-Pritam S Rana or Priam
The waters of Somalia is known haven for pirates, formerly Somali coastguard workers who are unemployed after the United Nations and Europeans failed to set up an orderly state in Somalia. These men have taken up law against neutral shipping and broken the Ten Commandment law of "Thou Shall nOt Steal and Kill", earning a lable of pirates. The same group are highly vulnerable to recruitment by Al Qaida. Al Qaida number two front man, Aiman Al Zawairi invoked the Salafists to send volunteers and fight US interests in Somalia. And US has engaged these terrorists since 2006 and is busy forming the African Command, a joint military command to police the restive continent of Africa from would be transnational terrorists and states that have a history of supporting terrorism.
The kidnapping of Captain Richard Philips and other crewmen of SS Maersk Alabama denotes the pirates are inspired by Al Qaida and seek hostilities with the United States. These same forces, the clans engaged in intercenine warfare among themselves, were active in kidnapping the crew of Saudi supertanker Sirius Star and its cargo of two million tons of crude oil. According to respected German magazine Der Spiegel, the merchandise was worth nearly $100 million in the world market. The pirates however did a commendable job in kidnapping Russian arms peddler MV Faina in September 25, 2008. This Africa bound ship was carrying a cargo of 33 T-72s , enough to arm an armored battalion. This powerful force of tanks was reportedly destined for Juba in Southern Sudan. It would probably have been used to conduct military operations against Darfur rebels by the Islamist Sudanese regime. Or worse, it could have ended in Al Qaida's undisclosed camps in Sudan to rehearse a possible combat with US XVIII Airborne Corps rapid reaction force or NATO's Allied Command Europe's Mobile Force or France's numerous contingents supporting various peacekkeeping and security forces throughout Africa.
When Indian naval forces including frigate INS Tabar (sourced from AP/Der Spiegel picture, issue Nr48, 24/11/08) conducted bombardment of these pirate forces, Al Qaida cells responded swiftly by conducting terrorist raids against Bombay areas of importance, chiefly frequented by American and Western tourists, including a rabbi. The signature attack which killed 173 and wounded 308 corresponded with Al Qaida's anti-Western, anti-Jewish footprint. This writer believes intuitively that there is a strong link between India's participation in NATO naval operations and the Bombay attacks.
These pirates have defied the world community and made a mockery of international trade. The dropping of $2 million dollars denote how vulnerable international oil trade is to blackmailing and terrorism. Greater danger looms ahead as US Navy is being drawn to combat these fierce clansmen who fear nothing. The men are professional killers and butchers. The whole idea of kidnapping US merchant mariners could be a ploy by Al Qaida to draw American ships into free fire zone and again use the same technique used to destroy US Navy destroyer USS Cole in 2000. Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was the main culprit, according to US magazines Newsweek.
Establishing a functioning state in Somalia is a titanic task given the enormous risk and costs involved in the invasion of the country plagued with intercenine clan warfare. Since Siad Barre's fall from power in 1991, the country has been rife for terrorist exploitation. Presence of anti-American forces under such fanatical clans like Mohammed Farah Aidid whose forces attacked UN forces and engaged US Army rangers in 1993. President George Herbert Walker Bush's policy to allow orderly distribution of food and restore order met with fierce clashes with Aidid's Habar Gadir militia. Possible infiltration by Arab Jihadis who trained local Somali fighters to shoot down US helicopters using rocket propelled grenades was artistically presented to public eye in Hollywood bluckbuster, 'Black Hawk Down'. But the sight of parading of US soldiers by the militia was unpalatable and revulsive to most Americans. It seems the mother of all battles began in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia's defense. However, the focus is in Horn of Africa. The big oil's footprint is clearly visible in the new Great War. And, Somalia's decay can partly be blamed on its bloody war with Ethiopia over the Ogaden region. The then Soviet Union and its Cuban communist proxy forces destroyed Somalia's military manpower and left the country dry of bright and able leaders.
Although US intelligence has bird's eye view of the world through its massive network of spy satellites, the terrorist forces are studying ways to circumvent US surveillance of hotspots through recruiting quality technical manpower. According to April 9 report on the Wall Street Journal by Mr Gorman, the Russians and Chinese hackers now have the capability to map US electrical grid ostensibly to shut it down in case of future armed conflict with the US and its NATO allies. If US grid can be mapped, it can be assumed that these foreign states now have the technical capability, resources and organization to map every US Internet based architecture and possibly disable it to through destructive virus program once US is militarily enaged with rogue states and hostile organizations. The scenario described in Dan Brown's Digital Fortress is now real as ever before.
Information and intelligence warfare has evolved radically in favor of hostile powers and transnational groups. Although the technology and its architecture is US built and controlled, foreign sofware engineers have mastered much and are capable of controlling information superhighway as exemplified by China's grip on access to Internet within its borders. Der Spiegel report further speaks of presence of spies among foreign expatriate laborers in Arab countries who use widely available Internet and sophisticated communication devices like satellite phones to report movement of cargo ships to terrorists and pirates abroad in places like the Horn of Africa.
Furthermore, piracy is rife also in other poorer states like the Straits of Malacca. Allied with such terrorist outfits as Khaddafi Janjalini's Abu Sayyaf terrorist outfit, the threat is tangible. Much of Japan's trade with Asia still passes through the straits and Singaporeean military although armed with latest US platforms cannot be everywhere to curtail carefully planned or massed terrorist operations by such groups seeking media exposure or hard cash. The depreciation of US and World economy further heightens threat to existing commerce. The author feels that US government should chose to delegate sea policing tasks to private security companies so as to lessen the burden on scarce budget resources. The private firms operation under international maritime law might be questionable. But latest incidents have denoted that private sea security firms are likely to be licensed by US maritime authorities. Eric Prince and his Blackwater has much potential to lucrative contracts in an insecure world infested by pirates and arms traffickers.
"The safe return of the captain is the top priority," AFP reporter Andre des Nesnera quoted Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Washington. Rogue state leaders and transnational terrorists know the weaknesses of current Obama led Democratic administration. Obama's lack of service record, low business confidence and his quarrels with US captains of industry is closely watched by foreign intelligence and diplomatic corps. North Korea's recent missile launch over Japan was most likely a test to check US resolve. The Democraic Party's utopian foreign policy objective of dialogue over realpolitik can easily be deduced by such states as weakness or a move to neo-isolationism. Venezuela is openly flouting Monroe doctrine and building up an arsenal of Russian arms. Cuba is still under grip of Raul Castro after ailing Castro gradually retires from power. Georgia is crushed and as the administration tries to release pressure on the military by withdrawing from Iraq and focusing on bin Laden in Afganistan, there looms a greater danger of a nuclear armed Iran. As US vacates Iraq, Iranian revolutionary Guards can pour into its ally, Syria's defense in large convoys of trucks to Diyar Awz Zor, a city attacked by Israeli forces in 2007. The Sipah e Basij e Pasdaran, a volunteer force of upto 15 year olds armed with latest Avtomat Kalashnikov AK-100s, Heckler and Koch G-3s and Austrain Steyr high powered sniper rifles can overwhelm Israel's defense line in the Golan. If we see 1973 again, the US Army Reserves and the National Guard will be called in to defend Israel, thanks to the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington. In such a scenario, the US$900 million earmarked for Palestinians can be channelled to purchase light arms, anti-tank missiles or even tanks and possibly light East European aircraft to attack Israeli and US military personnel in the war zones. It is notewrthy that even puny Lebanon has ordered MiG-29s from Russian arms manufacturers, making it risky for Israeli reconnaissance aircraft and drones from observing frontline positions near the Blue Line. The Offek satellites do work for now, but in a broader conflict, these can be knocked down by Russian and Chinese ground based laser or photon guns readily available for such client states as Iran and other would be SCO powers.
