Month: September 2018

UNRWA Commissioner’s Open Letter to Staff, Palestinians

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The chief of the United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees has written an open letter to the refugees and the agency’s staff, following the announcement by the U.S. that it will end its financial contribution to the agency.

In the letter released Saturday evening, Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, said the U.S. decision “will only strengthen our resolve.”

“The funding decision of an individual member state — albeit our historically most generous and consistent donor — will not modify or impact the energy and passion with which we approach our role and responsibility towards Palestine refugees,” he said.

The Trump administration cut funding to the UNRWA Friday, calling the organization “irredeemably flawed.” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.N. agency’s “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries is simply unsustainable and has been in crisis mode for many years.”

Krahenbuhl said in his letter, “The responsibility for the protracted nature of the Palestine refugee-hood, the growing number of refugees and the growth in needs, lies squarely with the parties and in the international community’s lack of will or utter inability to bring about a negotiated and peaceful resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The attempt to make UNRWA somehow responsible for perpetuating the crisis is disingenuous at best.”

UNRWA provides health care, education and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The agency provides services to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom are descendants of Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the war that led to Israel’s establishment in 1948.

The U.S. supplied nearly 30 percent of the total budget of UNRWA and donated $355 million to the agency in 2016. However, in January, the Trump administration withheld millions of dollars, releasing only $60 million in funds to the agency.

Krahenbuhl said that represented a $300 million reduction in income, “which confronted our organization with an existential crisis. At no time over the past eight months were we notified of the specific reasons for the dramatic cut. It appeared clearly related however to the tensions between the United States and the Palestinian leadership following the U.S. announcement on Jerusalem and not to UNRWA’s performance. It therefore represented an evident politicization of humanitarian aid.”

The UNRWA chief also acknowledged “with deep appreciation the over 25 countries that advanced their expected annual contributions to earlier in the year to help us sustain operations” and his “immense gratitude to the 30 donors who have provided additional contributions to UNRWA’s core and emergency activities this year and those who have signed new multiyear agreements with us.”

He said, however, the agency is “still in critical need of over $200 [million] to survive this year’s crisis.”

Nabil Abu Rudeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the U.S. decision to end decades of UNRWA funding “does not serve peace but rather strengthens terrorism in the region.”

UNRWA is seen by Palestinians and most of the international community as providing a valuable safety net. The U.N. agency, however, is seen very differently by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said UNRWA promotes the unrealistic Palestinian demand that refugees have the “right of return” to long-lost homes in what is now Israel. He has said UNRWA should be abolished and its responsibilities taken over by the main U.N. refugee agency.

“There is sadly nothing unique in the protracted nature of the Palestine refugee crisis. … Enshrined in the principle of humanity and the international law norm of family unity is the commitment to continue serving communities affected by war until a political solution has been found,” Krahenbuhl said in his open letter. “It is the failure to end conflicts that prolongs refugee situations and denies refugees the choice to define a dignified future of their own.”
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Saudi-Led Coalition: Deadly Strike on Yemen Bus Unjustified

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A Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Saturday it accepted that an air attack last month that killed dozens of people, including children traveling on a bus, was unjustified and pledged to hold accountable anyone who contributed to the error.

The rare concession follows mounting international pressure, including from allies, to do more to limit civilian casualties in a 3-1/2 year civil war that has killed more than 10,000 people and pushed the already impoverished country to the brink of famine.

The Western-backed alliance fighting the Iranian-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said at the time that the Aug. 9 air strikes at a market in Saada province had targeted missile launchers used to attack southern Saudi Arabia a day earlier and accused the Houthis of using children as human shields.

Incident report

The Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT), an investigative body set up by the coalition, said Saturday that the strikes had been based on intelligence indicating the bus was carrying Houthi leaders, a legitimate military target, but delays in executing the strike and receiving a no-strike order should be further investigated.

“There was a clear delay in preparing the fighter jet at the appropriate time and place, thus losing (the opportunity) to target this bus as a military target in an open area in order to avoid such collateral damage,” JIAT legal adviser Mansour Ahmed al-Mansour told reporters in the Saudi capital.

“The team believes that the coalition forces should immediately review the application of their rules of engagement to ensure compliance,” he added.

