•   What Assange is doing, is incredibly important - Berliner Morgenpost
•   My chat experience with founder of Wikileaks Slovenia
•   Julian Assange: Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths
•   Mercadeo diplomático para cerrar Guantánamo
•   Slovenia Agreed to Accept Gitmo Detainees in ‘Trade’ for Obama Meeting
•   Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
•   Carantha's comments on: "US embassy cables:
•   US embassy cables: US diplomats in Slovenia... Guardian UK
•   Sleeping with Pengovsky - WikiLeaks Slovenia: Someone Never Learned to Read
•   Sleeping with Pengovsky - A Letter To Prime Minister Borut Pahor (Yo B. Wassup)
•   What Wike-Leaks revealed: From soporific to sizzling

  
The discloser - Julian Assange

Wikileaks

Jeff Jarvis - "What Assange is doing, is incredibly important"

Friday 28 January 2011- By Ileana Grabitz

Internet guru Jeff Jarvis holds Julian Assange's work "incredibly important". It enables a change in the power structures of the world. Book author and Google expert Jeff Jarvis praised the work of the disclosure platform Wikileaks.

Welt Online: Mr. Jarvis, thanks to the mobile Internet, people nowadays can attend conferences from all over the world without having to leave home. Are physical meetings, such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, not superficial?

Jeff Jarvis: No. I believe that such events always bring something good. With a view to Davos, I just wonder whether there still the right people are gathering. Davos aims to bring together the leaders of the world. But what the organizers do not consider is, that the balance of power in the course of digitization and in times of Wikileaks extremely shifted - whether on the part of companies or governments. The people who are an integral part of Davos, will de facto become less important in the world, even if they desperately try to defend themselves against it.

Welt Online : Was it against this background a mistake of the organizers, not to invite the face of the controversial Wikileaks web platform, Julian Assange?  

Jarvis: That was indeed discussed. Currently Assange's participation would be technically impossible because he cannot leave Britain due to his electronic ankle bracelet. Of course he could have participated on Skype, what the organizers do not want for obvious reasons: If they start once that someone is engaged by Video, then everybody wants to do that next year, of course, always for good reasons. But then the real meaning of a physical meeting would be eroded. But even without Assange, this time is transparency as a weapon against power a particularly important issue in Davos.

Welt Online: The Opinions of Julian Assange could not be more controversial. Is he for you personally devil or hero?

Jarvis: hero or not, what Assange does is incredibly important. He is certainly an Idiokrat, but this is what leaders.

Welt Online : Do you see him as a leader?

Jarvis: Yes, because Wikileaks allows a change in the power structures of the world. People who bring about such changes are usually not on the cuddly side: Take Steve Jobs, I respect him very much, but he is an incredibly difficult person and that is perfectly fine, because there is only one who makes such brilliant products . To come back to Assange, I guess he has brought a long overdue discussion on ethics of openness and transparency. That was very important.

Welt Online: Nevertheless, he undermined himself the principle of transparency with Wikileaks, making the material available only to certain medias..

Jarvis: Not immediately: First, everything was available to everyone, but nobody was interested. Then he realized that he needs the media to give his disclosures maximum effect. But if he would have offered everything to everyone, the journalists would probably have been less interested. Journalists want exclusive stories, right?

Welt Online: Sure. But nevertheless the whole thing is not without danger. If Assange can decide, who should be entrusted with what secrets, then an Idiokrat becomes the controller of the secrets of the world - an uncomfortable thought, don't you think so?

Jarvis: You're right, that's why Wikileaks needs competition. And this competition takes rise in the former speaker of Wikileaks, Daniel Domscheidt-Berg , who just created a private disclosure platform called Openleaks. But beyond that, I would like to scale down a bit the dramatic side in this discussion: Despite of Wikileaks, the world did not end yet, right?

Welt Online: The world has not ended. But has it improved, because we know now that there are some U.S. Politicians who speak of Angela Merkel as the Teflon Chancellor?

