Two Months Past the Elections, Turkey Still Does Not Have a New Government

Anti-Government Protest, Ankara, Turkey: Photo by Kerem

ANKARA, Turkey - On June 7, 2015 Turkey went through general elections for a new government. The ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP), main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and People’s Democratic Party (HDP) passed the10 percent electoral threshold, and got into the parliament, The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

Despite receiving the highest percentage of vote, unlike the previous elections, AKP was not able to reach the number of parliament members to form a government alone and forced to form a coalition with one of the opposing parties.

“‘No parties can form a government alone’ means political parties will come together and form a coalition. If no parties were authorized [by the people] to form a government alone, there is nothing more proper than having negotiations with other parties,” said Ahmet Davutoglu, chairman of AKP at the press conference following his final meeting with Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of CHP on August 13, 2015.

Following the elections, prime minister and chairman of AKP, Ahmet Davutoglu was appointed to form the coalition on July 9, 2015 by the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ahmet Davutoglu and his government would also continue to hold a temporary government until a new coalition is formed. Having 40 business days to form a government, Davutoglu and his team met leaders of all three parties at TBMM to start negotiations for a coalition government. Initially turned down by both MHP and HDP, AKP focused on negotiations with CHP. Both parties formed commissions to discuss main expectations from a new government that could be formed by both parties.

After the commissions met several times, a total hours of almost 35, to come to an agreement, the leaders of both parties Ahmet Davutoglu and Kemal Kilicdaroglu met on August 10, 2015 to finalize the negotiations. Not having come to terms, the two leaders scheduled to meet again on August 13, 2015.

The two leaders met in the afternoon of August 13, at Ankara Palas, a historical building used as an official state guest house in the capital to finalize the negotiations. Following long, tedious and cautiously crafted negotiations, most people were expecting an agreement and the announcement of the new government with the coalition of AKP and CHP, two distinct voices in the parliament.

Contrary to expectations, the final meeting did not end with an agreement. Both leaders expressed in separate press conferences that the parties were not able to some to terms to set a coalition government.

Mr. Davutoglu said despite both parties had very hopeful approach to form the government, and everyone did what they were supposed to do, each party’s expectations for the country’s future did not come to a consensus to work together.

“In my speech at AKP headquarters’ balcony on June 7th night, I had expressed that we will not let this country not have a government, we will not give a chance to those who want create a chaos or crisis, and we will take any necessary measures as a party that has the strength to govern the country any time. I am sure anyone who voted for us or not can see that we have been doing whatever is necessary for the responsibility we have taken on this issue for the past two months,” Mr. Davutoglu said.

“Within the frame of this work, I met the leaders of all the parties in the parliamentary. As a result of those meetings, in the initial phase, we decided to continue negotiations with CHP while MHP only expressed their willingness for latter meetings. I was very happy to find out we had more terms that we agreed than we had discuss. However, we also had great divergence on some issues especially foreign policy and education,” he continued. “We came to a conclusion that we should continue our dialogs within a mutual understanding, but we did not have the basis to form a coalition.”

Following Mr. Davutoglu, Mr. Kilictaroglu said CHP has prepared its basic principles to form a coalition with 14 items on June 15, 2015 and shared them with public following the elections. He said, he expressed Mr. Davutoglu that CHP thinks a well grounded and powerful coalition formed for a long term would be best for country’s need. On the contrary, Davutoglu offered a short term government or asked for support for a minority government as a second option.

“We have not received a suggestion for a coalition so far,” he said. “We were offered to form a government for a new election within three months. This did not match our central executive board’s decision of long term government. Personally, when we talk about national will, we need to understand what our people expected us.”

“If the national will has divided the votes among the political parties, and did not allow one party form a government alone, it is the leaders’ responsibility to form a coalition government as a response to national will of the country. If you say, I cannot form a coalition; I will go for a re-election, how can you talk about respecting the national will? We should have given a chance to this. I think, Turkey has missed a historical opportunity.”

Both leaders expressed there was no option for pessimism for Turkey. Davutoglu said there were still options such as forming a coalition with MHP, although an early election was prominently standing out. Kilicdaroglu said Turkey has the capacity to get over its problems.

Over two months after the elections, a government not being formed, Turkey’s people are again at the edge of making a choice of who should govern the country.

Contributing Journalist: @ElvanKatmer
LinkedIn: Elvan Katmer

Turkey: Top 5 Reasons for the AK PARTİ Failure

akp lawmakers fight in parliament, photo ap burhan ozbilliicj

ANKARA, Turkey - In the previous analysis of the recent elections in Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s was largely to blame for the failure of the AK PARTİ or AKP party to maintain its majority control of parliament.  There have been many elements affecting Turkey's populace deciding to vote along alternate party lines, but here are five that most heavily shaped the parliament in the Great National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).

1. Erdoğan Factor

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is unarguably one of the most charismatic and authoritarian figures in all of Turkish political history. Being in politics since his youth, Erdoğan was able to win the hearts and minds of millions in the 2002 elections, although he was originally politically banned as a result of his conviction within the scope of what was known in Turkey as “Thought Crimes.” In reality, his conviction sparked off more support for Erdoğan as people thought he was banned unjustly. In addition to his outstanding political charisma, Erdoğan’s powerful speeches and rigid attitude also won general approval. This general approval continued to increase as the government, under Erdoğan’s rule, ran successful economical policies which increased people’s level of welfare.