Coalition accepts findings

The coalition later announced that it accepted those findings and pledged to hold accountable anyone who was proven to have made a mistake.

“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition expresses regret over the mistakes, extends its sympathies, condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims,” said a statement carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA.

The coalition said it would coordinate with the Yemeni government to compensate victims and would continue reviewing the rules of engagement to prevent the repeat of such incidents.

The U.S. military welcomed the decision and said it appreciated the coalition’s decision “to take legal measures to ensure accountability and make the necessary improvements to its Rules of Engagement to prevent such a tragedy in the future.”

“The #DoD welcomes the #Saudi-led #Coalition’s announcement of the investigation findings of the targeting incident of August 9, 2018,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a series of tweets Saturday.

Experts see war crimes

Last week, a U.N. panel of human rights experts said that some coalition airstrikes may constitute war crimes. In Washington, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition was not unconditional, but suggested the United States would continue to support the alliance as it works to reduce fallout on civilians.

The war has so far garnered relatively little public attention in Western countries, but there are signs that is starting to change, particularly because of the role Western governments play in supplying arms to the coalition countries.

Saudi Arabia is leading an alliance of Sunni Muslim Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital, Sanaa, by the Houthis in 2015.

The Houthis, who control the capital and most of the west of the country, regularly fire missiles on southern Saudi Arabia and occasionally aim for higher-value targets, such as the capital Riyadh or facilities of state oil company Aramco.

The United Nations has convened talks in Geneva on Sept. 6, the first effort to negotiate the war in more than two years.
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Blasts Shake Syrian Capital

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A string of powerful blasts from the direction of a military airport in Damascus lit up the skies and shook the capital city in the early morning hours Sunday, residents and state TV reported.

The explosions were seen and heard coming from the direction of the Mezzeh airport, southwest of the capital. The airport has been targeted in a number of airstrikes in recent years that the government has blamed on Israel.

The state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV station showed what appeared to be hand-held footage shot by residents of the capital capturing a string of bright explosions lighting up the night sky.

The TV station reported, citing an unnamed military source, that the explosions did not come from inside the airport but from a nearby munitions depot. The station said an electrical short circuit was to blame, and reported that emergency services were at the scene.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the explosions came from inside the Mezzeh air base and said they were likely caused by an Israeli missile strike.

Israel rarely acknowledges strikes inside Syria but has said it would use military action to prevent weapons transfers to its enemies. Israel is alarmed by the expansion of operations by Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to support President Bashar Assad in Syria’s seven-year civil war.

The blasts come at a tense moment, as Syrian government forces prepare to attack the last refuge of the opposition in the northwest of the country. The U.S. is warning Damascus against using chemical weapons in the battle, while Damascus alleges that the U.S. is preparing to falsify a chemical attack to justify military operations on Syria.

The U.S., France, and the U.K. struck military installations around Damascus in April this year after a chlorine gas attack against rebels under siege outside the capital.
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Syrian Kurds, Damascus Discuss Future Governance

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The Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), a political wing of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), reportedly is in preliminary discussions with Damascus to ensure the future government in Syria is inclusive and represents all sects of Syrian society, including ethnic Kurds.

One key subject the SDC is said to be focusing on during the discussions is a proclamation named Decree 107, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued in 2011, months after the protests began. The order reinforces the rule of the central government by tying all districts and provinces to a central authority in Damascus, an arrangement ethnic Kurds oppose.

“The 107 Decree falls short and does not achieve anything for the democratization and decentralization of government. We have experience in governing our areas in Syria, and we see that this might be a model for future Syria,” Riad Darar, co-chairman of the SDC, told VOA.

Darar said initial negotiations with Damascus have not had tangible results, but both sides agreed on the establishment of committees to supervise the implementation of public projects and services in the Kurdish-controlled areas.

“Guarantees have not come from Damascus, but after trust-building and a willingness to talk about how the institutions will be run together and serve people, we can start to say this agreement will result in more comprehensive meetings in the future,” Darar said.

The SDC says the war in Syria has fundamentally changed the political dynamics inside the country and any future Syrian government will need to consider the emerging realities, which call for a more representative government instead of a central authority.