The Global War on Terror or the Third World War began in 1993 although 2001 is the 1939. To supply these forces, there exists a network of arms providers as exemplified by Faina's capture off Somalia. African dictators' insatiable appetite for arms is being fulfilled by Russian and Chinese arms manufacturers like Rosoberonexport and Norinco. In sharp contrast, US arms sales is regulated by Congress and the General Accounting Office (GAO). While US is overstretched; its military personnel pool engaged in difficult campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, China has launched a major diplomatic offensive involving trade and aid to the Third World. Its military has now joined United Nations so that they gain first hand experience in Third World. After teaching the world about Maoist guerilla strategy and becoming a nuclear power able to balance the United States nuclear arsenal with its strategic rocket forces, China is busy increasing its military spending by 17 percent according to Wall Street Journal news snippets. Its enormous one trillion two hundred billion trade surplus with the United States has enabled it spend a lot of its money on R&D as well as industral and ther forms of espionage by paying qualified technical personnel abroad. Having acquired photon gun capability and aerospace technology on parity with US 1970s-80s level, the communist country with capitalist trading practices now commands awesome authority. Spending around $40 billion annually on its military (ref: AP reports), this country's once peaceful coastal defense force, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has already acquired guided missile destroyers of the Sovremenny class from Russia. Its blue water capability with Russian carrier Kuznetsov (Varyag) and submarines will give it enormous power projection capability. Australia can be quickly overrun ala the stark reminder of the Darwin raid by the Imperial Japanese Navy in February 19, 1942. Australia's puny military still depends on Australia New Zealand US Treaty (ANZUS), requiring US military manpower to defend its landmass in case there is an invasion of Australia as attempted by Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in the heights of the Pacific campaign in World War II.
THE END
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Achham incident: Another debacle
by Pritam S Rana
Published on Saturday, February 23, 2002 in either The Kathmandu Post or Space Time Today
The recent attacks by Maoist rebels in Achham on army police and civil administration has demonstrated that despite the emergency in effect, the rebels have not yet lost the initiative. it also proves our Prime Minsiter wrong when he exclaimed that the rebels have been defeated after the imposition of the emergency. The incident also demonstrates the weakness of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) and the largely ineffective police (vis a vis the Maoist insurgency).
The government's main fighting arm in countering the armed rebellion is the RNA. during the emergency, the RNA deployed itself to the remote corners of the country, especially the affected areas and arrested thousands of people suspected of rebel ties. it also neutralized by fire those unwilling to surrender. However, the Achham incident has shown that these efforts were simply not sufficient. The rebels simply appear to have relocated to areas where the security presence was the minimum, trained in those areas and struck out somewhere. It is ad that only incidents of this magnitude attracts the attention of the government and causes it to take some meaningful steps.
Whether anyone likes it or not there is a war going on in this country. Who is winning is pretty hard to tell. After the declaration of the emergency, many were convinced (that) it was the government that was, which was winning. But sadly the present Accham incident has proven that it is too premature to expect government victory. To combat the rebellion, the government should change its political and military tactics. There should be greater measures for security. The security forces have to be further furnished with modern equipment(s). The mental status of officials and leaders of the security apparatus should be changed.
In the Accham incident, an entire platoon (a unit of upto 40 soldiers) of RNA was wiped out. Hundreds, possibly a thousand or more rebels, did it. Here the culprit was lack of modern automatic weapons. An RNA platoon has only three automatic weapons while the US Army squad (7 soldiers) has seven automatic weapons. This shows that the smaller US unit has greater firepower than a much larger Nepali unit. If all the soldiers in the RNA platoon at Accham had automatic weapons, they would have been able to put out a massive volume of fire at the enemy forcing them to scatter and retreat. The standard RNA rifle is semi-automatic (Fusil Automatique Leger, Belgian design produced in UK and India) and fires at a slower rate. The Maoists used automatic weapons stolen from their past raid on the Dang barrack.
It has been demonstrated time and again that hte Maoists rely on human wave tactics to overwhelm police and Army. The only answer to counter this threat is to rely on massive firepower. The RNA and the police both have to procure automatic rifles as their individual weapons. The police will have to give up their vintage 0.303 (lee Enfield English design) rifles for more modern weapons. The army must also procure belt fed light machine guns and distribute it to sections, subunits of the platoon. It should do way with its magazine fed light machine gun for they are slow and need frequent changing of the magazine.
The RNA should also procure night vision goggles to detect and fight with the rebels at night. the news that some Army (Mil, Russian design) Mi-17 helicopters having night vision system is promising, but units in the field, the infantry also need night vision goggles. In counter-insurgency operations heavier weapons like the mortar should be given to front line units rather than held centrally by the battalions. if RNA troops in Accham had mortars, by their fires, they could have well dispersed the rebels at a distance making it much easier to defend.
nepal is a mountainous and hilly country. Much of the rebel activities are also in such remote and inaccessible terrain. So the primary means of movement is by foot. The RNA and police units have to move on foot to maintain their presence on the ground. But moving on the foot is terribly slow process. The alternative expensive means of transport is helicopters. Helicopters due to their vertical take off capability can reach all types of terrain. Helicopter does not even need to land or touch the ground to embark or disembark personnel or other loads. It can simply hover above the ground and do the job. The current inventory of helicopters is insufficient. The government should procure a large number of helicopters. It is well known that it is difficult for the government to purchase high cost helicopters. But it should look for other ways. Some time ago US Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Nepal. Nepal should ask for security assistance from US at atime hwn the US administration is up against fighting terrorism globally. The US provides miliatry aid to many countries in the world. (Note stress on the visit of generals Krishna Rana and Singha Rana during World War II and Nepal's crucial support to Allies especially the British whose crown colony India escaped Axis
The helicopter would be highly useful in the current counter-insurgency. Troops can be ferried rapidly from one point to another. isolated outposts like Achham garrison could receive ammunition, food and other supplies via helicopter. . A helicopter can also carry rockets, machine guns and canon capable of supporting ground troops. injured troops can also be rapidly evacuated to hospitals and other health facilities. Helicopters can be put to other uses as well: carrying out rescue operations in the aftermath of floods and famines.
The loss of RNA and police lives has also made it imperative that government boos the fighting capability of the security forces. A serious evaluation of the past strategy is to be undertaken. New tactics ought to be considered. If possible the RNA and the police should launch offensives against suspected territories where rebels have sanctauries and training facilities. it should invite experts from overseas in form of military advisers from countrie slike the US who have a history of counter-insurgency warfare.. in case of the US, it has Special Forces, who are elite troops capable of fighting in difficult terrain against all sorts of opposition. The US Special Forces include the Green Berets, rangers and Delta Force who have latest experience in Afghanistan.
(to be continued...)
(to be continued...)
Published on Saturday, February 23, 2002 in either The Kathmandu Post or Space Time Today
The recent attacks by Maoist rebels in Achham on army police and civil administration has demonstrated that despite the emergency in effect, the rebels have not yet lost the initiative. it also proves our Prime Minsiter wrong when he exclaimed that the rebels have been defeated after the imposition of the emergency. The incident also demonstrates the weakness of the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) and the largely ineffective police (vis a vis the Maoist insurgency).
The government's main fighting arm in countering the armed rebellion is the RNA. during the emergency, the RNA deployed itself to the remote corners of the country, especially the affected areas and arrested thousands of people suspected of rebel ties. it also neutralized by fire those unwilling to surrender. However, the Achham incident has shown that these efforts were simply not sufficient. The rebels simply appear to have relocated to areas where the security presence was the minimum, trained in those areas and struck out somewhere. It is ad that only incidents of this magnitude attracts the attention of the government and causes it to take some meaningful steps.
Whether anyone likes it or not there is a war going on in this country. Who is winning is pretty hard to tell. After the declaration of the emergency, many were convinced (that) it was the government that was, which was winning. But sadly the present Accham incident has proven that it is too premature to expect government victory. To combat the rebellion, the government should change its political and military tactics. There should be greater measures for security. The security forces have to be further furnished with modern equipment(s). The mental status of officials and leaders of the security apparatus should be changed.
In the Accham incident, an entire platoon (a unit of upto 40 soldiers) of RNA was wiped out. Hundreds, possibly a thousand or more rebels, did it. Here the culprit was lack of modern automatic weapons. An RNA platoon has only three automatic weapons while the US Army squad (7 soldiers) has seven automatic weapons. This shows that the smaller US unit has greater firepower than a much larger Nepali unit. If all the soldiers in the RNA platoon at Accham had automatic weapons, they would have been able to put out a massive volume of fire at the enemy forcing them to scatter and retreat. The standard RNA rifle is semi-automatic (Fusil Automatique Leger, Belgian design produced in UK and India) and fires at a slower rate. The Maoists used automatic weapons stolen from their past raid on the Dang barrack.