After being elected as a president in August 2014, Erdoğan’s position had become the most highly ranked - above all political parties. He was neither a prime minister nor a chairperson of AKP anymore. Erdoğan resigned from his positions in the AKP as well as the government, and handed over his reins to one of his closest allies in his party, Ahmet Davutoglu, to take over his previous position. Consequently, public’s support of AKP decreased in the June 7th elections without Erdoğan’s leadership.

2. The 2013 Corruption Scandal and Graft Probe Allegations

On December 17, 2013, Istanbul Security Directory’s Financial Crimes and Battle against Criminal Incomes Department detained 47 people within a criminal investigation of bribery with the government officials. The investigation involved several key people in Turkish Government for an investigation on a millions of dollars of corruption. An arrest warrant was issued for 30 people by the public prosecutor on December 25, 2015, but the Istanbul Directorate of Security refused to make the arrests. Most people involved in the list of detainees and arrest warrant had connections with AKP or government officials, including the sons of three ministers. The investigation blamed several ministers for being involved in the bribery scandal.

Simultaneously, phone tapes of Mr. Erdoğan, cabinet members and several businessman related to investigation were leaked through YouTube. It turned out the investigation was top secret in a way that none of the officials in the government were not informed, including the prime minister of the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, minister of interior, other cabinet members and president the time, Abdullah Gul.

Four of the ministers resigned from their positions following the allegations; however, none of them appeared on court thanks to their parliamentary immunity.

Erdoğan and other government officials claimed the allegations were conspiracy against Turkish government to stop it from performing its duties, and overthrow the government. Erdoğan blamed Fetullah Gulen, a cleric, who used to be a close ally to Mr. Erdoğan, residing in the U.S.A. for forming a parallel state within Turkey. The fact that all the officers involved in the investigation were members of Hizmet movement lead by Fetullah Gulen strengthened Erdoğan’s claims. All of the police officers, prosecutors, and other officials involved in the investigation were suspended or relocated by the government following the detaining. Government officials claimed all the phone tapes and other proofs of the investigation were built-up recordings and paperwork and did not reflect reality and did not match with the other parts of the investigation itself.

Turkey went through local authority general elections following those investigations on March 30, 2014, only about three months after the graft probe. Also, Mr. Erdoğan ran for presidential elections on August 2014. AKP received 42 percent of the vote in local elections and Erdoğan received 52 percent of the vote in presidential elections, which also showed people supported the government and Mr. Erdoğan in the graft probe allegations.

Although AKP declared a victory at the local elections, and Mr. Erdoğan won the presidential elections in the first round, people were still not convinced about the case being closed. Turkey’s people wanted transparency in graft probe investigations as well as the following parallel state investigations. People expected clear proofs about the allegations’ being fabrications and attempts to dysfunction the government. Since the local elections in 2014, AKP government was expected to answer the questions raised in people’s minds. It has been over a year since the local elections, yet government’s accomplishments were limited in relocations and suspensions of the officials involved in the graft probe.

3. People’s Democratic Party (HDP)’s raise

AKP government has attempted many reforms to increase the level of welfare in south eastern part of Turkey where most of the Kurdish population resided. The government also passed laws entitling new rights for the people of the region as well as other ethnic groups living in Turkey. Those included TRT (Turkish Radio and Television, by government) started broadcasting in Kurdish in one of its channels; the national oath, which praised being Turkish, was removed from school system. All these reforms aimed to dysfunction Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a terrorist organization in the region since 1984, blamed for over 40,000 Turkish citizens’ killings in its terrorist attacks. The Turkish government led by AKP organized these reforms under a package called democratic initiative process.

Since the last general elections, PKK ceased its activities in Turkey, and moved its armed forces to north of Syria and Iraq. In Turkey, a new party, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), was established in 2008 as a part of democratic initiative process, and contested in elections in 2011 independently to bypass the 10 percent electoral threshold. Following the elections HDP was established in August 2012 following the People’s Democratic Congress. After the congress, BDP joined HDP prior to June 7, 2015 elections. HDP contested in June 7th elections as a party and contrary to several polls prior to election date, received 13 percent of the vote passing the 10 percent electoral threshold and won 80 seats in the parliament. Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s support for HDP against AKP in the areas where CHP does not have much support as well as HDP’s peaceful and democratic campaign received people’s approval, and it lead to a swift increase in HDP’s vote. Consequently, a historically high percentage of votes found representation in the parliament, and AKP could not reach the number of the seats required to form a government alone.

4. AKP’s Presidential System Promise and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

AKP’s electoral agenda included many promises for what it wanted to do if it can form the government alone; however, it also included a revolutionary item that would change the Turkey’s democracy remarkably. AKP promised to amend the constitution, and change the parliamentary system into presidential system. It claimed that the current system did not allow the government to function efficiently, and suggested amendment of constitution and presidential system as the solution.

Although many people agree that the Turkish constitution needs to be revolutionized, and are not fundamentally against the presidential system, both the tone of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly strong language, and his power expectancy deterred people from supporting AKP, in terms of reforms, towards presidential system.

In his initial years of rule, Erdoğan’s rowdy style was somehow sympathetic to Turkish people. His authoritative attitude has been accepted and praised by his fellows as well as the public, as Turkey had been going through severe turbulence due to the lack of authority in government. However, Erdoğan’s tone increasingly became harsher and harsher both towards Turkey’s people (who criticizes him) as well as the international community.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition party- Republican People’s Party- called Erdoğan a dictator on several different occasions.

According to Today’s Zaman, a newspaper published in English in Turkey, in one of those occasions Mr. Kilicdaroglu said Erdoğan fits the scholarly description of a dictator referring to the book “The Psychology of Dictatorship” by Fathali Moghaddam, a Georgetown University academic in his speech at the CHP group meeting.