Jarvis: I would hold Tunisia against this: I would not go so far as to make the secret diplomatic cables, published by Wikileaks, responsible for the riots in Tunisia. But Wikileaks was certainly something like a catalyst by which emotions were fueled. No, if I see a risk at all, it goes in another direction: Wikileaks could mean that those in power will be even more secretive in future and avoid all records - and that would be a great loss for historians. But I am confident: to speak one's mind is a vested human need and always will be.

Welt Online: Is it not also a vested human need to have privacy and protect your small and big secrets?

Jarvis: Oh, this is again a typical German discussion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg argued that people have a single identity and not an identity that splits into a public and private part. I see it the same way: there is no war for me between the identity at home and the one that accompanies me to work. This is only the case when we lie to ourselves when we are not really credible.

Welt Online: But don't we all cheat a little bit, and leave, when we are in the office, a good part of our personal identity to at home?

Jarvis: Probably a little bit, but isn't that a good thing?

Welt Online: No, but it is reality.

Jarvis: But then we all should try to be genuine and sincere, and Wikileaks is the key to that. Behind the heated debate over the Internet platform is nothing but the fear to get caught when we are wrong or cheat. Generally speaking, openness builds trust. A person who hides things and  lies will loose authority in the long run.

Welt Online: In principle you are right, but all this sounds too idealistic. Power is best defended by not disclosing too much. Look at Apple!

Jarvis: Yes, you are right. Apple is the only exception and can be it because they are so incredibly god.

Welt Online: Is it right that they make such a secret about the health of Steve Jobs?

Jarvis: I would like to return the issue to a German question, because in your country the protection of privacy is written in such big letters: What has a higher priority - the responsibility to the shareholders and employees of a company or the legitimate protection of its privacy?

Welt Online: I have no answer on that.

Jarvis: Neither do I. Over all, however, I have sympathy for Steve Jobs. I myself was always open about my cancer and have benefited from it. But I would never prescribe to someone else, to do the same. Basically, I do believe that transparency also in the event of sickness, is the best thing you can do.

Welt Online: You are an adult and have the right to decide for yourself what to publish about yourself. What about all the children and young people who post their photos on Facebook and thus feed abuse – do we have to protect them better?

Jarvis: Again, this is a very German, regulatory view. First, it is forbidden to open a Facebook account when you under 18. And unlike in Germany, most minors in the U.S. stick to it: My daughter, for example, is 14, and for her as for many in her age, it is natural to not have a Facebook account. It starts mostly with entry into high school.

Welt Online: Strange, is it not? That it is different with the Germans's, who indeed in terms of privacy, as you think, are somewhat stuck. How do you explain that?
What are the 10 to 18-year-olds doing on the Internet?

Information search (School Education): 76 percent
communities use: 74 percent
watching films and videos: 73 percent
chatting: 68 percent
listening to music: 63 percent
writing e-mails  52 percent
search for information (personal interests): 48 percent
online games : 48 percent
read the news: 40 per cent
download music: 34 percent
discuss in forums, write blogs: 24 percent
send or place photos online: 21 percent
(Source: Bitkom)

Jarvis: That exactly is the German paradox that I am describing, among other things, in my new book. I think it has to do with the fact that the Internet culture begins to overcome the ancestral culture - or in other words, the fact that young Germans are more Internet than German. Overall, I believe, however, that young people are quite responsible in dealing with the Internet. And who is not, must learn it, even if it hurts sometimes. We adults of course must be aware, but we also need to trust a little that they manage it.

Welt Online: Why do you think the Germans are so uptight about privacy?

Jarvis: Many argue that this is a consequence of National Socialism, but I think that this is rooted more deeply in the German mentality. In my eyes this debate has also something to do with hostility towards technology: Take the German Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner for example. She declared radar vision off limits before the technology was in use at all.

This reflex I find very alarming: Who knows whether the technology could be incredibly helpful to locate abducted children or victims of an earthquake or terrorist. With all due respect: If the German government is dealing with new technologies too conservative, then Germany threatens to fall back very quickly in the world .
  