It has been demonstrated time and again that hte Maoists rely on human wave tactics to overwhelm police and Army. The only answer to counter this threat is to rely on massive firepower. The RNA and the police both have to procure automatic rifles as their individual weapons. The police will have to give up their vintage 0.303 (lee Enfield English design) rifles for more modern weapons. The army must also procure belt fed light machine guns and distribute it to sections, subunits of the platoon. It should do way with its magazine fed light machine gun for they are slow and need frequent changing of the magazine.
The RNA should also procure night vision goggles to detect and fight with the rebels at night. the news that some Army (Mil, Russian design) Mi-17 helicopters having night vision system is promising, but units in the field, the infantry also need night vision goggles. In counter-insurgency operations heavier weapons like the mortar should be given to front line units rather than held centrally by the battalions. if RNA troops in Accham had mortars, by their fires, they could have well dispersed the rebels at a distance making it much easier to defend.
nepal is a mountainous and hilly country. Much of the rebel activities are also in such remote and inaccessible terrain. So the primary means of movement is by foot. The RNA and police units have to move on foot to maintain their presence on the ground. But moving on the foot is terribly slow process. The alternative expensive means of transport is helicopters. Helicopters due to their vertical take off capability can reach all types of terrain. Helicopter does not even need to land or touch the ground to embark or disembark personnel or other loads. It can simply hover above the ground and do the job. The current inventory of helicopters is insufficient. The government should procure a large number of helicopters. It is well known that it is difficult for the government to purchase high cost helicopters. But it should look for other ways. Some time ago US Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Nepal. Nepal should ask for security assistance from US at atime hwn the US administration is up against fighting terrorism globally. The US provides miliatry aid to many countries in the world. (Note stress on the visit of generals Krishna Rana and Singha Rana during World War II and Nepal's crucial support to Allies especially the British whose crown colony India escaped Axis
The helicopter would be highly useful in the current counter-insurgency. Troops can be ferried rapidly from one point to another
The loss of RNA and police lives has also made it imperative that government boos the fighting capability of the security forces. A serious evaluation of the past strategy is to be undertaken. New tactics ought to be considered. If possible the RNA and the police should launch offensives against suspected territories where rebels have sanctauries and training facilities. it should invite experts from overseas in form of military advisers from countrie slike the US who have a history of counter-insurgency warfare.
(to be continued...)
(to be continued...)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sir Juddha's Legacy
Sir Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana became Nepal's prime minister in September 1, 1932 succeeding Bhim Shumsher. His legacy is important as he is the first among those who chose to keep Nepal firmly under Western security alliance. His attempts to industrialize agrarian Nepal is witnessed by Juddha Match Factory, a commodity of extreme importance to Nepalese kitchens and smokers of cheroot and bidi (mini cigars).
Sir Juddha's contribution to Nepal's isolated economy was seen in his willingness to be allied with Western nations against Japan's Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere alliance which was raising nationalist opposition throughout Asia. Sir Juddha understood that Western powers namely England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States were its principal allies and not Imperial Japan lead by nationalists and revisionists. Nationalist Japan wanted Asia's markets for itself and wanted to impose its monopoly and kick out its British, American and Dutch competitors from India, the Philippines and East Indies, respectively. Imperial Japan also wanted to takeover vast riches of Australia, a sparsely populated European haven but with poor population and military resources to defend itself. Comprehending this complex strategic scenario, Sir Juddha's crucial support to Allied Forces in World War II was a factor that kept Nepal a sovereign entity and free from communist manipulation until now.
Nepal's youth of Sir Juddha 's era were poor peasants. The Mongolian stock, who migrated to the Himalayan middle ranges from Tibet in the long course of migration (see Dor Bahadur Bista's people of Nepal) are broadly categorized into Magars, Gurungs, Tamangs, Rais and Limbus. During Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah, born in 1723 and reigning king from 1768-1775, the Mongolian Magars of the principality of Gorkha were recruited along with Gurungs into the Gorkha Army. King Prithvi ordered the formation of Purano Gorakh company and other companies armed with European muskets and contact blades (Famous khukuris, scimitars and rapiers)purchased from Europeans in India. It can be deduced that during unification of Nepal and during the prolonged siege and subsequent takeover of Kathmandu Valley, the main trade center between East India company held India and Tibet, Gorkha soldiers destroyed a relief force led by Captain Kinlock in August 1767 ref:http://www.ecs.com.np/archive/oct_03/article_5.htm).
The 2,400 man force was defeated by King Prithvi's battle groups and they again captured a large loot of European arms. The battle of Pauwa Gadhi cost East India company's Bengal Army contingent to 1,600 men which finally dwindled to 700 after its failure to relieve Kathmandu's King Jaya Prakash Malla. The East India Company government was further involved in armed conflicts with Nepal's Gurkha soldiers in 1814-1816, the same time their government was enaged in the War of 1812 against the Thirteen Colonies in North America. After Nepal's defeat and loss of its Far Western territories to British forces, the English began recruiting in Nepal primarily from Hill Tribes of the Mongolian Stock and some Chhettris, a nationality associated with the Brahmins, a chief educated and priestly class of kingmakers and court scribes and administrators. The Brahmins have been involved in serious conspiracies against Jung Bahadur in the infamous Bhandarkhal conspiracy and Damodar Pande's seizure of Rana Bahadur Shah's attempt to assert control.
The peasant rural Nepalis received critical skills in first aid, cash crops, and of course expertise in the operation of modern armamments. Chinese civil war was raging then between the Kuomintang nationalists and Mao Tse Tung's communist forces. The communist army had retreated to China's interior from urban areas and were organizing a massive Long March to take over the country into single xenophobic rule. Greater threat to European interest was the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere economic and miliatry alliance propounded by extreme nationalists in control of Imperial Japanese Affairs. Army officers who organized these fanatical movement in Tokyo advocated freedom from restriction imposed by Western powers. Total control of China for Japan's interest was the objective of this cliche which preached arming and move away from League of Nations and restrictive naval agreements.
After brief success due to strategic surprise obtained at Pearl Harbor, US Navy stymied Japan's invasion plan of Australia in famous Coral Sea and Midway Battles. And recognizing immense industrial capacity of the United States, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and his assistant Admiral Chuichi Nagumo attempted to use Japan's land forces against both Australia (in New Guinea and other Oceanic islands like Guadalcanal and Bougainville) and British ruled Burma. The Japanese 18th Division under its 33rd Army attempted to invade India and push out the British and its allies including the Ranas from South Asia.
But the Muslim League led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Nepali rana leaders saw the contribution of the British in education, infrastructure and industrial development of South Asia and their respective areas of interest. Sir Juddha mobilized the Nepalese military units as the Purano Gorakh regiment and sent them to Burma front against the invading Japanese. Officer corps in India also generally supported British effort to ward off the yellow peril. The Allies were victorious and the Japanese forces could never make it beyond Nagaland and Assam border. In Burma, British and Allied forces including US Rangers and Chinese nationalist Y-Force broke the back of Japanese power in South East Asia. Singapore was avenged and the Dutch were restored in Java and Sumatra.
But Sir Juddha foresaw returning Nepali soldiers would bring with them socialist ideas. Churchill lost to Labor as war weary Englishmen returned home. In the colonies, nationaists pressured British to vacate India while communist and Congress manipulated returning Gurkha soldiers as the Liberation Army. After several bloody incidents, King Tribhuvan was taken to India while Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher annaounced present King Gyanendra as the new Nepalese monarch. Sir Juddha since left for Argheli palace as sage king after allowing the mantle of power to go to Padma Shumsher and to Chandra Shumsher's son Sir Mohan Shumsher.
Juddha Shusmsher Rana can thus be surmised into a pontificate of authority at a time when restive populations were being manipulated by agitators to follow Marxism-Leninism. His alternative native benevolent autocracy favored sustainable development of politics. Nepal's position as an integral state is owed much to his recognition of tidal waves of political movements which swept away once strong leaders like Chilean Capitano General Bernardo O'Higgins. Bernardo built Chile out of the chaos of post Bolivarian Latin America. But today Chile is in a better position than say Mexico vis a vis Nepal.