“Four criteria are used to describe a dictatorship: whether citizens can speak their minds or protest freely in city squares, whether there are fair elections in a country, whether minority rights are protected and whether there is judicial independence. Kılıçdaroğlu said Turkey fails on all four counts,” he said.

Many international media outlets associated Erdoğan with becoming “the new Sultan of Turkey” in their headlines. Since he first came to power in 2002, Mr. Erdoğan’s attitude has always been somewhat harsh to any of his opponents, yet Turkey’s people did not want to take his increasingly heavy language anymore. A presidential system could potentially fulfill the titles Mr. Kilicdaroglu and international media outlets placed upon Erdoğan, even if this has not been his intention.

5. Erdoğan’s Presidential Role

After being elected as a president in 2014, Mr. Erdoğan’s new position required him to keep the same distance to all political parties as well as bureaucracy. Yet, soon after he took over the president’s office, he said he will continue to be in politics actively, unlike his predecessors in this position.

“I have never been away from the fields. I have come to the presidency from the field. Where am I supposed to be if I am not going to be in the field? If anyone is expecting me to seclude myself in Ankara, they will have to wait a lot more,” he said. “I will not be a president sitting in his office, signing documents.”

Although legally Erdoğan was not supposed to be a part of AKP anymore, he continued to make propaganda on behalf of AKP during the election campaign process. He was giving speeches, and talking to the public on air almost every day through mass opening ceremonies, TV programs, meetings and various events using the presidential budget. Erdoğan asked for support for AKP by referring to the key items in its agenda: amendment of the constitution, and presidential system, which make him look like he was desperately looking to take over all the power to himself.

As a president, Mr. Erdoğan was expected to keep the same distance to all political parties; yet his misuse of his authority on behalf of AKP was not appreciated by Turkey’s people. As a consequence, AKP did not receive enough votes and seats in the national assembly to form the government alone and turn its words into action, although Ahmet Davutoglu and his team won the elections.

Contributing Journalist: @ElvanKatmer
LinkedIn: Elvan Katmer

Despite Presidential Legacy Goals, Obama Agrees to Slow Afghanistan Troop Drawdown

U.S. Soldier in Afghanistan, Courtesy of the U.S. Army

AFGHANISTAN - In March, President Obama announced that troop levels in Afghanistan would not be reduced, despite the president's pledge to decrease the number by half. In the following weeks a flood of diplomatic engagements, press conferences and speculation by world leaders unraveled about what the bilateral relationship will look like in the coming months and years.

What has become clear is an already tense and fragile relationship has become increasingly volatile with the rise of ISIS, coupled with the lessons learned from Iraq’s draw downs. In Iraq, many think we withdrew too quickly, leaving the vulnerable Iraqi troops to fend for themselves against ISIS, who advanced quickly against the inexperienced resistance.

Despite these factors, amplified lobbying efforts by President Ashraf Ghani certainly doesn't bode well for Obama’s plan to get half of the troops remaining in Afghanistan out by the end of 2015. With these pressures accumulating for months, Obama has officially decided to slow his planned troop draw down by scratching the 50% reduction in troops he was planning for the end of 2015. Now, the plan is to keep 10,000 troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2015, when the timeline will be further evaluated and structured for 2016.

Regardless of this major decision, Obama is unyielding on his benchmark goal of ending the war in Afghanistan before his Presidency comes to an end. Therefore, while there may be 10,000 troops in Afghanistan in December, he plans to have only a few hundred troops at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul left in the country by the end of 2016. The pace of this drawdown, though, is yet to be situated.

No doubt the White House, Pentagon, CIA and others are weighing the pros and cons versus staying longer to establish peace and stability, a strong Afghan military, and a more robust response to ISIS advances – but there is the eternal reminder that this is already America’s longest war and it cannot drag on forever. And while Obama may be dogged about having troops out by the end of 2016, he may be outweighed by recommendations from senior advisers and officials in these agencies who are pushing for Americans to stay longer and lock in the progress made over the last 13-years. It remains to be seen who will win this fight.

Africa Correspondent: @JessamyNichols
LinkedIn: Jessamy Nichols

The Radical Feminist, Afghanistan's Sara Bahayi

afghanistans northern militia, photo courtesy of faculty of journalism moscow state university ap photo van sekretarev

AFGHANISTAN, Mazar-i-Sharif – Yesterday, U.S. citizens awoke to 'news reports' that a YouTube video of a dress that changed colors had received 25+ million hits. People spoke about it on elevators, argued their selection of colors in cafeterias, shared and watched the video on their iPhones, and an endless round of recaps flooded every local and national news outlet.

Concurrently, Americans awoke to the incredible story featured on the front page of the Washington Post about Sara Bahayi, the only female taxi cab driver in Afghanistan. This woman is the epitome of a radical feminist, but her story of courage and tenacity remained far from the topic of inane conversation.

Unlike the bra burning icons of the 60's who sought the opportunity to break through the glass ceiling in Corporate America and ascend to the vaulted ranks of male executives, or even those who just wanted to escape the ennui of their housewife status; Bahayi, 38, is one of a new breed of women who are risking their lives in pursuit of basic freedoms.

As Afghanistan's first and perhaps only female driver, Bahayi's life and those of her loved ones are in very real danger. Something that most women take for granted has become the focus of a feminist revolution in countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. It is easy to call yourself a feminist if you are safely ensconced in a political and social system which legislates equal rights protections, even if these protections are not always enforced.