Valentin Rozman
January 5, 2010

My chat experience with founder of Wikileaks Slovenia

Today I have had a Skype audio chat with a guy from Slovenia who I met on FaceBook and is managing some Slovenian environmental FaceBook group. I have checked his profile and noticed that he is also involved in the Wikileaks project. So I contacted him and we talked about our backgrounds and current activities. He explained that he is preparing Wikileaks Slovenia project that would expose all the corruption that journalism and police do not want to expose due to lack of will or fear or corruption. Besides exposing the crimes, there is also plan to prosecute those crimes and punish the people who abuse other people and steal large amount of money in more or less legal ways.

I saw here the opportunity to join the forces in bringing the better world, so I wanted to introduce Desteni and the solutions to this guy. After he introduced himself it was my turn to share my background and then I asked him some questions in order to see how he understands the root cause of current world imbalance and what is his idea of fixing the situation. He explained that what is needed is to move to non-profit model of organizations and the way to manifest this model is through the introduction of proper legislation. When I asked him about how he understands the driving force of greed, he answered that this is not his line of job and that he does not care.

I noticed that he became very restless, he constantly interrupted me and started to explain what are his plans and what he needs, how he is totally broke and how sometimes works up to 20 hours per day and that many people from different fields are contacting him daily and wanting to talk to him. He became more and more upset, talking and talking, and did not want to give me the opportunity to explain what are my intentions. I tried to explain that at Desteni we share the same goals of making this world a better place, and that there is course for self-realization and Equal Money System prepared as the effective practical solutions to achieve this goals.

After I explained him that I am interested in cooperation, he said that he does not care about what other people do and that he is only willing to find out how can we help him at the Wikileaks project. He was not willing to even check the Desteni stuff for himself. When I asked him if he is interested in gaining the bigger picture about how and why this world exists the way it is, he replied that the way how general science explains this existence is sufficient for him and that he is only willing to focus on legal approach of fixing this reality. I asked him is he is aware that during our conversation he emotionally reacted and projected his past experiences and I suggested to support himself at understanding how the mind and emotions work with the tools of Desteni, but he did not want to listen.

I explained that I did not wanted to speak with him only to support his project and that my interest is cooperation and the solutions that are best for all, thus we both need to be opened, listen to each other equally and research what solutions are the best. Since he constantly interrupted me, with justification that this is simple the way his personality is, and did not want to listen to what I had to say, I told him that I am not interested in continuing this conversation, that I do not have respect for the people who only want to protect their own interest and then I said good bye.

This was another example of the people who are not really interested in equality and stopping their egos, but just positioned themselves at some activist role and blindly follow what they believe is right, just to feel good and special, which is as much elitism and self-interest as of the people that they are supposedly fighting against. The root cause of evil in this world is self, and the self needs to take the full responsibility of everything that exists, become one with all existence by applying self-forgiveness and then only is one able to change this reality to what is best for all, based not on feelings, emotions, judgements and projections, but on the principle of equality and with inner stability as all as one and equal.
  
December 7, 2010


Julian Assange: Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths

…..  The US is playing hardball to get other countries to take freed detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Barack Obama agreed to meet the Slovenian President only if Slovenia took a prisoner. Our Pacific neighbour Kiribati was offered millions of dollars to accept detainees….
  
Madrid, 29/11/2010

Carantha comments:

Guantánamo
Mercadeo diplomático para cerrar Guantánamo
EE UU ofreció dinero a varios países para acoger a presos, Eslovenia pidió reunirse con Obama y Kuwait sugirió abandonarlos en una zona de guerra

Borut Pahor, POTUS – Barack Obama, NEK2, WikiLeaks

Pahor stated his support for Westinghouse’s participation in the replacement of the country’s sole nuclear plant, emphasized new taskforces in the MFA and PM’s office dedicated to the Western Balkans, and spoke confidently of easy access to Balkan political leaders.

In response to CDA’s request for assistance in closing Guantanamo, Pahor said that he would ask the government (GoS) to take detainees as long as “political” and “financial” obligations were considered separately.

In a one-on-one pull-aside with CDA, Pahor linked acceptance of detainees to “a 20-minute meeting” with POTUS.


Pahor pointed out that the French already have a large investment in the production of Renault automobiles and that Deutsche Bank was on the verge of a large investment in Slovenia’s railways, which would include part of Slovenia’s most important “strategic asset”, the port of Koper.