(Sir Juddha's birthday is in April 19, 1875 and all from his clan are celebrating it with great dignity and honor.
Sir Juddha's contribution to Nepal's isolated economy was seen in his willingness to be allied with Western nations against Japan's Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere alliance which was raising nationalist opposition throughout Asia. Sir Juddha understood that Western powers namely England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States were its principal allies and not Imperial Japan lead by nationalists and revisionists. Nationalist Japan wanted Asia's markets for itself and wanted to impose its monopoly and kick out its British, American and Dutch competitors from India, the Philippines and East Indies, respectively. Imperial Japan also wanted to takeover vast riches of Australia, a sparsely populated European haven but with poor population and military resources to defend itself. Comprehending this complex strategic scenario, Sir Juddha's crucial support to Allied Forces in World War II was a factor that kept Nepal a sovereign entity and free from communist manipulation until now.
Nepal's youth of Sir Juddha 's era were poor peasants. The Mongolian stock, who migrated to the Himalayan middle ranges from Tibet in the long course of migration (see Dor Bahadur Bista's people of Nepal) are broadly categorized into Magars, Gurungs, Tamangs, Rais and Limbus. During Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah, born in 1723 and reigning king from 1768-1775, the Mongolian Magars of the principality of Gorkha were recruited along with Gurungs into the Gorkha Army. King Prithvi ordered the formation of Purano Gorakh company and other companies armed with European muskets and contact blades (Famous khukuris, scimitars and rapiers)purchased from Europeans in India. It can be deduced that during unification of Nepal and during the prolonged siege and subsequent takeover of Kathmandu Valley, the main trade center between East India company held India and Tibet, Gorkha soldiers destroyed a relief force led by Captain Kinlock in August 1767 ref:http://www.ecs.com.np/archive/oct_03/article_5.htm).
The 2,400 man force was defeated by King Prithvi's battle groups and they again captured a large loot of European arms. The battle of Pauwa Gadhi cost East India company's Bengal Army contingent to 1,600 men which finally dwindled to 700 after its failure to relieve Kathmandu's King Jaya Prakash Malla. The East India Company government was further involved in armed conflicts with Nepal's Gurkha soldiers in 1814-1816, the same time their government was enaged in the War of 1812 against the Thirteen Colonies in North America. After Nepal's defeat and loss of its Far Western territories to British forces, the English began recruiting in Nepal primarily from Hill Tribes of the Mongolian Stock and some Chhettris, a nationality associated with the Brahmins, a chief educated and priestly class of kingmakers and court scribes and administrators. The Brahmins have been involved in serious conspiracies against Jung Bahadur in the infamous Bhandarkhal conspiracy and Damodar Pande's seizure of Rana Bahadur Shah's attempt to assert control.
The peasant rural Nepalis received critical skills in first aid, cash crops, and of course expertise in the operation of modern armamments. Chinese civil war was raging then between the Kuomintang nationalists and Mao Tse Tung's communist forces. The communist army had retreated to China's interior from urban areas and were organizing a massive Long March to take over the country into single xenophobic rule. Greater threat to European interest was the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere economic and miliatry alliance propounded by extreme nationalists in control of Imperial Japanese Affairs. Army officers who organized these fanatical movement in Tokyo advocated freedom from restriction imposed by Western powers. Total control of China for Japan's interest was the objective of this cliche which preached arming and move away from League of Nations and restrictive naval agreements.
After brief success due to strategic surprise obtained at Pearl Harbor, US Navy stymied Japan's invasion plan of Australia in famous Coral Sea and Midway Battles. And recognizing immense industrial capacity of the United States, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and his assistant Admiral Chuichi Nagumo attempted to use Japan's land forces against both Australia (in New Guinea and other Oceanic islands like Guadalcanal and Bougainville) and British ruled Burma. The Japanese 18th Division under its 33rd Army attempted to invade India and push out the British and its allies including the Ranas from South Asia.
But the Muslim League led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Nepali rana leaders saw the contribution of the British in education, infrastructure and industrial development of South Asia and their respective areas of interest. Sir Juddha mobilized the Nepalese military units as the Purano Gorakh regiment and sent them to Burma front against the invading Japanese. Officer corps in India also generally supported British effort to ward off the yellow peril. The Allies were victorious and the Japanese forces could never make it beyond Nagaland and Assam border. In Burma, British and Allied forces including US Rangers and Chinese nationalist Y-Force broke the back of Japanese power in South East Asia. Singapore was avenged and the Dutch were restored in Java and Sumatra.
But Sir Juddha foresaw returning Nepali soldiers would bring with them socialist ideas. Churchill lost to Labor as war weary Englishmen returned home. In the colonies, nationaists pressured British to vacate India while communist and Congress manipulated returning Gurkha soldiers as the Liberation Army. After several bloody incidents, King Tribhuvan was taken to India while Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher annaounced present King Gyanendra as the new Nepalese monarch. Sir Juddha since left for Argheli palace as sage king after allowing the mantle of power to go to Padma Shumsher and to Chandra Shumsher's son Sir Mohan Shumsher.
Juddha Shusmsher Rana can thus be surmised into a pontificate of authority at a time when restive populations were being manipulated by agitators to follow Marxism-Leninism. His alternative native benevolent autocracy favored sustainable development of politics. Nepal's position as an integral state is owed much to his recognition of tidal waves of political movements which swept away once strong leaders like Chilean Capitano General Bernardo O'Higgins. Bernardo built Chile out of the chaos of post Bolivarian Latin America. But today Chile is in a better position than say Mexico vis a vis Nepal.
(Sir Juddha's birthday is in April 19, 1875 and all from his clan are celebrating it with great dignity and honor.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Defending Old Glory
Year 2011
US led NATO and Russia-China axis SCO relations have reached a new low. SCO Navy intervened in a border dispute between the Kingdom of Bonga and Republic of Piconesia. Taking the side of the Piconesians a powerful naval force consisting of Russian Kuznetsov class carrier Admiral Ushakoff and an Atlant class cruiser Marshall Zhukov attempt to bombard Port Eden, the capital of Jonga. Captain Priam has been asked by Washington to strike the Russian task force with his hodge podge force of 28 World War II era aircaft. The high tech stealth aircraft and other expensive jets are committed elsewhere as this backwater is only defended by seasoned oldtimers.
The main bomb squadron 3 X B-29 and 1 X EB-29 are the main strike force. The B-29 airfarme is equipped with a powerful search and track radar and is armed with modified AGM-86 Tactical Anti-ship Missiles (TASMs), a version of ship launched Tomahawk. The EB-29 is a powerful jamming platform equipped to mask the strikers in case they are detected or intercepted by enemy aviation or sea surveillance. However, satellite surveillance remains a threat. Engineers have retrofitted these old bombers into a launch platform each able to carry four of the cruise missiles. Further ECM support is provided by a refurbished flight of EP-38 each equipped with one ALQ-161 Airborne Self protection Jammer (ASPJ) pod and a new powerful IR jammer pod developed by an undisclosed UK aerospace firm. These systems can jam powerful long range Russian radars and theoretically also able to mask the strike force from enemy attempts to intercept with carrier based interceptors. However, a severe risk exists if the MiG-29Ks or Su-33s attempt an close range gun/IR missile attack. No plan survives contact with the enemy, said Murphy.
Captain Priam devises a layered attack plan. In case his bombers fail or are destroyed by Fulcrums or Flankers, a second tier raid will be launched by Major Lander's transport flight of 4 X C-47. The old Gooneybird has been rigged with Mk48 ADCAP naval torpedoes, two each in the four attacking aircraft. Major Lander operates from Black Raven, a separate C-47 platform equipped with powerful jamming and Electronic Support Measure (ESM) sets. In case this task force fails, a backup strike force of 3 X SBD Dauntless force equipped with Mk50 Barracuda torpedoes will be asked to conduct a near fatal strike. This third task unit is actually meant for anti-submarine warfare.