It is quite another to seek equality in a society and culture in which women are considered chattel, a precept that is enforced by Taliban militia and other radicalized groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani woman, who at 15-years-old was shot in the head by an assassin and nearly died because of her efforts to lobby for the right for girls and women to get an education, is an example of the lengths to which extremists will go to reinforce their belief systems.

Bahayi has waged her quiet campaign of civil disobedience for 10-years driving a taxi through the streets of Mazar-i-Sharif. She has been threatened with grievous harm and even death, though she bravely takes the opportunity to talk to some of her male passengers to try and help them understand that driving a car even if it is a taxi, is not sacrilegious. However, most of her passengers are women who seem to feel more comfortable riding inside the car with a woman driver, and even in some cases riding in the front passenger seat.

Unlike the feature photo in which Burqa clad women are forced to ride in the open trunk of a car, Bahayi has literally taken control of destiny at the wheel of her taxi. According to the Washington Post, she earns roughly $10-20 she earns per day. As an unmarried, childless woman, she uses the money that she earns to help support 15 relatives. "She started working outside the home in the late '90s when her brother-in-law was killed by the Taliban; a male neighbor taught her to drive after Bahayi decided her high school teacher's salary was insufficient; she got her drivers license two years ago in a class of 30 students, all male, only nine of whom passed the test. When driving into Taliban-controlled areas, she sometimes disguises herself as male..."

Bahayi has waged a quiet revolution and it is nice to read that her inspirational story was brought to international attention. Reportedly she is in negotiations to open a dealership. Because of the complexity of property ownership in Afghanistan's patriarchal society, she will require the initial investment and auspices of male partners to launch her business. However, she has stated that once the business is established, she hopes to transform it into Afghanistan's first female-owned car dealership. Watch her tell her story in her own language.

Editor-in-Chief: @AyannaNahmias
LinkedIn: Ayanna Nahmias

The Smartest Girl in all of Afghanistan

BALKH, Afghanistan — During Afghanistan’s university entrance exams last month, a girl named Shohreh Ghaderi scored the highest of anyone in the country.

She beat over 225,000 other test-takers. Considering Afghanistan’s history of repressing women’s education, Ghaderi’s feat is challenging the status quo of families not sending their daughters on to higher education.

The university entrance exams in Afghanistan, known as the Kankor, are the Afghan equivalent of the American SATs, but far more imperative for Afghani students. Only about thirty-percent of the students that take the Kankor will be accepted to a public institution of higher education, according to Outlook Afghanistan.

Those who do not qualify have the option of attending one of the few private universities, but most students are too poor to afford it. Shohreh Ghaderi commented on the situation of her fellow test-takers to BBC News saying “Many students who sat for the exam had no security where they live. They don’t have proper books or teachers or access to computer. They have nothing.”

Ghaderi, however, will be one of the fortunate ones that will be going on to university. On taking the exam she said to BBC News, “There were 160 multiple choice questions. I only made three mistakes. I remember I was doubtful of one question. It asked what the chemical formula was for phosphoric acid. It was a very easy question, but I don’t know if I chose the right answer.” Despite those three mistakes, she managed to earn the highest score in the country.

Because of her high score she stands out, but what makes her achievement all the more noteworthy is that she is a girl. Traditionally, Afghan girls do not go on to university, instead opting for a domestic life, but that is not the case for her family. She credits her education to her family saying, “My dad used to help me with my questions. I do not believe any of this has to do with luck. I was brought up in an academic family where everyone cares about education.”

When it comes to how she achieved the highest scores in the country she says to BBC News that there was neither a “special technique” in how she studied nor any unique talent, but it was how hard she studied that mattered. She says, “Everything is possible if you have strong will. You have to have a goal in life and believe that nothing can stop you from achieving it.”

Ghaderi credits peace and security to bettering education for other girls. She tells BBC News that violence in certain areas is why girls are not going to school saying, “Some people won’t let their daughters study because of the lack of security.” She continues to say, “If everywhere was safe then there would be no excuse for stopping their daughters from studying and it would become an outdated tradition.”

With Ghaderi’s impressive score, she will be attending Kabul University. She intends on studying medicine. When she visited a class of other girls prior to their university exams, she left them with this encouraging message, “I hope I can be an inspiration to you all and that you all will be successful in the university entrance exam and then you will become and inspiration for our community.”

Follow Allyson on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Contributing Journalist: @allysoncwright

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Did Bergdahl Desert in Afghanistan? Questions Remain for Families of Slain Soldiers

Michael Ransom, Contributing EditorLast Modified: 01:56 a.m. DST, 6 June 2014

THE NEGOTIATIONS that freed prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban insurgents are continuing to amass criticism as more and more controversial information about Bergdahl and the deal surface.

While Republicans originally condemned the bargaining agreement because Congress was not notified about the release of Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay detention center, and because the government in effect negotiated with terror groups during the settlement, the disapproval is becoming increasingly bipartisan, and is starting to include more voices from Bergdahl's past.

New insight from Bergdahl's unit have been particularly troubling for the image of the liberated soldier. Gerald Sutton, for instance, was a close friend and comrade of Bergdahl and unequivocally states that his fellow soldier was a deserter. Many in Bergdahl's platoon have made similar remarks, and auxiliary evidence supports many of their claims.

Before leaving his post in Paktika, Afghanistan, Bergdahl mailed his personal belongings, including his laptop, to his parents in Idaho. In the months leading up to this shipment, Bergdahl used his laptop to email his parents and explain his frustration with American involvement in the region, and stated that he was ashamed to be an American.