Pahor reiterated that he would be willing to make the case, but in a one-on-one pull-aside with CDA, the PM gently – but unambiguously – linked success on detainee resettlement to a meeting with President Obama. He said that “a 20-minute meeting” with POTUS would allow him to frame the detainee question as an act of support for Slovenia’s most important ally and evidence of a newly-reinvigorated bilateral relationship.

2010 will, we hope, be the year that we focus our attention on partnering with Slovenia in the Western Balkans and ISAF; paving the way for Westinghouse to compete successfully for the construction of a new nuclear power plant; and, perhaps most challenging of all, turning Pahor’s rhetorical support for detainee resettlement into reality.
  
Carantha comments
All Slovenia is shocked and outraged. The Office of the Prime Minister Borut Pahor has immediately issued an official response to the WikiLeaks, denying the PM's desperate attempt to get an audience with Barack Obama. But nobody believes it. Borut Pahor (* 1963) is not only inexperienced, but also incapable and immature to lead the country.  He is a true child of the Tito regime and Yugoslavia's "self-government“. Slovenia never experienced such a disgrace in front of the whole world. The incident took place in December 2009. With the scandal in full blow, Borut Pahor humiliated himself and his government to the point by appearing personally in the American Embassy, and negotiated with the American Ambassador. Diplomatic circles never work this way. It is customary that the Prime Minister invites the Ambassador into his office for a private audience. What Pahor has done, does not even happen in Third World countries.

But this is only the external sign of the catastrophic failure of the present Slovenian government and consequently of Slovenia itself. Rumors has it, that the term Mafia becomes more widely known among the people, which is not far from reality. In the back ground we find organized lobbies of the ex-Yugoslav secret service in the hands of the „Mafia“ from Belgrade. Millions of stolen moneys from Slovenian Banks were channeled to Belgrade and Serbia. The unemployed - more than 100,000 people – had no idea what to expect, when they voted the Social Democrats (post-communists) in the last election. And now, how can Borut Pahor and his comrades even dare to offer the Western Balkans to Slovenians?
  

Slovenia Agreed to Accept Gitmo Detainees in ‘Trade’ for Obama Meeting
Obama Offered Myriad Bribes for Nations to Take Detainees

by Jason Ditz, November 28, 2010

Note from PV: Slovenian communists compromise safety of domovina; desperate to meet Obama!

Wikileaks "cablegate" expose concerning the activities of the communist Slovenian President Türk and communist Slovenian Prime Minister Pahor prove that Slovenia has now become a "Banana Republic". Slovenian communists were so desperate to meet Obama that they were even prepared to accept prisoners from Guantanamo Bay even though the EU, of which Slovenia is a member, had a policy of not accepting Gitmo detainees. See below:

The WikiLeaks releases reveal that in 2009, when the Obama Administration was still looking to clear out Guantanamo Bay and close the infamous detention center, they began offering myriad “trades” to different nations to entice them. In one case, in Kiribati, this was a direct offer of money.

But perhaps the more bizarre case was in Slovenia, where the State Department offered to let Slovenia’s President Danilo Türk meet Obama in return for accepting a Gitmo prisoner. The offer, odd though it may seem, appears to have been accepted by the Slovenes.


Slovenia’s Interior Ministry announced in mid-June of 2009 that they were willing to accept Guantanamo detainees from the US. though they denied at the time that the US had even approached them to do so. This, it seems, was a lie.

The delivery of the promised “payment” came pretty quickly as well, as President Obama met with Türk in early April, just over two months before the announcement. The delay appears to have been chiefly because the European Union, of which Slovenia is a member, did not agree to accept Gitmo detainees until shortly before the Interior Ministry’s announcement.
  
CIA and Slovenia
Slovenia in American and European Affairs
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
Do they understand Europe?