As news reaches Washington of heavy casualties among Bongan natives, the Congress urges President Van Windberg to immediately relieve the US protectorate. Admiral Manston, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff authorizes a secret unheard unit of the Air National Guard to prick this blatant aggression in the Pacific.
"Do something, Peter, I am bogged down in Europe and the Middle East".
Secretary Blackwell shuttles to Europe trying to persuade the Europeans to form a joint pressure group to force Russian leader Zhinonevsky from using force against our backyard.
"Sir I doubt this freak will kowtow to us," said a hardnosed Admiral Manston. A tall but trim figure. Manston was a veteran of the Persian Gulf War logistics effort to save Kuwait but was inexperienced. Maston picks up a black briefcase equipped with dark brown switches. He orders CINCPAC to initiate engagement.
'A risky gamble,' he murmurs to himself. What if the North Koreans join this adventure, he pondered. He quickly dials 3 coded text.
"Gen. Framm, please ask your men to be under extreme caution. Coordinate with Speccom once for LRS insertion at short notice.
Meanwhile in San Diego, Captain Priam basks in his private pool with his wife Georgine. "Honey, when will this be all over?"
"I dunno. But I will be back, I guarantee," said a slightly relaxed Captain as he smiokes a fresh scented tobacco from his father's Carvi pipe. The same evening on 8pm he drives to local airport and flies to Honolulu on a UA flight. He then boards a C-2A Greyhound in Oahu and flies to Wake.
At Wake, CINCPAC and his staffers have arranged a meeting at Westing's Cafe. As there was massive monitoring by Glonass and other camera equipped satellites, the officers had to change to civvies, T-shirts and Shorts to mingle with civilians. They began riding ordinary cars to their rendesvous points. As per the plan, Captain Priam's task force will launch a three tier strike.
As the bombers takeoff from Wake, the heavy overcast prevents an orderly flight but provides an excellent cover just in case. Major Trevor leads his bomb group straight toward the Russian task force. And froma standoff range of 190 kilometeters, he lets go a volley of 12 TASMs. The Russians quickly scramble a flight of four Su-33s to intercept. A pair of patrolling Flankers shadow the attacking American squadron from a distance. They refuse to switch on their firecontrol radars relying instead relying on Glonass surveillance datalink for fear of detection. Their mission is to reconnaissance and Admiral Markov wants to use them only just in case.
(to be continued...)
Note:-Pri(t)am's pulp fiction is entirely his own creation. Knowledge credit goes to the British publication Jane's which provided me rights to use their material with proper citation.
US led NATO and Russia-China axis SCO relations have reached a new low. SCO Navy intervened in a border dispute between the Kingdom of Bonga and Republic of Piconesia. Taking the side of the Piconesians a powerful naval force consisting of Russian Kuznetsov class carrier Admiral Ushakoff and an Atlant class cruiser Marshall Zhukov attempt to bombard Port Eden, the capital of Jonga. Captain Priam has been asked by Washington to strike the Russian task force with his hodge podge force of 28 World War II era aircaft. The high tech stealth aircraft and other expensive jets are committed elsewhere as this backwater is only defended by seasoned oldtimers.
The main bomb squadron 3 X B-29 and 1 X EB-29 are the main strike force. The B-29 airfarme is equipped with a powerful search and track radar and is armed with modified AGM-86 Tactical Anti-ship Missiles (TASMs), a version of ship launched Tomahawk. The EB-29 is a powerful jamming platform equipped to mask the strikers in case they are detected or intercepted by enemy aviation or sea surveillance. However, satellite surveillance remains a threat. Engineers have retrofitted these old bombers into a launch platform each able to carry four of the cruise missiles. Further ECM support is provided by a refurbished flight of EP-38 each equipped with one ALQ-161 Airborne Self protection Jammer (ASPJ) pod and a new powerful IR jammer pod developed by an undisclosed UK aerospace firm. These systems can jam powerful long range Russian radars and theoretically also able to mask the strike force from enemy attempts to intercept with carrier based interceptors. However, a severe risk exists if the MiG-29Ks or Su-33s attempt an close range gun/IR missile attack. No plan survives contact with the enemy, said Murphy.
Captain Priam devises a layered attack plan. In case his bombers fail or are destroyed by Fulcrums or Flankers, a second tier raid will be launched by Major Lander's transport flight of 4 X C-47. The old Gooneybird has been rigged with Mk48 ADCAP naval torpedoes, two each in the four attacking aircraft. Major Lander operates from Black Raven, a separate C-47 platform equipped with powerful jamming and Electronic Support Measure (ESM) sets. In case this task force fails, a backup strike force of 3 X SBD Dauntless force equipped with Mk50 Barracuda torpedoes will be asked to conduct a near fatal strike. This third task unit is actually meant for anti-submarine warfare.
As news reaches Washington of heavy casualties among Bongan natives, the Congress urges President Van Windberg to immediately relieve the US protectorate. Admiral Manston, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff authorizes a secret unheard unit of the Air National Guard to prick this blatant aggression in the Pacific.
"Do something, Peter, I am bogged down in Europe and the Middle East".
Secretary Blackwell shuttles to Europe trying to persuade the Europeans to form a joint pressure group to force Russian leader Zhinonevsky from using force against our backyard.
"Sir I doubt this freak will kowtow to us," said a hardnosed Admiral Manston. A tall but trim figure. Manston was a veteran of the Persian Gulf War logistics effort to save Kuwait but was inexperienced. Maston picks up a black briefcase equipped with dark brown switches. He orders CINCPAC to initiate engagement.
'A risky gamble,' he murmurs to himself. What if the North Koreans join this adventure, he pondered. He quickly dials 3 coded text.
"Gen. Framm, please ask your men to be under extreme caution. Coordinate with Speccom once for LRS insertion at short notice.
Meanwhile in San Diego, Captain Priam basks in his private pool with his wife Georgine. "Honey, when will this be all over?"
"I dunno. But I will be back, I guarantee," said a slightly relaxed Captain as he smiokes a fresh scented tobacco from his father's Carvi pipe. The same evening on 8pm he drives to local airport and flies to Honolulu on a UA flight. He then boards a C-2A Greyhound in Oahu and flies to Wake.
At Wake, CINCPAC and his staffers have arranged a meeting at Westing's Cafe. As there was massive monitoring by Glonass and other camera equipped satellites, the officers had to change to civvies, T-shirts and Shorts to mingle with civilians. They began riding ordinary cars to their rendesvous points. As per the plan, Captain Priam's task force will launch a three tier strike.
As the bombers takeoff from Wake, the heavy overcast prevents an orderly flight but provides an excellent cover just in case. Major Trevor leads his bomb group straight toward the Russian task force. And froma standoff range of 190 kilometeters, he lets go a volley of 12 TASMs. The Russians quickly scramble a flight of four Su-33s to intercept. A pair of patrolling Flankers shadow the attacking American squadron from a distance. They refuse to switch on their firecontrol radars relying instead relying on Glonass surveillance datalink for fear of detection. Their mission is to reconnaissance and Admiral Markov wants to use them only just in case.
(to be continued...)
Note:-Pri(t)am's pulp fiction is entirely his own creation. Knowledge credit goes to the British publication Jane's which provided me rights to use their material with proper citation.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Women in Nepal
Published in Space Time Today, March 21, 2002
Women of Nepal enjoy secondary position compared to men. They face oppression and injustice. they are least educated and subject to violence and crime. There have been efforts to rectify this from both government and non-government sectors, but much more needs to be done.
Nepalese society is patriarchal. Historically, women in Nepal were confined to the house. Only household jobs were relegated to womenfolk. Traditionally women's position was that of a slave to either the husband (or to her father if unmarried. Now, times have changed. Increasing number of women are being educated and many feel women should break free of traditional bondage and make themselves equal in all respects. Some women in Nepal have achieved a lot. However, a solid majority live in backwardness and oppression.
One of the most important fields of life where Nepalese women lag behind is education. Although there are many girl students in urban areas, the overwhelming majority of girls in rural areas do not go to schools. In fact only about 40 percent of all females in Nepal can read and write. Since most mothers in rural areas are themselves uneducated, it is hard to expect these mothers to send their children to school. There exists gross discriminatory practice of sending only boys to school. And girls, if they are sent to school, are forced to leave school early while boys continue school till much later time. The person who removes girls from school usually happens to be the mother. So, there exists a practice where women themselves are responsible for the backwardness of their sex.
