Iraq is waning…Afghanistan is….well Afghanistan!
The US has its hands full with Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan, but somewhere the next big test is brewing. But where?
Could it be Sri Lanka?
Further evidence has emerged confirming that top-level discussions are underway involving Washington, Colombo and New Delhi over an American-led military intervention in northern Sri Lanka on the pretext of evacuating civilians trapped by the island’s civil war.
Speaking to a group of South Asian journalists last weekend, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher was asked about press reports in Colombo revealing plans for a marine expeditionary brigade attached to Pacific Command (PACOM) to be sent to Sri Lanka.
While deliberately vague on detail, Boucher did confirm that talks were taking place. “We had some people there to look at the situation to identify what the possibilities might be. We could do whatever we can to help these people,” he said.
Is that Mexico calling?
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen briefed President Barack Obama over the weekend on the so-called drug war in Mexico and the prospect of increased US military involvement in the conflict south of the border.
Mullen had just returned from a six-day tour of Latin America, which took him on his last and most important stop to Mexico City. There he held meetings with Mexico’s secretary of national defense and other top military officials and discussed proposals for rushing increased US aid to Mexico under the auspices of Plan Merida, a three-year, $1.4 billion package designed to provide equipment, training and other assistance to the Mexican armed forces.
How about Sudan?
Washington has welcomed the charges against Bashir. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, declared, “Those who committed atrocities in Sudan, including genocide, should be brought to justice.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “Governments and individuals who either conduct or condone atrocities of any kind, as we have seen year after year in Sudan, have to be held accountable.”
There are many indications that the Obama administration is taking a more aggressive stance toward Sudan than that which prevailed under the Bush administration. Writing in the Washington Post on March 5, the former Air Force chief of staff and co-chair of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, General Merrill McPeak, called for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Sudan and hinted that it could be the first step toward a bombing campaign. Referring to Yugoslavia in the 1990s, he wrote, “[W]e ultimately saw that more vigorous action was needed to end that conflict. The same conclusion holds now for Darfur.”
Where will the next test be? The chest thumping has begun…where will it end?
Daily Agitator 