Also noteworthy, a military investigation written in the months after Bergdahl went missing indicate that the young soldier has run away from duty in the past. Once during training, Bergdahl left his exercises in California and later returned. In an incident unrelated to his capture, Bergdahl left his post in Afghanistan and reappeared soon after. Why serious action was not taken after either of these incidents is unknown.

Claims that six men died trying to locate their comrade are cause for anger, but the proof is somewhat dubious. Six men died in the Paktika in the months after Bergdahl's disappearance, but whether or not these men died directly searching for their fellow American is unclear. Some members of the platoon say yes, while other intelligence cites a rise in regional violence as the root of the six fatalities. Still, it is likely that at least some of the deaths are directly related to the search for Bergdahl.

Two things are true as this saga unfolds. As a United States soldier in harm's way, the government was right to pursue Bergdahl's release, although the conditions of the trade are questionable. One national for five is an exploitation of the high value that America holds for each service member.

And also, like all Americans, Bergdahl should be regarded innocent until proven otherwise, no matter how damning the evidence.

Follow Michael on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Contributing Editor: @MAndrewRansom

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Bowe Bergdahl Freed by Taliban, But at What Cost?

Michael Ransom, Contributing EditorLast Modified: 12:42 p.m. DST, 2 June 2014

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER captured in Afghanistan in 2009 is returning home. 28-year-old Bowe Bergdahl was the last prisoner of war from the Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom conflicts.

His homecoming marks the end of an ongoing discussion with Taliban executives, which were largely mediated by Qatari representatives. Since 2011, the United States has actively pursued Bergdahl's release. A recent video provided by Taliban leaders indicated the young man's failing health.

In June of 2009, Bergdahl left his military outpost in Paktika, Afghanistan for reasons still unknown. Outside of the military stronghold, Bergdahl was captured by Taliban affiliates. Those close to the family have described Bergdahl as a sensitive, questioning young man who was struggling with aspects of his service. This, coupled with the possibility of preexisting mental health problems could help to explain his disappearance.

The nation celebrates his arrival, but Bergdahl's release is not without a price. Five Taliban officials are scheduled to be released from Guantanamo Bay detention center and transported to Qatar. Here, the five are required to spend one year, and will be monitored to some extent.

Those safeguards are not enough to prevent their return to extremism, according to some conservative members of Congress, namely Californian Representative Howard McKeon and Oklahoman Senator James Inhofe. The two have become outspoken critics of the White House's secret negotiations.

Among their concerns--Congress was not notified about the release of Guantanamo Bay detainees a month in advance as per federal law, and the move to bring Bergdahl out of harm's way broke a longstanding American policy of not negotiating with terror groups.

In the years since his son's capture, Robert Bergdahl has learned Pashto, the language widely spoken in Afghanistan. Using this new skill set, R. Bergdahl has made efforts to speak with Taliban members to arrange his son's release.

According to officials, B. Bergdahl has spoken relatively no English in the past five years and he is having difficulty communicating in his native tongue. His father will help him in the meantime, as he adjusts to civilian life in his hometown of Hailey, Idaho.

Follow Michael on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Contributing Editor: @MAndrewRansom

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The Opium Economy Booms in Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN — The concerted efforts of Afghanistan and US governments will not be enough to curb this year’s opium industry in Afghanistan. The high unemployment rates and political instability in the country will create a surge of opium production and usage; which is predicted to break records for this year. With the threat of complete crop destruction forcing people into the arms of the Taliban, but also a desire to eradicate the drug, this year’s booming opium growth is prompting new courses of action.

Opium, from poppies, is the main ingredient used in heroin. Three-quarters of the world’s supply of opium is grown in Afghanistan. According to VICE News, it is predicted to reach ninety-percent by this year. The Washington Times reports there has been a thirty-six percent increase in poppy farm acreage, to approximately 516,000 acres. The US currently spends $7.5 billion on defensive measures against the opium trade.

Despite production of opium in mostly the southern and western provinces of Afghanistan, US forces are being located to the east to combat the trade. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction defends the shift to the east because it is “generally less than the threat in the south and southwest”. The US forces are trying to fight the trade in the opposite direction of the problem.

Because of the International Security Assistance Force, the Afghan forces have little jurisdiction in combatting the opium trade themselves. A report from Washington’s Afghanistan war watchdog said on the issue, “Drug labs, storage sites, and major trafficking networks are concentrated in rural areas that are increasingly off-limits to Afghan forces due the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) drawdown and declining security in these areas.”

Due to the end of the war in Afghanistan, foreign troops will be leaving by the end of the year, taking with them the most effective combative forces against the trade, as well as much of the country’s stability. As they face staggering unemployment and security concerns against forces like the Taliban, the lack of foreign aid could promote the opium industry.

Opium-use is rising among Afghans because of the tough economic times. The Guardian reports about 1.3 million Afghan adults were regular drug users in 2012 out of a population near 32 million.

Not only is the demand increasing, but it is providing jobs for those unemployed more than any other form of cultivation. Some see the possible utilization of opium production as a solution to actually provide economic growth and stability for the weak Afghan government. Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on counter-narcotic efforts in Afghanistan, told VICE News that because opium cultivation is labor-intensive and profitable, if the 806 square miles of opium fields last year were instead wheat then that would only create twenty percent of the jobs that the opium fields provided.

Felbab-Brown goes on to say, “What we really need to ask ourselves is, is it bad to have this illicit economy? It probably is bad, but is it much worse than the alternative? The alternative right now would be huge political instability and it would also be huge unemployment,” she said. “So yes, it’s undesirable that there is a major illicit economy that constitutes so much of the country’s GDP, but there’s just no way to walk away from that.”