SDF is a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State and currently controls about a quarter of the Syrian territory.

Initial negotiations

The initial negotiations between the Syrian regime and the Kurds came during the signing of an agreement in July to cooperate on the management of the Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates River. It provides electricity and water to the city of Tabqa, an SDF stronghold in eastern Syria.

As part of the agreement, the central government agreed to pay the salaries of local government employees working at the dam. The agreement on the dam paved the way for other discussions between the two sides.

IS captured the Tabqa Dam in 2014; the SDF freed it in May 2017. During the liberation, the dam was partly damaged as the result of fierce fighting between warring factions and the coalition airstrikes. After the liberation of the area, the U.S.-led coalition helped SDF reconstruct the dam and make it operational.

Some analysts see the move by the SDC as part of a larger plan to ingrain the Kurdish identity within the country’s constitution and extend constitutional guarantees to all ethnic groups living in Syria.

The SDC proposal “aims to restore a national identity to the Syrian army and dismantle its loyalty only to the regime, distribute political and administrative authorities to all areas, and recognize the Kurdish identity in the constitution,” Ferhad Hemmi, a Germany-based Kurdish journalist and analyst, told VOA.

Regime opposition

Nicholas Heras, a Middle East expert at the Center for New American Security, a Washington think tank, believes the regime will oppose the idea of delegating power from the central government to local administrations.

The Assad regime “cannot accept the concept of federalism or even the concept of decentralization, because the Baath regime represents the bigger section of the Arab nation in Syria,” Heras said, adding that a decentralized Syria would be a good move for various parties involved in Syria, including the U.S.

“For the U.S., this will allow its forces to remain in Syria in order to build post-IS stability and at the geopolitical level to keep an observer force in place to try to limit the influence of Iran,” he added.

Meanwhile, a U.S. State Department official told VOA the U.S. remained committed to the unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and that the U.S. was aware of the meeting between members of the SDC and the Syrian regime in Damascus, although the U.S. was not a party to the discussions.

The official emphasized that the U.S. fully supports a Syrian-owned and Syrian-led political solution in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254, which must include full representation for all Syrians.

Russia, another party in the Syrian conflict, reportedly has leaned toward a more decentralized Syria, but with a continued powerful central authority.

The Assad regime, however, is adamant about keeping the status quo and has opposed any attempt to change the current system of government in the country, including Russia’s proposed solution.

Analyst Heras said the longer the U.S. is invested in Syria, the more time it will give the Kurds to build a strong foundation.

“Since 2012, the local administrative governance has come through the support and the training of the coalition, and the security and structure of the Kurdish areas are being made able to withstand pressure from Damascus,” Heras said.

Syrians’ outlook

Syrians are divided over the issue. A 2018 survey published by The Day After, a Turkey-based nongovernmental organization working for a democratic transition in Syria, found that the main concern among Syrians regarding decentralization was the fear of separatism in the country.

“One-third of respondents who opposed administrative decentralization may have done so out of wanting to keep the country united, especially in light of certain calls and practices that many fear were targeted toward division,” the survey said.

According to the survey, those in the Kurdish-controlled areas supported the idea of decentralization. However, Syrians in the regime-controlled areas opposed it.

The European Council issued a report in 2016 based on another survey by the same NGO, and many respondents said the push to decentralize eventually would lead to partition. 
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Islamic State ‘Not Growing’ in Afghanistan, Nicholson Says

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The Islamic State terror group is losing its grip on parts of Afghanistan, slowly succumbing to pressure from U.S. and Afghan forces, the outgoing commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said Saturday.

General John Nicholson rejected the notion that IS-Khorsasan, also known as ISIS-K or IS-K, has been able to meaningfully expand its presence following a concerted effort to wipe it out, which began last year. That effort included use of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal.

“ISIS-K is not growing,” said Nicholson, who hands over command of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan on Sunday to Lieutenant General Austin Miller. 

“They have been able to replenish a portion of their losses by recruiting from other violent extremist organizations,” he added in an email statement to VOA. “Despite this recruiting, they are losing fighters and losing ground.”