It is due to lack of education that women are not in leading positions in Nepalese society. In the national parliament, there are only a handful of women parliamentarians. Although there have been women heads of government in other countries in South Asia like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, we in Nepal are yet to see a women leading HMG. Men run most of businesses in Nepal and most proefessionals are also men. In workplaces, there have been complaints of sexual harassment. Women in profession have to work many times harder than men to achieve the same status as men. The view that women are inferior and inefficient compared to men is widespread.
Another issue concerning women is their right to parental property. This has been a very hot issue and everyone seems to be talking about it. The current law entitles a woman right to parental property but she has to return it after marriage. This law is most discrimanatory in its conception. This law institutionalizes gender discrimination. The sate itself has become party to discrimination against women due to this law. It is ironic that the state should instead draft and formulate laws, which should drive the society into gender inequality. However, our legal system upholds patriarchal male dominated culture. Women should have the same parental property rights as enjoyed by men. One reason for women's backwardness is their lack of control over property. It is with property they gain influence. Therefore equal property rights is an important step towards women's liberation in Nepal.
The most horrendous aspect is trafficking of Nepalese girls to the sex industry in India. Each year thousands of girls, as young as 13, are duped into this most demeaning profession. This practice is a disgrace to our nation. Many of these girls are sent back to Nepal after contracting AIDS. there are now organizations like Maiti Nepal, which rehabilitate girls rescued from brothels in india. However, more needs to be done. First of all the government here should enter some form of agreement with the government of India on trafficked girls. At the home front, all pimps and other agents involved in flesh trade should be taken into custody. Economic hardship, which is the main cause of this problem, should also be dealt with.
Another visible problem is associated with the increasing number of women employed by Maoist rebels. Women in rural areas have no hope. Their future is dark due to poverty and lack of education and employment. Such women are easy prey to rebel promises of brighter future after they have destroyed the present system. It is due to failure of the government and nongovernmental organizations to bring them into the mainstream that many women are members of the violent movement.
Women in Nepal certainly deserve more. Nepalese women themselves have proved that there is no limit to what they can do. However, their progress is impeded by tradition, unprogressive ideas present in society and lack of available resources. Women should ask for equality and men too should give in because improvement in women's status means improvement in the future generations. Women must consolidate what they have achieved and move on.
Women of Nepal enjoy secondary position compared to men. They face oppression and injustice. they are least educated and subject to violence and crime. There have been efforts to rectify this from both government and non-government sectors, but much more needs to be done.
Nepalese society is patriarchal. Historically, women in Nepal were confined to the house. Only household jobs were relegated to womenfolk. Traditionally women's position was that of a slave to either the husband (or to her father if unmarried. Now, times have changed. Increasing number of women are being educated and many feel women should break free of traditional bondage and make themselves equal in all respects. Some women in Nepal have achieved a lot. However, a solid majority live in backwardness and oppression.
One of the most important fields of life where Nepalese women lag behind is education. Although there are many girl students in urban areas, the overwhelming majority of girls in rural areas do not go to schools. In fact only about 40 percent of all females in Nepal can read and write. Since most mothers in rural areas are themselves uneducated, it is hard to expect these mothers to send their children to school. There exists gross discriminatory practice of sending only boys to school. And girls, if they are sent to school, are forced to leave school early while boys continue school till much later time. The person who removes girls from school usually happens to be the mother. So, there exists a practice where women themselves are responsible for the backwardness of their sex.
It is due to lack of education that women are not in leading positions in Nepalese society. In the national parliament, there are only a handful of women parliamentarians. Although there have been women heads of government in other countries in South Asia like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, we in Nepal are yet to see a women leading HMG. Men run most of businesses in Nepal and most proefessionals are also men. In workplaces, there have been complaints of sexual harassment. Women in profession have to work many times harder than men to achieve the same status as men. The view that women are inferior and inefficient compared to men is widespread.
Another issue concerning women is their right to parental property. This has been a very hot issue and everyone seems to be talking about it. The current law entitles a woman right to parental property but she has to return it after marriage. This law is most discrimanatory in its conception. This law institutionalizes gender discrimination. The sate itself has become party to discrimination against women due to this law. It is ironic that the state should instead draft and formulate laws, which should drive the society into gender inequality. However, our legal system upholds patriarchal male dominated culture. Women should have the same parental property rights as enjoyed by men. One reason for women's backwardness is their lack of control over property. It is with property they gain influence. Therefore equal property rights is an important step towards women's liberation in Nepal.
The most horrendous aspect is trafficking of Nepalese girls to the sex industry in India. Each year thousands of girls, as young as 13, are duped into this most demeaning profession. This practice is a disgrace to our nation. Many of these girls are sent back to Nepal after contracting AIDS. there are now organizations like Maiti Nepal, which rehabilitate girls rescued from brothels in india. However, more needs to be done. First of all the government here should enter some form of agreement with the government of India on trafficked girls. At the home front, all pimps and other agents involved in flesh trade should be taken into custody. Economic hardship, which is the main cause of this problem, should also be dealt with.
Another visible problem is associated with the increasing number of women employed by Maoist rebels. Women in rural areas have no hope. Their future is dark due to poverty and lack of education and employment. Such women are easy prey to rebel promises of brighter future after they have destroyed the present system. It is due to failure of the government and nongovernmental organizations to bring them into the mainstream that many women are members of the violent movement.
Women in Nepal certainly deserve more. Nepalese women themselves have proved that there is no limit to what they can do. However, their progress is impeded by tradition, unprogressive ideas present in society and lack of available resources. Women should ask for equality and men too should give in because improvement in women's status means improvement in the future generations. Women must consolidate what they have achieved and move on.
Nepal's Navy
An Open Proposal for a Joint Stock Company
The International Trade Community and the World Trade Organization, the IFC and the World Bank should fund the establsiment of an independent trading company with its own ships for the Kingdom of Nepal. If RN ships can be named after it, money should be raised like the East India Trading Company and ships bought from Cammel Laird, Swanhunter or Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited to purchase world class cargo ships. If Aristotle Onassis can run a private merchant fleet, why can't I, Priam Shumsher Rana, a a former seamman recruit can't do the same. The ships will be registered in Crete and will stop at Calcutta, Bombay, Perth, New York, San Francisco, Rotterdam, and other major ports. No dependence on foreign ships, especially Russian and Ukrainian which peddle arms to massacre the Africans. The most glorious name of Nepal will be remembered in Lloyds register, a country sovereign and independent since time immemorial and recognized in 1923 by His Majesty's Government of United Kingdom and the British Empire. I invoke Crown Prince paris to pilot this project and save Nepal's youth from corruption and exploitation abroad. I will bear this burden of commanding the vessel(s).
The International Trade Community and the World Trade Organization, the IFC and the World Bank should fund the establsiment of an independent trading company with its own ships for the Kingdom of Nepal. If RN ships can be named after it, money should be raised like the East India Trading Company and ships bought from Cammel Laird, Swanhunter or Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited to purchase world class cargo ships. If Aristotle Onassis can run a private merchant fleet, why can't I, Priam Shumsher Rana, a a former seamman recruit can't do the same. The ships will be registered in Crete and will stop at Calcutta, Bombay, Perth, New York, San Francisco, Rotterdam, and other major ports. No dependence on foreign ships, especially Russian and Ukrainian which peddle arms to massacre the Africans. The most glorious name of Nepal will be remembered in Lloyds register, a country sovereign and independent since time immemorial and recognized in 1923 by His Majesty's Government of United Kingdom and the British Empire. I invoke Crown Prince paris to pilot this project and save Nepal's youth from corruption and exploitation abroad. I will bear this burden of commanding the vessel(s).
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Role of Army in Nepal
Published in The Kathmandu Post, Sunday, April 22, 2001
The Army in Nepal, officially known as the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has been proud and prestigious institution of the country, part of Nepalese national government and a revered organization since early times. Its history goes back to the time of the expansion of the Gurkha state, led by the Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal whose martial and diplomatic skill laid the foundation of of the sovereign Nepali state entity.