What concerns the US government, though, is more than the illicitness of the opium trade and drug use; The US is more concerned with the implications that this trade can have on strengthening the Taliban and warlords.

The poor farmers are not the ones who profit off of the opium crop. The local warlords, Taliban, and wealthy elites connected to the government instead pocket the revenue, according to VICE News. The DEA claims that high-ranking Taliban members double as drug lords who finance terrorist attacks using drug money.

However, eradicating the drugs could also promote the Taliban. With eliminating the crops, it would cripple the poorest farmers who would them be forced to turn to the Taliban. Felbab-Brown told VICE News, “[…] what would inevitably happen is that eradication would target the poorest sectors of society, and they would then become dependent on the support of the Taliban for basic survival, and consequently they would dislike the state and dislike the counterinsurgency, and strengthen their bond to militants like the Taliban.”

To regulate the opium trade prompts the concern of drug use and funding terrorists, however to eliminate the trade offers similar outcomes. Graeme Smith, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, told VICE News, “The fact of the matter is that Afghanistan will continue to be the world’s leading opium producer probably for many years to come and the international community will need to help Afghanistan get off the sauce when it comes to finding another way to bring in hard currency.”

Follow Allyson on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Contributing Journalist: @allysoncwright

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Taliban Beheads 17 People Over a Woman

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 15:10 PM EDT, 27 August 2012

KAJAKI, Afghanistan – Afghan officials have reported that 17 Afghan civilians, including two women were beheaded by Taliban militants. They were killed on Sunday, 26 August 2012 at a late night celebration.

According to Reuters and the Associated press, the revelers who lived in the Kajaki district of the Helmand province were celebrating with music and dancing which provoked the ire of the Taliban because of their disapproval of music and dancing.

NATO, the European Union, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have roundly condemned the murders as a heinous disregard for human life and an “unforgivable crime.”

Usually quick to take credit for attacks they have committed, as well as claiming involvement in other killing for opportunistic advantage and publicity, the Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi issued a statement today denying the groups involvement in the attack. (Source: VOA)

In an effort to distance themselves from charges of radical extremism and unbridled suppression and violence, the Taliban, through Helmand’s governor stated that the killings were not because the Taliban objected on religious grounds to the celebration with music, dancing, and women, but that the killings were a result of a feud between two Taliban commanders.

Just as in the case in July 2012 when the Taliban executed a woman in cold blood after accusing her of adultery, it has been alleged that this is a similar situation in which one of the woman was executed in order to settle a dispute between two Taliban leaders, each of whom wanted her. If this is proven to be true, then remaining sixteen revelers were simply collateral damage.

Whatever the reason, 17 people lost their lives during a night of festivities which should have ended in happiness and joy but instead was brutally cut short through these heinous beheadings.

Follow Nahmias Cipher Report on Twitter

Twitter: @nahmias_report Editor: @ayannanahmias

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Islamists Destroy Timbuktu, Eye Pyramids of Giza

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 19:20 PM EDT, 11 July 2012

Unfortunately, radical Islamist behaving badly has dominated the news this week. This coupled with a dearth of response from moderate Muslims who should vociferously denounce these fringe groups that have hijacked their religion, has provided fertile ground for anger, mistrust, and xenophobia.

Today, news outlets reported the horrific possibility that Egypt’s greatest historical treasure and defining landmark is under threat of destruction. Prominent, radical Muslim clerics are demanding the newly elected President Mohammed Morsi push Egypt toward theocratic governance. As proof of his compliance the clerics are demanding that he impose Islamic law in Egypt just like the newly formed northern Sudan government did.

It is perhaps fortunate that President Morsi is making his first foreign trip today to Saudi Arabia, and thus has been spared the ordeal of addressing these ludicrous demands. The radicalization of his government could play directly into the hands of the military who recently dissolved parliament and would use this or any other opportunity to reassert their dominance.

At issue today is the call by top, radical, Muslim clerics for Morsi to demonstrate his fealty by instituting a program to destroy the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - namely, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Sphinx, and all others symbols and representations that they deem pagan and ‘idolatrous.’

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World have all been destroyed. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria were all believed to have been destroyed by earthquakes. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus as well as the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus were destroyed during war. Only the Great Pyramids of Giza remains.

The call for the destruction of these significant, historical antiquities by marauding conquerors is not new, but what is disturbing is that in this instance Egyptian are seeking to destroy their national heritage. The fact that these demands were made is a clear sign of the diminished capacity of moderate Muslims to keep the radical fringe in check, which in turn provides ammunition to those who seek to engage in an apocalyptic end of day’s battle between the West and Islam.

Though the destruction of the Pyramids of Giza is unfathomable, the necessary technology can be procured easily by radical Islamist. If they are successful in convincing the Morsi government to destroy the pyramids, there is little that any other nation could do to stop this unconscionable act.

On 9 June 2012, in Mali, Ansar Dine Islamist militia which has ties to Al-Qaeda and fought with the Tuareg to capture the key towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal, have begun to impose Sharia law on the populace in the region with the hope of eventually instituted this as the rule of law for the nation.

The Tuareg who are more moderate but fought with Ansar Dine against the military forces of the deposed Malian president Amadou Toumani Touré, have broken ties with the group because they do not ascribe to their strict interpretation of the Quran. Unfortunately, they have unwittingly delivered control of the region into the hands of what some have reported is an organization comprised of criminals and drug lords.

According to reports Ansar Dine Islamists routinely engage in pillaging, rape, and theft in the areas they have conquered. They have also actively desecrated a number of centuries-old mausoleums of Muslim holy men in Timbuktu. The tombs are located at the great Djinguereber mosque, and this sacrilegious act perpetrated under the guise of piety is nothing short of hypocrisy.