Recent estimates from U.S. counterterrorism officials put the number of IS-Khorasan fighters at more than 1,000, even after the defeat last month of IS-K in northern Jowzjan province, where 250 fighters surrendered along with their commander.

More recently, on August 26, the Afghan government announced the death of the IS-Khorasan emir, Abdu Saad Erhabi, along with his nine commanders in a U.S. airstrike, calling it a “major blow” to the terror group.

Staying power

But U.S. defense and intelligence officials have been cautious of predicting the group’s demise, noting that IS-Khorasan, like IS in Iraq and Syria, has been resilient.

Erhabi was the third IS-Khorasan emir killed by U.S. or Afghan forces since April 2017, when the estimated number of fighters dropped to about 600.

For now, senior U.S. counterterrorism officials believe the bulk of the remaining IS fighters, mostly local Afghans, as well as fighters from Pakistan and Uzbekistan, are in Afghanistan’s southern Nangarhar province, with a small number also operating in the country’s eastern Kunar province.

Some Afghan officials worry more may be lurking, warning that the terror group has been bolstered by an influx of foreign fighters — first a surge of about 3,000 from Pakistan and Uzbekistan, and later from hundreds of jihadists fleeing Iraq and Syria.

U.S. defense officials, including some familiar with border security measures that have been put in place by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and by Afghanistan’s neighbors, are skeptical.

In either case, Nicholson said, there will be no letup in the effort against IS-Khorasan.

“United States counterterrorism forces and Afghan Special Security Forces will keep up the pressure until they are defeated,” he said. “This reinforces the importance of the United States and NATO mission in Afghanistan, to prevent the resurgence of international terrorist groups from the region.”
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Pentagon Cancels Aid to Pakistan Over Record on Militants

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The U.S. military says it has decided to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan that had been suspended over Islamabad’s perceived failure to act decisively against militants, in a new blow to deteriorating ties.

The so-called Coalition Support Funds were part of a broader suspension in aid to Pakistan announced by President Donald Trump at the start of the year, when he accused Pakistan of rewarding past assistance with “nothing but lies & deceit.”

The Trump administration says Islamabad is granting safe haven to insurgents who are waging a 17-year-old war in neighboring Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan denies. 

But U.S. officials had held out the possibility that Pakistan could win back that support if it changed its behavior.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in particular, had an opportunity to authorize $300 million in CSF funds through this summer if he saw concrete Pakistani actions to go after insurgents. Mattis chose not to, a U.S. official told Reuters.

“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy the remaining $300 [million] was reprogrammed,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said.

Faulkner said the Pentagon aimed to spend the $300 million on “other urgent priorities” if approved by Congress. He said another $500 million in CSF was stripped by Congress from Pakistan earlier this year, to bring the total withheld to $800 million.

The disclosure came ahead of an expected visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the top U.S. military officer, General Joseph Dunford, to Islamabad. Mattis told reporters on Tuesday that combating militants would be a “primary part of the discussion.”

Experts on the Afghan conflict, America’s longest war, argue that militant safe havens in Pakistan have allowed Taliban-linked insurgents in Afghanistan a place to plot deadly strikes and regroup after ground offensives.

Increasing pressure

The Pentagon’s decision showed that the United States, which has sought to change Pakistani behavior, is still increasing pressure on Pakistan’s security apparatus.

It also underscored that Islamabad has yet to deliver the kind of change Washington seeks.

“It is a calibrated, incremental ratcheting up of pressure on Pakistan,” said Sameer Lalwani, co-director of the South Asia program at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.

Reuters reported in August that the Trump administration had quietly started cutting scores of Pakistani officers from coveted training and educational programs that have been a hallmark of bilateral military relations for more than a decade.

The Pentagon made similar determinations on CSF in the past, but this year’s move could get more attention from Islamabad and its new prime minister, Imran Khan, at a time when its economy is struggling.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have plummeted over the past year and it will soon decide on whether to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund or friendly nations such as China.

“They are squeezing them when they know that they’re vulnerable and it is probably a signal about what to expect should Pakistan come to the IMF for a loan,” Lalwani said. The United States has the largest share of votes at the IMF.

