba would become like if the embargo was lifted. The island’s economy would flourish immediately. And in view of our social benefits advantage, the situation would get even better. So my question is, how could lifting the embargo harm us?

The US has already undertaken aggressive action against Cuba. Among other things, they were trying to buy Cubans to get them to help the US subvert our government. Some people who were involved in this posed as opponents of the Cuban Revolution, while being our double agents working to protect our nation against this kind of aggression. The US has been trying to attack our youngsters as well. So we introduced Cuban teachers as double agents who were also trying to counter these hostile activities. We do have this kind of experience as well.

RT: Thank you so much for taking time to answer our questions.

AG: Thank you.

American-born London mayor refuses to pay US taxes, threatens to renounce citizenship

Published time: November 20, 2014

The Internal Revenue Service reportedly wants London Mayor Boris Johnson to write a check for taxes he owes to the United States government, but the UK politician says he isn’t paying.

Johnson, 50, has been the mayor of London since 2008 and is considering a bid at Parliament in the near future. In the meantime, however, he might soon find himself in hot water on the other side of the pond. Johnson, who was born in New York but moved at the age of five, told NPR host Susan Page during an interview last week that the US wants him to pay a capital gains tax owed by American citizens who earn income abroad.

Previously, Johnson wrote in a 2006 column that he was “getting a divorce from America” and would renounce his citizenship, noting “for years I have travelled exclusively on a British passport,” and not the US-issued one he also holds. That threat failed to materialize, but a question emailed to the mayor while he was being interviewed by NPR recently might have rekindled his interest — and without a doubt revealed another issue that has peculiarly pitted Johnson against the IRS.

“It is very hard but I will say this: the great United States of America does have some pretty tough rules, you know,” Johnson said. “You may not believe this but if you're an American citizen, America exercises this incredible doctrine of global taxation, so that even though tax rates in the UK are far higher and I'm Mayor of London, I pay all my tax in the UK and so I pay a much higher proportion of my income in tax, then I would if I lived in America.”

“The United States comes after me, would you believe it, for the -- for capital gains tax on the sale of your first residence which is not taxable in Britain, but they're trying to hit me with some bill, can you believe it?” Johnson continued.

Page, who was filling in during the Nov. 13 episode on behalf of NPR host Diane Rehm, quickly pressed Johnson: “Are you gonna pay the bill?” The mayor initially rebuffed her, though, saying instead that he just thought America’s demands were “outrageous.”

“Outrageous or not, will you pay this tax bill?” Page inquired again.

“Well, I'm -- no, is the answer,” the mayor finally admitted. “I think, it's absolutely outrageous. Why should I?”

“I could but I pay -- I pay the lion's share of my tax, I pay my taxes to the full in the United Kingdom where I live and work,” Johnson added, saying later that he continues to carry an American passport because “it’s very difficult to give up.”

Robert W. Wood, an expert on taxes and litigation, wrote for Forbes that Johnson still could decide to renounce his citizenship — something that Americans have done in record numbers in recent years. That wouldn’t solve the mayor’s tax problems, Wood wrote, however.

“When you exit you must certify five years of US tax compliance to the IRS. And any tax for the current or prior years must be paid. So, maybe Mayor Johnson should have renounced when he threatened to in 2006,” Wood wrote.

Around 2,353 Americans have renounced their citizenship since the start of 2014, Wood wrote later, and a continuation of the current trend would shatter last year’s record-breaking statistic of 2,999 renunciations.

Kerry to Lavrov: Ignore Obama’s naming of Russia on top threats list

Published time: November 19, 2014

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says US Secretary of State John Kerry called on him to “pay no mind” to a statement by President Obama, in which Russia was included to a list of top global threats.

President Obama voiced the three most significant global threats at the UN General Assembly in September. Ebola topped his list, followed by “Russian aggression in Europe.” In third place was the threat represented by the Islamic State extremist group.

The US president once again included "aggressive Russia" in his top world dangers list at the recent G20 Summit in Australia.

“I was pointing out the enumeration of threats, which Obama has allowed himself, starting with his speech at the UN General Assembly,” Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday, speaking at the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament).

“Not so long ago, I was having a conversation with John Kerry and asked him what it all meant. He answered, ‘Pay it no mind’,” Lavrov said.

According to Lavrov, his American counterpart said that because he wanted to discuss the Iranian nuclear program issue and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

“It’s not appropriate for a powerful country to have such a consumer attitude to its partners,” Lavrov commented. “Where you’re needed, help us; where you’re not, obey us.”

The minister said Russia was working on helping to resolve the Iranian and Korean crises “not to please anyone,” but to help the international community avoid risks associated with these issues.

Sergey Lavrov has accused the US of getting its envoys around the world to demand other nations’ support for sanctions against Russia.

He said he recently raised the issue with John Kerry, telling him, “There’s not a single government where they [the envoys] did not come, demanding with various degrees of aggression support for the sanctions against the Russian Federation.”

The sanctions are, meanwhile, only “undermining efforts to get the world economy stabilized and aren’t driving the world an inch closer to the solution of the Ukrainian conflict.”

Blaming Russia for the crisis in Ukraine is wrong, Lavrov said, as what provoked the crisis in Ukraine in the first place was “the last quarter-century’s policy by the Western states to boost their own security at the expense of other countries’ security.”

“The chances to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine have regularly been torpedoed by our Western partners, which is particularly true of the February 21 agreement [between president Yanukovich and opposition leaders],” Lavrov said.

The real way to solve the crisis in Ukraine at the moment, Lavrov said, is helping to bring Kiev and the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk regions to the negotiation table.