Echo Sierra

Having missed it when it reached French theatres, I seized the opportunity of its DVD release to watch Captain Phillips, by Paul Greengrass. It’s quite a movie… The film is based on an actual event: the Maersk Alabama hijacking by four Somali pirates in April 2009. When attacked by the pirates on the 8th of April 2009, the crew managed to thwart assailants (one pirate, trying to locate part of the crew who hid in the engine room was made captive) and offered them the opportunity of leaving the ship thanks to a lifeboat. Yet, on leaving on the lifeboat,  [ Read More ]

In Focus published a new entry about Afghanistan a few hour ago. You can access this entry by clicking the image below. As the end of the NATO combat mission in Afghanistan is closing in, 2014 is often presented as a turning point for Afghanistan. Indeed, the current 84,200 troop strong international force is expected to decrease to a force of a few thousands of men operating as military mentors for the Afghan security forces or as a backup of Afghan National Army. The bulk of such force would be fueled by the United States, although its deployment is not  [ Read More ]

Ian Livingston and Michael O’Hanlon wrote quite a fair article about the current situation in Iraq, for those of you interested, you can read it on Brookings’ website They acknowledge that the security situation in Iraq has been threatened by several factors: Three chief factors account for the reversals in Iraq. First, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki increased his autocratic ways, arresting Sunni politicians and otherwise setting back efforts at cross-sectarian peacemaking. Second, the departure of U.S. forces left Iraq less well prepared to handle the infiltration or recruitment of new al-Qaida operatives. Third, the conflict next door in Syria provided  [ Read More ]

Alan Taylor selected pictures shot this summer in Afghanistan and posted them, as every month, on In Focus. You can access the selection by clicking the image at the end of this article. Transition in Afghanistan remains uncertain, as two recent articles by Matthew Rosenberg in the New York Times explain: Whether Karzai [with less than a year left in his final term] will be able to handpick a pliable successor is one of the chief questions hanging over the coming election. The conventional wisdom among both the Afghan elite and Western diplomats is that he can, and that whoever  [ Read More ]

As mentionned here and there, I spent the month of August trekking the Pamirs, in the semi-autonomous region of Tajikistan: the Gorno Badakhshan, which is landlocked between Kyrgyzstan, China and the Wakhan corridor (the 15 to 60 km-wide part of Afghanistan locked between Pakistan and Tajikistan and that reaches China). From Dushanbe, where a really efficient border control administration (Schengen area is great!) and a warm 25°c at 3:30 am (the temperature reached 48°C a few hours later) greeted us, we quickly took 4WD vehicles to cover the 600km separating the capital and the main city Gorno Badakhshan: Khorog. This  [ Read More ]

The latest military simulation by Bohemia Interactive, Arma 3 (about which I already wrote some posts: here, here and here) was released a few days ago. You can buy it from video games retailers or on Valve’s Steam. Compared to the alpha and beta version, the game contains the main map: the island of Altis (a reproduction of the Greek Island Lemnos, which is 270km² wide), a complete armory and range of vehicles and units to play with. The game features a serie of missions to present new characteristics and units available in arma 3 but it does not come  [ Read More ]

On a certain day of September, here simply are lyrics and audio of Worlds Apart from Bruce Springsteen’s album: The Rising           Worlds Apart   I hold you in my arms, yeah that’s when it starts I seek faith in your kiss and comfort in your heart I taste the seed upon your lips, lay my tongue upon your scars But when I look into your eyes we stand worlds apart Where the distant oceans sing and rise to the plain In this dry and troubled country your beauty remains Down from the mountain road where  [ Read More ]

My friend and fellow blogger Edouard Stenger,  wrote an interesting post about climate change and security recently. I recommend reading it on his website, Sustainable Development and Much More:   Don’t say climate change, prefer “climate crises”   by Edouard Stenger  

In Focus (regular reading of which I strongly recommend) published its monthly update on Afghanistan, which is dedicated to women in the war. In December 2012 the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan published a report on the Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women in Afghanistan. The report noticed that: the main obstacle in the application of the EVAW law remained at the reporting – particularly to police and prosecutors – registration and investigation stages of incidents of violence against women. Although departments of women’s affairs in many provinces have proved to be instrumental in providing an  [ Read More ]

It’s been a few days since I came back from the Pamirs where I spent one month trekking in this awesome mountain range, on its Tajik side, near (and sometimes along) the Afghan border. From Tajikistan, I went nearly directly to Corsica, where I started my one-year training to become an executive officer within the French civil service (I admit there are less pleasant working places…). I am thus back in business and will start writing posts on Echo Sierra soon. For those of you interested, I am posting the link to my pictures of Pamir when I finish sorting  [ Read More ]