Khan, who once suggested he might order the shooting down of U.S. drones if they entered Pakistani airspace, has opposed the United States’ open-ended presence in Afghanistan. In his victory speech, he said he wanted “mutually beneficial” relations with Washington.

A Pakistani official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of a formal notification of the U.S. decision on assistance but said one was expected by the end of September.

Pakistan has received more than $33 billion in U.S. assistance since 2002, including more than $14 billion in CSF, a U.S. Defense Department program to reimburse allies that have incurred costs in supporting counterinsurgency operations. Pakistan could again be eligible next year for CSF.
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US General: Russia Trying to ‘Undercut’ Progress in Afghanistan

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Russia is not giving up on efforts to destabilize Afghanistan and drive divisions between the United States and its coalition partners, according to the outgoing commander of U.S. forces in the country.

The commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan and of Operation Resolute Support, General John Nicholson, is scheduled to step down Sunday after serving in the position for more than two years.

But before relinquishing command, he took time to cast doubts on Russia’s intentions in the region, despite recent overtures from Moscow to help the Taliban reconcile with the Afghan government.

“We know that Russia is attempting to undercut our military gains and years of military progress in Afghanistan, and make partners question Afghanistan’s stability,” Nicholson said in an email to Voice of America, following on questions from his August 22 briefing with Pentagon reporters.

“It is no secret that Russia seeks any opportunity it can find to drive a wedge between the United States and our Central Asian partners, including Afghanistan,” Nicholson added.

Aid to Taliban

U.S. and Afghan officials have previously accused Russia of meddling in Afghanistan by providing Taliban insurgents with both weapons and training.

Moscow has rejected the allegations, saying it has only political ties with the Taliban. Still, Russia has faced growing suspicion from the U.S. and its allies, who say the Kremlin has been increasingly working to expand its influence in Afghanistan and beyond.

Most recently, the U.S. and Russia have been competing over efforts to kick-start peace negotiations between the Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

Russia was set to host both parties, along with the U.S. and other countries, for talks starting September 4, but was forced to postpone after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declined the invitation.

The U.S. also has been hoping for talks between the government and the Taliban.

“We talk about an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned reconciliation process,” U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said during a briefing with reporters this past week. “We believe that the best way to get there is to ensure Taliban recognizes they can’t win on the battlefield, they must negotiate.”

But while U.S. officials have touted what they see are signs of progress, including increased support for a peace process from various sectors of the Afghan population, the government’s recent cease-fire offer to the Taliban appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have been angered by what they see as Russian efforts to derail peace and stabilization efforts with disinformation campaigns.

​Charges repeated

Just over a week ago, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova raised concerns about “unidentified” helicopters flying missions in support of fighters for the Islamic State terror group, also known as IS-Khorasan or IS-K, in the northern Sar-e-Pul province, suggesting the U.S. and NATO might be responsible.

“Who is arming the terrorists and secretly creating their bases?” she asked. “Why is this happening if NATO command is effectively in control of Afghanistan’s airspace?”

Pentagon officials rejected the suggestion of U.S. or NATO involvement as “completely untrue,” noting it was not the first time Moscow had levied such charges.

“As they [Russia] perpetuate false narratives about ISIS-K, the United States and the Afghan Special Security Forces eliminated the Jowzjan ISIS-K enclave and are killing ISIS-K leaders and fighters in Nangarhar,” Nicholson said in his statement to VOA.

Still, the outgoing commander said he held out hope Russia could play a constructive role. 

“We have shared interests with Russia in Afghanistan — peace, counterterrorism and counternarcotics,” Nicholson said. “We hope to see Russia support Afghanistan and the NATO-led coalition in these areas going forward.”

VOA’s Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
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Arab Media Report Cease-fire in Libyan Capital

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Arab media reported Saturday that warring militias in the Libyan capital had agreed to a cease-fire, but it was unclear whether it would hold for long.

Clashes were reported overnight in Tripoli, and its only functioning airport was closed after rockets hit the area Friday.

Militia fighters from several warring brigades fired multiple rounds of ammunition into the air around the Yarmouk military camp, scene of bitter fighting in recent days. Control of the camp changed hands several times during the week, and fighters from the so-called Seventh Brigade, based in Tarhouna, held it at last report.