Traditionally, armies have been employed by states for such roles as territorial expansion, defense from external aggression, and maintaining internal law and order as well. The RNA too has been called upon to perform all these roles in addition to such duties as being part of UN peacekeeping forces in foreign countries. Additionally the Army has taken part in disaster relief and road construction part of its peacetime responsibility towards the nation. The Nepali Gurkha soldiers were redoubtable in King Prithvi Narayan Shah's unification campaign. he, in fact, launched a war against a multitude of independent and divided principalities to forma single monolithic mountain kingdom, a single political entity. The relativey small Gurkha Army which accomplished the task, was avery cpabale fighting force despite the shortage of modern arms. (ref: The Rise of the House of Gurkhas, Fr. Ludwig Stiller, S.J.)
The Gurkhas will to fight was of such great magnitude that it withstood the chinese onslaught in 1789 stopping the main Chinese-Tibetan forces at Dhaibung, Rasuwa and foiling their attaempt to assault Kathmandu. in 1814, the Nepali Gurkha Army waged a defensive war against the mighty East India Company government. The British were so impressed with the hardy Gurkhas taht they began recruiting from their own sworn enemies. in the 1857 Indian mutiny, Jung Bahadur Rana supported the beleagured British with a military force of thousands of Nepalese troops who helped suppress the mutinous native Indian soldiers. this was duly recognized by the British with a large schunk of seized Nepali land being returned to Nepal.
In the First and Second World Wars, thousands upon thousands of Nepalese youths served in the British and Nepali units fighting for the Allied cause. many never returned while a few distinguished themselves with the Victoria Cross (ref: Victora Cross originals built with copper from Russian cannons captured in Crimean War, circa Florence Nightingale's times), the highest British gallantry award for valour. The year 1950 saw a civil war between the Rana government led RNA and the Congress' Mukti Sena, whose ranks were filled with many World War II veterans. from 1960 to 1990 there were incidents when the Army moved against armed revolutionaries, like the 1975 Okhaldhunga incident. The Army slaughtered Congress armed cadres, wishing to use force to overturn the then Pnachayat system. Also in the early 1970s (ref: 1974 according to wikipedia.org), the RNA disramed Tibetan Khampa rebels, thus averting possible Chinese intervention in Nepal. In the later stages of the People's movement for restoration of democracy in 1990, RNA soldiers enforced a military curfew, but fortunately His majesty the King averted blodshed by giving in to popular pressure.
The beginning of Maoist insurgency has brought another challenge to the security of Nepal. What began as a low-key movement with sporadic anti-police raids has now incresed to such levels that after the disastrous incidents of Dunai, Vorletaar, Rukumkot, and Naumoole, the Maoists are a force to be reckoned with. Able to mount large scale attacks with upto a thousand personnel, the Maoists have progressed with muskets to (Lee Enfield) )0.303 rifles (apparently(captured from the police) and explosives used in large amounts. Recent reports speak of police deserting their posts due to fear shaking th every foundation of law, order and and the right to live. The government committed the cardinal sin of not consulting the Army (the author put this matter to then Army chief of Staff Gen. Pyarjung Thapa at Shah residence private party) when this terrorist movement was still in its infancy. If the Army had utilized its counter-insurgency skills early on, the low intensity conflict (term borrowed from Jane's Defense Weekly, 1990 issue with interview of Gen Lindsay, USA, SOCOM commander) would have been over by now. Instead, the government now wants to use the Army in a rush (caution to Obama adminsitartion as it moves to rescue 21 Americans held hostage by Somali pirates remebering Desert One), which could lead to panic and thus to a disaster.
Now, the Army itself is ina danger of being outgunned and outnumbered and defeated by the rebels. Although better trained and equipped than the police, small group deployments of soldiers could be overwhelmed by large hordes of Maoist rebels who could theoretically overrun Army positions, and capture modern arms belonging to the Army. besides the standard rifle of the Army, the SLR (ref: Fabrique National Herstal Fusil Automatique Leger, Belgian design) which is a large, long and and semi-automatic (one bullet at each trigger pressure) is unsuited in commando style raids where automatic arms are considered suitable (upto 10 bullets at each trigger pressure). The only automatic rifles are with the two Army Special Forces companies, which should have been employed early on. (There is still time to use these highly trained anti-terrorist professionals provided no political strings are attached including the catchword "human rights"). Also, the three light machine guns (LMG) in an army platoon (40 soldiers) are old and bulky and in fact not light by modern standards (over 10 kg, useless in battle manoeuvre scenarios).
Recently the government has asked the Army to monitor the customs along the border, thereby significantly increasing government revenue. However, the Army's requests to buy a an airplane and run a bank (ref: US has a Federal Credit Union and The Royal Thai Air Force gave birth to the famed Thai Airways; US tacit approval of these activites resulted in Thailand becoming secure from Communist Threat from Laos and Vietnam, and a successful world tourist destination. The US maintained strategic defense ties with Thailand including basing rights for bombers and fighter aircraft in the hights of the Vietnam War) have been turned down. Has the government been sympathetic to to the Army's wish to properly manage its welfare fund?
As the Army is the only means at ists disposal with the potential of wiping out the five year old insurgency, which has taken over 1,600 lives, the government should be careful before it makes any decision in a hurry. It also has the potential of a failure if utilized in an improper manner. Therefore, it ought to use its silver bullet (ref: Fighter Combat in the Jet Age, Bill Sweetman, purchased in 2001 in Ekta Books by the author) in a manner that recognizes its strength and weaknesses.
Author's note:- The author was once a member of Nepal Scouts, cub in 1986 when he first visited the Royal Palace. This work is in tribute to King Birendra and especially to Princess Shruti Shah and Prince Nirajan Shah, who fell to unseen and mysterious plotting. I stillsuspect that the anti-monarchist forces of plotting this coup d'etat in a Grand Design to destroy all Royal leaning Nepalis. The author saw Crown Prince Dipendra closely as he played tennis in Tribhuvan Army Club in 1990s (can't rememember exact date. Also, the author heard Crown Princess Shruti speak to him in telephone while the author lived in New Baneswor residence of an aeronautical engineer in Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation. My granddad Flying Officer BK Singh flew the Crown Prince Dipendra to his school in Darjeleeng during his school days. RNAC owes much of its organizational and engineering skills to the elite group of RAFVR pilots who first started military and commercial avaition traffic into the forbidden Rana kingdom.
The author wanted to be an F-16C Falcon pilot in the USAF when he was in his eighth grade. But due to myopia, it was not possible to fly as there is acute danger of human error. He however wrote to the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, but was asked to attend the Academy through Nepalese government channels. As the author felt increased competition to take control of $3,070 million of foreign debt sponsored scholarships within the Army, he gave it up and only cherished a dream to fly. The author resented going to India as there too competition was severe and russian penetration deep. India has only begun to introduce US platforms. Many Indian pilots die in Russian built MiG-21 airframe, which according to AP reports, is considered a "flying coffin". The author prefers to write like Nick Cook of Jane's andf Interavia and lead a successful writing career as Bill Gunston.
The Army in Nepal, officially known as the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) has been proud and prestigious institution of the country, part of Nepalese national government and a revered organization since early times. Its history goes back to the time of the expansion of the Gurkha state, led by the Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal whose martial and diplomatic skill laid the foundation of of the sovereign Nepali state entity.
Traditionally, armies have been employed by states for such roles as territorial expansion, defense from external aggression, and maintaining internal law and order as well. The RNA too has been called upon to perform all these roles in addition to such duties as being part of UN peacekeeping forces in foreign countries. Additionally the Army has taken part in disaster relief and road construction part of its peacetime responsibility towards the nation. The Nepali Gurkha soldiers were redoubtable in King Prithvi Narayan Shah's unification campaign. he, in fact, launched a war against a multitude of independent and divided principalities to forma single monolithic mountain kingdom, a single political entity. The relativey small Gurkha Army which accomplished the task, was avery cpabale fighting force despite the shortage of modern arms. (ref: The Rise of the House of Gurkhas, Fr. Ludwig Stiller, S.J.)