In March 2001, Taliban fighters used explosives to blow up the famed 6^th century giant statues of the Buddha in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province, and in both instances the extremists’ leaders, Mullah Mohammed Omar in Afghanistan, and a spokesman for Ansar Dine lauded the destruction of these irreplaceable monuments.

“Muslims should be proud of smashing idols. It has given praise to God that we have destroyed them.”

There is no better time in history for moderate Muslims to take a stand and let their voices be heard. As Edmund Burke said, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”

Thus, it is imperative that every voice of moderation speak out or risk being tarred by the same brush used by generalists to justify racism, hate crimes, xenophobia, and distrust of not only Muslims, but of all people who do not conform to ‘their’ perception of the world.

As George Santayana stated, “Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it.” If we do not stand against this wanton destruction and radical extremism by deploying every means possible, we will surely find ourselves locked in another world war. This time, not with Fascist or Nazis, but with unpredictable, undisciplined, uneducated, radical Islamist; and in the end the collateral damage of this type of engagement will leave no country unscathed.

Follow Nahmias Cipher Report on Twitter

Twitter: @nahmias_report Editor: @ayannanahmias

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Video Captures Taliban Executing Woman

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban has reasserted its hold on the Afghan people and is exacting horrific punishment against those whom they have accused of moral turpitude. As in prior years when the Taliban's power was at its height, the predominant victims of their extrajudicial sentencing continue to be women.

Recently, Afghans officials have confirmed the veracity of a video circulating the internet which depicts a woman being executed by a Taliban who shot her in the back of her head then continued firing into her dead body several more times. Even more disturbing, the video captured both Taliban and villages watching and cheering.

The execution occurred on 23 June 2012 in the Shinwari district of Parwan Province which is located in central Afghanistan. The province is roughly an hour from Kabul, and the video is reminiscent of the public executions that occurred in packed stadiums during the Taliban's bloody five-year reign from 1996 – 2001.

The video below was apparently taken by one of the witnesses of the execution. It is believed that one of the Taliban captured the bloody incident with his cell phone hence the poor quality.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                There has been speculation that the woman was in a relationship with some of the Taliban. Given the utter lack of freedom Afghan women possess in every area of their lives, it is ludicrous to think that this woman could have willingly engaged in a consensual relationship with not one but two men in addition to her husband.

Reuters news agency reported that the “Taliban members can be heard saying that the executioner is the woman’s husband, though Afghan officials offered conflicting accounts of what transpired in the village, Qol-i-Heer.

Colonel Masjidi said the woman’s real husband was a member of a village militia that had slain a local Taliban leader. The 20 year old woman, named Najiba was executed in revenge on trumped up charges of adultery, he said.”

Adultery is a common accusation leveled against women by extreme Islamists. It is particularly effective because it is a charge against which the woman is powerless to defend herself and confers upon her an automatic death sentence. She can expect little to no sympathy for her plight because everyone in the community, men and women alike, either tacitly or openly support her execution.

In the video, “One of the Taliban says the Koran prohibits adultery. Killing the woman is ‘God’s order and decree,’ he says. ‘If the issue was avenging deaths, we would beg for her amnesty. But in this case, God says, ‘You should finish her. It’s the order of God, and now it is her husband’s work to punish her.” (Source: Reuters)



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Drone strikes will go on in Pakistan: US officials

Pakistan's Dirty Secret War

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 20:50 PM EDT, 5 April 2012

BALOCHISTAN, Pakistan - Recently, we wrote about the Tuareg of North Africa and the battle they are fighting in Mali for independence as an autonomous country. There is another little known group of people also fighting for their independence, as well as control over the natural resource in their region, the Baloch. These Asiatic people inhabit Balochistan which is a territory located in southwest Pakistan.

It lies in a mountainous region that is rich in natural gas. It is also Pakistan’s largest province and the area from which Pakistan imports much of its natural gas.

The Baloch, view Pakistan's unilateral ownership of this natural resource as larceny because they are not remunerated, nor can they adequately utilize the gas because so many of their homes and villages have been razed to the ground.

Balochistan borders two conflict nations, Iran and Afghanistan. The Baloch rebels control the border crossings into Iran and Afghanistan, and in the case of the latter, this nearly inaccessible region can only be navigated with the permission and guidance of the Balochian militia.

Although it is not a common occurrence there have been reports that members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have joined their ranks, but this could be because these religious ideologues have fled into hiding, or they are meeting arms dealers to replenish their weaponry.

The Baloch, an ethnic minority in Pakistan, has been engaged in a 60-year-long insurgency against the government. Because America and other nations have focused on Pakistan for its tacit support and harboring of Taliban operatives, other injustices that occur in the country often go unacknowledged and definitely under-reported in the Western media.

In fact, some have even labeled this conflict as “Pakistan’s Dirty Little War.” A fact which should give America pause when Congress continues to approve economic support for this country.  In fact, America provides Pakistan nearly $1bn in foreign aid annually. (Source: Guardian UK)

As with many conflict torn areas of the world, some warring factions employ the frightening practice of kidnapping, torture, and forced disappearance of the relatives of their enemies. This occurred in Libya post-Gaddafi, in Congo, and also in Pakistan. In fact, in Pakistan, there are organizations which have been formed to help families get information about loved ones who have been kidnapped, and Amnesty International has focused extensive attention to this issue.

As with the Tuareg and other minority groups around the world who are persecuted and marginalized, the Baloch live in a constant state of conflict. They not only face violence, murder, and larceny, but they must also contend with the kidnapping of their loved ones. Often children are taken who could be trafficked into sexual slavery, pressed into war as child fighters, or outright killed.