  
(December 4, 2010)
Carantha's comments on:

"US embassy cables: US diplomats in Slovenia asked to compile 'biometric' data on 'current and emerging leaders and advisors'"

The US cable, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, caused no excitement in Slovenia. It was rather a surprise for top politicians, who could not possibly have imagined that „small“ Slovenia would someday be so important for the USA. However, commentaries of prominent Slovenian personalities on television brought the strategic position of Slovenia in Europe into sharp focus. Even though this issue was not mentioned in the cable, everybody knew what was going on. Frankly, the Americans should not ignore whether Slovenia will be completely under Serbian domination, as it is planned for the countries of the Western Balkans, bound by Serbia under Russian control, or if it will remain independent and bound into the community of democratic nations of Western Europe.

The movement of young Slovenians, who discover their Slovenian historical and political identity, despite opposition from academic circles – in togetherness with the Black Panther symbol – will get in this connection a final meaning: Is it possible to predict in advance, if the Slovenian (Carantanian) historical truth or the Yugoslav Pan-Slavic ideolgy will be the winner? It sounds a bit naive on the surface, but does the balance of power in Europe, so to speak, depend on the Carantanian Panther?
  
guardian.co.uk

Most recent

US embassy cables: US diplomats in Slovenia asked to compile 'biometric' data on 'current and emerging leaders and advisors'

2 Dec 2010: Cable sent 16/06/2009
S E C R E T STATE 062397

Tuesday, 16 June 2009, 21:48
S E C R E T STATE 062397
NOFORN
EO 12958 DECL: 06/11/2034
TAGS PINR, KSPR, ECON, SI
SUBJECT: (S) REPORTING AND COLLECTION NEEDS: SLOVENIA
REF: STATE 18774
Classified By: SUZANNE MCCORMICK, DIRECTOR, INR/OPS. REASON: 1.4(C).

1. (S/NF) This cable provides the full text of the new National HUMINT Collection Directive (NHCD) on Slovenia (paragraph 3-end) as well as a request for continued DOS reporting of biographic information relating to Slovenia (paragraph 2).