Ahmed Maitiq, deputy head of Libya’s Presidential Council, part of the country’s national unity government, said brigades loyal to the unity government had been sent to recapture the base and end the fighting.

National unity government Prime Minister Fayez el-Seraj, under criticism from leaders on all sides, urged opposing parties around the country to agree to unite their forces and end the chaos engulfing Libya.

He called on the parliament and the council of state to work together to unite the institutions of state, especially the army and the central bank, and issue the necessary decrees in order to hold elections.

Amateur photographs posted on Twitter showed buildings, including a hospital and a hotel, that had been hit by rocket fire during the past 24 hours. Arab media said about 40 people had been killed in a week of fighting. Many residents complained that they had been pinned down by the fighting and that electricity was in short supply. One resident said that on some days, just three to four hours of electric power was available.

Refugees have been hit hard by the fighting, although amateur photos on Twitter suggested that food got through to at least one group that had been isolated by fighting. Abdel Salam al-Milad, who is in charge of the U.N.-run Az Zara refugee facility, said several hundred people had been moved to a safer location in Tripoli, where they were given medical and food aid. He said most of the refugees were from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.

The United States and four European governments urged the warring militias to observe the latest cease-fire.
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John McCain Funeral

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Saturday ceremonies in Washington for late Senator John McCain
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Former POWs Remember John McCain in Vietnam

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Orson Swindle’s first conversation with the late Senator John McCain was tapped out in code on a wall between prison cells.

The retired Marine officer met McCain in 1967 when both were prisoners of war at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison in Vietnam. U.S. servicemen used a secret code to communicate with each other while confined to their cells.

“The first thing he tapped to me was a joke that I can’t tell you,” Swindle said, because the joke was a bawdy one.

The two men, imprisoned together until their release in early 1973, quickly formed a friendship that lasted until McCain’s death last week.

McCain’s condition was dire when he was brought into what was formally known as Hòa Lò prison with two broken arms, a broken leg and other injuries sustained after his Skyhawk bomber jet was hit by a Vietnamese missile, October 26, 1967, forcing him to eject and parachute into Trúc Bach Lake. He was rescued from the lake and beaten by North Vietnamese fighters.

Air Force Colonel Bud Day, a close friend of both men, told Swindle that when McCain was “dumped” in his cell after his capture, immobile in a full body cast, he didn’t look like he would survive. “[Day] just said, ‘I don’t see how this guy’s going to live,’” Swindle said. “But that’s John McCain. He never, ever gave up.”

During a phone conversation Friday, Swindle said he and McCain, later imprisoned in the same cell, talked constantly — partly to keep their minds sharp, partly to pass the time.

“We talked about everything we had ever done, remembered, thought of, hoped for. It was just an amazing friendship; he was a fascinating guy. … We told stories about our kids and everything. Every movie we’d ever seen, every book we’d ever read.”

​Cracking jokes, lifting spirits

Leon ‘Lee’ Ellis, a retired Air Force colonel, was also imprisoned with McCain. He was one of the youngest of the POWs and knew McCain first by reputation, as the son of the admiral in charge of U.S. Pacific forces. McCain’s refusal of a chance for release had made an impression on Ellis. Despite his status as an admiral’s son, despite his life-threatening injuries, McCain refused to leave prison until all of the men imprisoned ahead of him could be released as well.

“I knew he’d refused an opportunity to go home, but I didn’t know him personally until we were moved into the same camp,” Ellis said. Once the two men were acquainted, he enjoyed the famous son’s company. “We would walk together inside the courtyard of the camp, inside the walls, and talk and joke and tell stories.”

Swindle said humor was one of the tools the POWs deployed against the terror, uncertainty and monotony of life in enemy territory.

“You could easily get down in the dumps,” he said. With some men enduring captivity as long as eight years by the end of the war, Swindle said, “we needed to pick each other up.

“We had been through so much that was terrifying and painful,” he said. He noted that the torture to which POWs were subjected — “that’s the subject of a whole lot of other discussion” — largely stopped after the death of Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh in 1969. But with the easing of the struggle to survive came the challenge of staying optimistic in the face of monotonous uncertainty.