The Baloch have refused to negotiate with the Pakistani government which they view with suspicion. During the six decade conflict the Pakistani government has failed to make a good faith effort to meet the needs and requests of the Balochians. There have been gross human rights abuses as well as the burning of homes and rape of women.

It seems the only end to this 60-year conflict will occur when the Balochian achieve the right to self-governance in a country which has seceded from Pakistan.

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Afghan Girl's Nose Cut Off By Abusive Husband

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 11:37 AM EDT, 13 February 2012

AFGHANISTAN - Most often, we in the West are exposed to and challenged by an increased number of news stories of the heinous, misogynistic treatment of women and young girls all in other parts of the world.

Thankfully, there are a cadre of people and organizations dedicated to bringing greater public awareness to these gross injustices and when possible physically intervening in the lives of these women to improve their conditions or alleviate their suffering.

In an earlier post Nujood Ali a young Yemeni girl speaks of her ordeal as a child bride and the abuse she suffered. Now, we are privy to the suffering of another young teenager; an Afghan girl who was horribly mutilated by her husband under Taliban rule. Last year Bibi Aisha was horribly disfigured by her husband who cut off her nose.  Last week, there was report of another Afghan girl who was beaten for refusing to submit to prostitution.

Unfortunately, these stories are becoming more common, but Aisha, 19, has become the face of this heinous behavior.  In the summer of 2010, she shocked the world when she appeared on the cover of Time Magazine vividly displaying her severed nose. When Aisha was 12, her father promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt. She was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals.

When she tried to run away, she was caught by her husband who brutally hacked off her nose and both ears, before leaving her for dead in the mountains. Subsequent to her return to consciousness, she crawled down the mountain to her grandfather's house. Later, her father arranged to have her treated at an American medical facility where she remained for the next 10 weeks.

Once she was stable, she was transported to a secret shelter in Kabul and in August she was flown to the U.S. by the Grossman Burn Foundation to stay with a host family. Last week she returned to the public stage wearing a new prosthetic nose - one that gives her some idea of how she will look after having reconstructive surgery.

Aisha received the Enduring Heart award at a benefit for the Grossman Burn Foundation - the Los Angeles-based organisation that paid for her surgery. She was given the award by California first lady Maria Shriver. Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife told the audience: 'This is the first Enduring Heart award given to a woman whose heart endures and who shows us all what it means to have love and to be the enduring heart.'

This month after extensive counseling for her traumatic experience, she finally received a prosthetic nose fitted at the non-profit humanitarian Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital in California as part of her eight-month rehabilitation. Dr Peter H. Grossman said they hoped to reconstruct Aisha's nose and ears using bone, tissue and cartilage from other parts of her body.

Dr Grossman's wife Rebecca, the chair of the Grossman Burn Foundation, said Aisha was just one of the thousands of women who are treated with appalling harshness. She said: 'Aisha is reminded of that enslavement every time she looks in the mirror. But there are still times she can laugh. And at that moment you see her teenage spirit escaping a body that has seen a lifetime of injustice.'

The UN estimates that nearly 90 per cent of Afghanistan's women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse.

Follow Nahmias Cipher Report on Twitter

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Editor:

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The Ugly American | U.S. Marines' Shocking Behavior

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 00:22 AM EDT, 13 January 2012

In the absence of Al-Qaeda the Taliban has become the new face of extremist Islam. Members of the Taliban condone the stoning death of women who have been raped, who are not covered in accordance with their dictates of modesty, or who dare speak against the abuse incurred at the hands of their husbands or other males.

However, it is important to remember that members of the Taliban are not representative of most Muslims, but have hijacked Islam through a very narrow interpretation of the Qur'an which they promulgate through the indoctrination of illiterate and impoverished proselytes. This type of extremism and indoctrination occurs in both Christianity and Judaism. During the Spanish Inquisition the zealotry of a few (priests who were not members of religious orders), under the auspices of the Spanish Monarchy tortured and killed between 3,000 to 5,000 people.

Recently, thousands of people in Israel rallied against the abuse suffered by Naama Margolese , a shy, retiring, bespectacled second-grader who was verbally abused by ultra-Orthodox extremist while walking to her religious Jewish girls school. She was often spat on and called a whore for dressing "immodestly." That said, man's inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds and like George Eliot said “cruelty, like every other vice, requires no motive outside of itself; it only requires opportunity.”

Such is the case with the U.S. Marines who were secretly caught on tape apparently urinating on the dead bodies of some Taliban. This utter disregard and irreverent treatment of the bodies of a vanquished enemy is unconscionable. It is even more appalling when one considers that in both Islam and Judaism, it is imperative that the bodies of the deceased be cleansed, dressed in a shroud and buried shortly after death.

In both faiths, reverence in caring for the bodies of the deceased is an important aspect of this rite of passage. The bodies of the departed are treated with such respect that in addition to being washed, anointed, they are neither embalmed nor cremated. The apparent degradation of the bodies by the Marines urinating on them is an affront to many people regardless of their religious persuasion.

The NATO-led security force in Afghanistan released a statement Thursday saying, “This disrespectful act is inexplicable and not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces.”

These Marines, like the soldiers who participated in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, are not representative of most Americans. Most Americans do not condone such actions nor would they participate in this type of abuse. However, guilt by association and country of origin adds fuel to the fire of hatred for America. The behavior of these few men does nothing to abate this sentiment and in fact affirms the disparaging moniker 'The Ugly American.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0hmmJPFU1s]

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