The Gurkhas will to fight was of such great magnitude that it withstood the chinese onslaught in 1789 stopping the main Chinese-Tibetan forces at Dhaibung, Rasuwa and foiling their attaempt to assault Kathmandu. in 1814, the Nepali Gurkha Army waged a defensive war against the mighty East India Company government. The British were so impressed with the hardy Gurkhas taht they began recruiting from their own sworn enemies. in the 1857 Indian mutiny, Jung Bahadur Rana supported the beleagured British with a military force of thousands of Nepalese troops who helped suppress the mutinous native Indian soldiers. this was duly recognized by the British with a large schunk of seized Nepali land being returned to Nepal.
In the First and Second World Wars, thousands upon thousands of Nepalese youths served in the British and Nepali units fighting for the Allied cause. many never returned while a few distinguished themselves with the Victoria Cross (ref: Victora Cross originals built with copper from Russian cannons captured in Crimean War, circa Florence Nightingale's times), the highest British gallantry award for valour. The year 1950 saw a civil war between the Rana government led RNA and the Congress' Mukti Sena, whose ranks were filled with many World War II veterans. from 1960 to 1990 there were incidents when the Army moved against armed revolutionaries, like the 1975 Okhaldhunga incident. The Army slaughtered Congress armed cadres, wishing to use force to overturn the then Pnachayat system. Also in the early 1970s (ref: 1974 according to wikipedia.org), the RNA disramed Tibetan Khampa rebels, thus averting possible Chinese intervention in Nepal. In the later stages of the People's movement for restoration of democracy in 1990, RNA soldiers enforced a military curfew, but fortunately His majesty the King averted blodshed by giving in to popular pressure.
The beginning of Maoist insurgency has brought another challenge to the security of Nepal. What began as a low-key movement with sporadic anti-police raids has now incresed to such levels that after the disastrous incidents of Dunai, Vorletaar, Rukumkot, and Naumoole, the Maoists are a force to be reckoned with. Able to mount large scale attacks with upto a thousand personnel, the Maoists have progressed with muskets to (Lee Enfield) )0.303 rifles (apparently(captured from the police) and explosives used in large amounts. Recent reports speak of police deserting their posts due to fear shaking th every foundation of law, order and and the right to live. The government committed the cardinal sin of not consulting the Army (the author put this matter to then Army chief of Staff Gen. Pyarjung Thapa at Shah residence private party) when this terrorist movement was still in its infancy. If the Army had utilized its counter-insurgency skills early on, the low intensity conflict (term borrowed from Jane's Defense Weekly, 1990 issue with interview of Gen Lindsay, USA, SOCOM commander) would have been over by now. Instead, the government now wants to use the Army in a rush (caution to Obama adminsitartion as it moves to rescue 21 Americans held hostage by Somali pirates remebering Desert One), which could lead to panic and thus to a disaster.
Now, the Army itself is ina danger of being outgunned and outnumbered and defeated by the rebels. Although better trained and equipped than the police, small group deployments of soldiers could be overwhelmed by large hordes of Maoist rebels who could theoretically overrun Army positions, and capture modern arms belonging to the Army. besides the standard rifle of the Army, the SLR (ref: Fabrique National Herstal Fusil Automatique Leger, Belgian design) which is a large, long and and semi-automatic (one bullet at each trigger pressure) is unsuited in commando style raids where automatic arms are considered suitable (upto 10 bullets at each trigger pressure). The only automatic rifles are with the two Army Special Forces companies, which should have been employed early on. (There is still time to use these highly trained anti-terrorist professionals provided no political strings are attached including the catchword "human rights"). Also, the three light machine guns (LMG) in an army platoon (40 soldiers) are old and bulky and in fact not light by modern standards (over 10 kg, useless in battle manoeuvre scenarios).
Recently the government has asked the Army to monitor the customs along the border, thereby significantly increasing government revenue. However, the Army's requests to buy a an airplane and run a bank (ref: US has a Federal Credit Union and The Royal Thai Air Force gave birth to the famed Thai Airways; US tacit approval of these activites resulted in Thailand becoming secure from Communist Threat from Laos and Vietnam, and a successful world tourist destination. The US maintained strategic defense ties with Thailand including basing rights for bombers and fighter aircraft in the hights of the Vietnam War) have been turned down. Has the government been sympathetic to to the Army's wish to properly manage its welfare fund?
As the Army is the only means at ists disposal with the potential of wiping out the five year old insurgency, which has taken over 1,600 lives, the government should be careful before it makes any decision in a hurry. It also has the potential of a failure if utilized in an improper manner. Therefore, it ought to use its silver bullet (ref: Fighter Combat in the Jet Age, Bill Sweetman, purchased in 2001 in Ekta Books by the author) in a manner that recognizes its strength and weaknesses.
Author's note:- The author was once a member of Nepal Scouts, cub in 1986 when he first visited the Royal Palace. This work is in tribute to King Birendra and especially to Princess Shruti Shah and Prince Nirajan Shah, who fell to unseen and mysterious plotting. I stillsuspect that the anti-monarchist forces of plotting this coup d'etat in a Grand Design to destroy all Royal leaning Nepalis. The author saw Crown Prince Dipendra closely as he played tennis in Tribhuvan Army Club in 1990s (can't rememember exact date. Also, the author heard Crown Princess Shruti speak to him in telephone while the author lived in New Baneswor residence of an aeronautical engineer in Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation. My granddad Flying Officer BK Singh flew the Crown Prince Dipendra to his school in Darjeleeng
The author wanted to be an F-16C Falcon pilot in the USAF when he was in his eighth grade. But due to myopia, it was not possible to fly as there is acute danger of human error. He however wrote to the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, but was asked to attend the Academy through Nepalese government channels. As the author felt increased competition to take control of $3,070 million of foreign debt sponsored scholarships within the Army, he gave it up and only cherished a dream to fly. The author resented going to India as there too competition was severe and russian penetration deep. India has only begun to introduce US platforms. Many Indian pilots die in Russian built MiG-21 airframe, which according to AP reports, is considered a "flying coffin". The author prefers to write like Nick Cook of Jane's andf Interavia and lead a successful writing career as Bill Gunston.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Gingerbreadman
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001633gingerbread_man_cookies.php
It was long time ago when I saw this particular cookie in Good Housekeeper magazine from Australia. I also had cavalry soldiers with me, Indians and Cowboys. But they are gone now.
From seventh grade onwards, I began to build Tamiya tank models. I had five of them. On the order of purchase, they were M-42 Duster (US Army), M-10 Wolverine Tank Destroyer (US Army), Centurion Mk3 (UNC Korea then modified for Israeli Army 3rd Armored Corps) and then Type 90 (Japanese Self Defense Force 7th Hokkaido Division). Buth these are not in my possession anymore.
In 2005, I began collecting several modern avaition platforms. They were AV-8B Harrier 2 (US Marines VAW-XX), F-16 Falcon (USAF 388th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB, Utah), MiG-15 Fagot (flown by Pepelyayev, 20 kills) and MiG-29 Fulcrum (in green camouflage of the Finnish Air Force based in Kubinka). Besides these jets, my favorite was F-51D Mustang (USAF flown in Korea by William McConnel and James Jabara before they graduated to F-86 Sabres).
It was long time ago when I saw this particular cookie in Good Housekeeper magazine from Australia. I also had cavalry soldiers with me, Indians and Cowboys. But they are gone now.
From seventh grade onwards, I began to build Tamiya tank models. I had five of them. On the order of purchase, they were M-42 Duster (US Army), M-10 Wolverine Tank Destroyer (US Army), Centurion Mk3 (UNC Korea then modified for Israeli Army 3rd Armored Corps) and then Type 90 (Japanese Self Defense Force 7th Hokkaido Division). Buth these are not in my possession anymore.
In 2005, I began collecting several modern avaition platforms. They were AV-8B Harrier 2 (US Marines VAW-XX), F-16 Falcon (USAF 388th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB, Utah), MiG-15 Fagot (flown by Pepelyayev, 20 kills) and MiG-29 Fulcrum (in green camouflage of the Finnish Air Force based in Kubinka). Besides these jets, my favorite was F-51D Mustang (USAF flown in Korea by William McConnel and James Jabara before they graduated to F-86 Sabres).
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