​McCain was often the ringleader of projects designed to lift the men’s spirits. 

“The last Christmas we were there,” Swindle said, “we decided we’d have a Christmas play. We enacted ‘A Christmas Carol,’ totally ad-libbed. John played Scrooge, of course.”

Three months later when word of their impending release finally came, Ellis said the men were careful not to betray any joy or hopefulness to their captors. “We were determined, one, not to give them a photo op of cheering and going crazy, and two, we also had an attitude of we’ll wait and see. So when they read the protocol to us out in the camp yard there, we all just turned and walked away and walked back to our cells.” He said even the day his group left the camp, unbridled celebration didn’t break out until their plane was over international waters.

From hell-raiser to statesman

Many of the POWs from that time are still in touch today, their struggle to survive the experience binding them together in a unique fraternity. McCain, Swindle, and Ellis have all been involved in POW reunions. McCain wrote the foreword to Ellis’s 2012 book on leadership. Ellis and Swindle supported McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

The time in the POW camp shaped the rest of McCain’s life, Swindle said. 

“He was a carefree, hell-raising young naval aviator when he got shot down, and by his own admission, he had not excelled in much of anything except resisting authority and raising hell.” 

Emulating the courage of others in the camp, McCain became more serious and focused. He became, Swindle said, “the John McCain that the public came to know when he went to Congress.”

By the end of McCain’s career, he had become an example of the rare lawmaker who would engage in across-the-aisle compromise. 

“He was courageous. He was a statesman, something we desperately need in our Congress,” Swindle said. “In fact, I would say that we need about 90 more senators like John McCain, and we’d be a hell of a lot better country.

“He never gave up,” Swindle added, summing up what was most admirable about his longtime friend. “He never gave up in prison, when he was on his deathbed. Never gave up when he was being tortured. He never gave up in the heartache and pain of being separated from family. And you’ve seen him operate in Congress. He never gave up on his efforts to do the right thing.”
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Hmong Farmers Drive Local Food Economy in Minnesota

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In Minnesota, Hmong farmers have banded together to make a better living. Originally from China, the Hmong are an Asian ethnic group that migrated to Vietnam and Laos in the 18th century. But they have never had a country of their own. After the Vietnam War ended, many resettled in the U.S. and now, decades later, Hmong farmers are at the center of a local food economy in Minnesota. VOA’s June Soh has more in this report narrated by Carol Pearson.
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Detroit Gives Aretha Franklin a Funeral Fit for a Queen

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Family, loved ones, celebrities and political leaders, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, were among the thousands who gathered at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple Friday for an all-day funeral to honor Aretha Franklin. The star-studded event with performances by Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson and Faith Hill among others was at times somber and often joyful, a larger than life tribute to the woman known and loved around the world as the “Queen of Soul.” VOA’s Cindy Saine has more.
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Feeding Cows Seaweed Could Help the Environment

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Researchers have been searching for ways to reduce cattle emissions with food additives, such as garlic, oregano, cinnamon and even curry — with mixed results. Dairy farms and other livestock operations are a major source of methane, a heat-trapping gas, much more potent than carbon dioxide. Both gases contribute to global warming. Now, University of California researchers are feeding seaweed to dairy cows in an attempt to make cattle more climate friendly. VOA’s Deborah Block has the story.
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General Nicholson’s Afghan Legacy

Posted on by SeeUS

The longest-serving NATO commander in Afghanistan is stepping down Sunday. Before his confirmation in 2016, U.S. General John Nicholson told Congress the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan has “largely defined” his service. Nicholson has served about six years in the war-torn country since Sept. 11, 2001, and, as VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb reports, experts say only time will tell if his legacy set the Afghan government up for success or simply maintained a stalemate with the Taliban.
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Thousands Pay Respects to Senator John McCain at the US Capitol

Posted on by SeeUS

A U.S. senator who was held as a prisoner of war (POW) in Vietnam and then ran for U.S. president twice was given the honor of lying in state in the U.S. Capitol Friday, two days before his burial. Arizona Senator John McCain lost his battle with cancer. But the 81-year-old will probably be best remembered for his ability to cross party boundaries. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti reports.
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