A. (S/NF) The NHCD below supercedes the NHCD contained in Ref C and reflects the results of a recent Washington review of reporting and collection needs focused on Slovenia and sets forth a list of priorities (paragraph 3) and reporting and collection needs (paragraph 4) intended to guide participating USG agencies as they allocate resources and update plans to collect information on Slovenia. The priorities may also serve as a useful tool to help the Embassy manage reporting and collection, including formulation of Mission Strategic Plans (MSPs).
B. (S/NF) This NHCD is compliant with the National Intelligence Priorities Framework (NIPF), which was established in response to NSPD-26 of February 24, 2003. If needed, GRPO can provide further background on the NIPF and the use of NIPF abbreviations (shown in parentheses following each sub-issue below) in NHCDs.
C. (S/NF) Important information responsible to the NHCD often is available to non-State members of the Country Team whose agencies participated in the review leading to the NHCD,s issuance. COMs, DCMs, and State reporting officers can assist by coordinating with other Country Team members to encourage relevant reporting through their own or State Department channels.
2. (S/NF) State biographic reporting ) including on Slovenia:
A. (S/NF) The intelligence community relies on State reporting officers for much of the biographical information collected worldwide. Informal biographic reporting via email and other means is vital to the community's collection efforts and can be sent to the INR/B (Biographic) office for dissemination to the IC. State reporting offiers are encouraged to report on noteworthy Palestinians as information becomes available.
B. (S/NF) Reporting officers should include as much of the following information as possible when they have information relating to persons linked to Slovenia: office and organizational titles; names, position titles and other information on business cards; numbers of telephones, cell phones, pagers and faxes; compendia of contact information, such as telephone directories (in compact disc or electronic format if available) and e-mail listings; internet and intranet "handles", internet e-mail addresses, web site identification-URLs; credit card account numbers; frequent flyer account numbers; work schedules, and other relevant biographical information.
3. (S/NF) Slovenia NHCD outline -- priority issues:
A. Foreign Relations and Energy Security 1) Regional Neighbors (FPOL-4H) 2) European Union (FPOL-4H) 3) Energy Security (ESEC-4H) 4) The United States (FPOL-4H) 5) International Organizations and Other Foreign Relations (FPOL-4H) B. Financial Stability, Economic Development, and Societal Challenges 1) Financial Stability and Economic Development (ECFS-4H) 2) Money Laundering (MONY-5H) 3) Demographics, Minorities, and Human Rights (DEMG-5H) C. National Security 1) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (FMCC-4H) 2) Force Structure, Modernization, and Readiness (FMCC-4H) 3) Counterterrorism and Terrorism (TERR-4H) 4) GRPO can provide text of this issue. 5) Information to Support US Military Operational Planning (INFR-5H) D. National Leadership and Governance 1) National Leadership (LEAD-4H) 2) Rule of Law, Corruption, and Crime (CRIM-4H) 3) Political Evolution and Democratic Reform (DEPS-5H) E. Telecommunications Infrastructure and Information Systems (INFR-5H)
4. (S/NF) Reporting and collection needs:
A. Foreign Relations and Energy Security
1) Regional Neighbors (FPOL-4H). Plans and efforts regarding relations with regional neighbors, including Russia. Plans and efforts to cooperate with regional neighbors on energy security. Details about disputes with neighbors, especially Croatia. Relations with, and military deployments in, the Balkans. Plans and efforts to promote democracy in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Plans and efforts regarding Moldova and Kosovo. Policies, plans, and efforts regarding Ballistic Missile Defense.
2) European Union (FPOL-4H). Philosophies and motives behind leadership objectives, strategies, and efforts regarding the European Union (EU). Leadership and public views about levels of influence among European states, including relations between states and EU institutions as well as emergence of a preeminent state or a core alliance in Europe. Details about formal and informal alliances between Slovenia and other EU states, including plans and efforts to cooperate on issues of mutual concern. Plans and efforts to cooperate with regional neighbors, EU members, and non-state actors to influence EU policies. Plans and efforts regarding European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). Plans and efforts regarding EU expansion. Plans and efforts regarding specific EU policies and decisions.
3) Energy Security (ESEC-4H). Policies, plans, and efforts to diversify energy sources and develop, rehabilitate, or expand energy infrastructure, including investment in capacity, efficiency, storage, nuclear power, flex-fuel, or other sources of alternative energy. Details about financing strategies, and openness to foreign investment. Willingness, plans, and efforts to develop and implement unified Europe energy security strategy. Declared and secret energy agreements with Russia, Caspian basin countries, and others. Details about national energy policymakers, key commercial figures in the sector, and their relations with other national leaders. Views about and responses to Russian plans and efforts regarding Slovenian dependence on Russian energy. Factors influencing government decisionmaking on key energy issues. Details about personal relations between Slovenian leaders and Russian leaders and businessmen. Energy imports, including sufficiency, impact on economy, and influence on bilateral relations. Organized crime involvement in energy sector.
4) The United States (FPOL-4H). Policies, strategies, and efforts concerning relations with the US. Expectations regarding diplomatic, security, and economic relations with the US. Leadership and public perceptions about US regional policies, presence, and activities. Plans and efforts to support or oppose US positions in international fora.
5) International Organizations and Other Foreign Relations (FPOL-4H). Plans and efforts to pursue national objectives in international fora, such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Plans and efforts regarding leadership opportunities in international organizations. Details about relations with China, Iran, and nations that are hostile to US interests.
B. Financial Stability, Economic Development, and Societal Challenges
1) Financial Stability and Economic Development (ECFS-4H). Plans and efforts to respond to global financial crisis. Public response to financial challenges. Opposition, extremist, and fringe group plans and efforts to exploit financial crisis to achieve objectives. Details about major financial institutions. Plans and efforts regarding economic cooperation with the US, EU, Group of Eight, and international financial institutions, including World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Paris Club. National and regional economic conditions, including real output, domestic and foreign investment, foreign trade, capital flight, monetization, and gray economy. Plans and efforts to pursue economic reform, including among monetary and fiscal policies. Plans and efforts to limit capital flight and barter. Economic policy decisionmaker identities, philosophies, roles, interrelations, and decisionmaking processes. Role of private businessmen in economic planning. Published and non-published national budget, including oversight and associated banks and financial institutions. Plans and efforts to comply with IMF agreements.
2) Money Laundering (MONY-5H). Government plans and efforts to implement anti-money laundering legislation, enforcement, and prosecution. Money laundering, including methods, techniques, transactions, locations, and associated individuals, organizations, and institutions. Use of shell corporations and non-financial intermediaries, such as lawyers, accountants, and casinos, as well as related bank accounts to launder criminal proceeds. Links between money laundering groups and terrorists. Drug traffic involvement in money laundering. Use of money laundering as an influence-gaining measure.
3) Demographics, Minorities, and Human Rights (DEMG-5H). Information about, and government policies and efforts regarding, religious and ethnic minorities. Public attitudes toward minorities. Indications of human rights abuses. Details about demography, including birth rate, fertility rate, mortality rate, incidence of infectious diseases, and migration. Plans and efforts to respond to declining birth rates, including through promotion of immigration.
C. National Security
1) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (FMCC-4H). Plans, efforts, and ability to maintain defense spending for force modernization, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) interoperability, meeting NATO-required spending levels and force goals, and defense capability initiative implementation. Strategy and efforts to win public support for such spending. Plans and efforts to fulfill commitments to NATO, including manpower and equipment for out-of-area operations. Actions to accommodate NATO procedures and methods. Government and public confidence in NATO Article 5 security guarantees. Attitudes toward stationing or long-term deployment of NATO or US forces on Slovenian soil, NATO commands in Slovenia, and out-of-country deployments of Slovenian forces. Plans and efforts regarding NATO enlargement, including strategic concepts and future roles of the alliance. Government, including military, intelligence, and security service willingness, ability, and efforts to protect US and NATO classified information. Awareness of and concern about foreign penetration. Implementation and strengthening of personnel-vetting procedures. Policies, plans, and efforts regarding EU defense and security cooperation, including ESDP; views and intentions regarding any conflict between ESDP and NATO obligations.
2) Force Structure, Modernization, and Readiness (FMCC-4H). Details about threat assessment, including agreement and disagreement among civilian and military leaders. Perceptions about, and response to, cyber warfare threat. Plans and efforts to support or oppose US objectives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Willingness and capability to participate in NATO, EU, and other multilateral relationships, including out-of-area operations, multinational peacekeeping force in Southeast Europe, and humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. Policies and efforts regarding access, overflight, and transit of US military forces and equipment. Disposition, readiness, and mission of military forces. Plans and efforts regarding force structure, military reform, and modernization, including future roles, strengths, and compositions of military services. Details about military cooperation with other nations. Details about defense industry, including plans and efforts to cooperate with foreign nations and actors. Weapon system development programs, firms, and facilities. Types, production rates, and factory markings of major weapon systems. Decisionmaking regarding acquisition of US or other nation weapon systems. Commitment, plans, efforts, and ability to manage a secure military export regime, including details about monitoring end user activities and imposing penalties for violations. Foreign use of Slovenia as weapons transshipment point. Details about weapons transportation, including associated firms, agents, modes, methods, routes, nodes, schedules, and communications. Military and paramilitary manpower, structure, budget and expenditure by service and function, mission, doctrine, tactics, order of battle, command and control, equipment, maintenance, training, exercise participation, support for international peacekeeping operations, professionalism, non-commissioned officer development, health care, pay, housing, loyalty, and morale. Civil-military relations. Perceptions about, and commitment to, intelligence sharing agreements with the US. Indications of national-level denial and deception program, including doctrine, targets, goals, organizations, and activities. Location, mission, organization, associated personnel, funding, development, and use of underground facilities and other hardened structures, including for protection of command and control networks, civil and military leaders, and critical resources. Details about, and transfer of, advanced engineering techniques to harden key facilities, including by use of specialty concretes. Details about dual use of underground civil infrastructure. Plans and efforts to help other states develop underground facilities and other hardened structures.
3) Counterterrorism and Terrorism (TERR-4H). Government counterterrorism policies, plans, capabilities, and efforts. Government and public support for or opposition to US efforts, including military operations, in the war on international terrorism. Government willingness, capability, and effort to establish and protect legislative framework to combat terrorists; control borders; detain terrorists; seize terrorist-associated bank accounts; share intelligence; and protect weapons, associated facilities, and energy and other critical infrastructure against terrorist attack and intrusion. Terrorist plans to attack US and other persons, facilities, or interests. Terrorist plans and efforts to acquire or transship chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons. Terrorist identities, motives, objectives, strategies, locations, facilities, command structures, links to other groups or states, associations with humanitarian or medical groups, use of forged and/or modified travel documents, telecommunication methods and modes, transportation, funding, finance and business operations, security, recruitment, and training. Indications of foreign entity, public, or local support for terrorists. Details about terrorist involvement in illicit drug and other criminal trade.
4) GRPO can provide text of this issue and related requirements.
5) Information to Support US Military Operational Planning (INFR-5H). Information to support US contingency planning, including noncombatant evacuation, and humanitarian and medical relief operations. Current status, vulnerability of, and plans to modify, critical infrastructures, especially transportation, energy, and communications. Plans and efforts regarding Pan-European transport corridor. Civilian and military medical and life science capabilities and infrastructures. Military medical research and development, including new vaccines, therapeutics, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear medical defense. Information, including statistics, about infectious diseases, such as avian influenza, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis A, and tickborne encephalitis. Locations and levels of chemical and radiological contamination of food, water, air, and soil. Locations and types of industrial facilities with chemicals stored onsite. Descriptions and locations of potential evacuation sites, police and fire stations, hospitals, hotels, and diplomatic facilities. Plans and capabilities of government and NGOs to support, including provision of security for, relief operations. Policies, plans, and efforts regarding detained, captured, and arrested US persons, including prisoners of war and missing in action.
D. National Leadership and Governance
1) National Leadership (LEAD-4H). Objectives, strategies, efforts, authorities, and responsibilities of national leaders. Philosophies and motives behind leadership objectives, strategies, and efforts. Identities, motives, influence, and relations among principal advisors, supporters, and opponents. Decisionmaking procedures, including differences under varying circumstances. Relations among national government entities, including president, premier, ministers, national security and defense council, intelligence and security services, legislature, prosecutor general, and judiciary. Corruption among senior officials, including off-budget financial flows in support of senior leaders. Sources of funding for political candidates, and government plans and efforts to ensure funding transparency. Public support for or opposition to administration, as well as government strategies and tactics to increase, maintain, and exercise authority. Biographic, personality, health, biometric, financial, assessment, and vulnerability information about current and emerging leaders and advisors.
2) Rule of Law, Corruption, and Crime (CRIM-4H). Policies, plans, and efforts to protect and strengthen independent and effective judiciary, including advocates, opponents, obstacles, and progress. Government and public views about, and indications of, impact of corruption and crime on governance, internal development, weapons security, military readiness, and foreign investment. Details about organized crime groups, including leadership, links to government and foreign entities, drug and human trafficking, money laundering, credit card fraud, and computer-related crimes, including child pornography. Details about drug trafficking, including trends, types of drugs, production, identification of trafficking groups and individuals, money laundering, and smuggling methods and routes. Government counter-drug control and enforcement plans, organizations, capabilities, and activities. Government efforts to cooperate with international partners to control illicit drug trade. Illegal acquisition of government documents, such as passports and driver licenses. Links between terrorists, organized crime groups, and cyber criminals. Indications of fraud or corruption in implementation of private property restitution policies. Details about law enforcement organizations and capabilities, including procedures, capabilities, challenges, and plans to remedy obstacles to swift and equal justice. Plans and efforts of law enforcement organizations to use biometric systems. Plans and efforts to combat intellectual property rights crime.
3) Political Evolution and Democratic Reform (DEPS-5H). Government and public commitment to, and plans and efforts to protect and strengthen, representative government, rule of law, freedom of press, religious freedom, private ownership, and individual liberties. Policies and efforts regarding political, judicial, economic, social, and educational reform. Plans and programs to manage perceptions, including through media manipulation. Identification, roles, goals, and composition of significant societal groups, such as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Developments within political parties and blocs. Details about internal workings of major political parties. Strength and vitality of political parties. Information about opposition and extremist groups, including domestic and foreign support.
E. Telecommunications Infrastructure and Information Systems (INFR-5H). Current specifications, vulnerabilities, and capabilities of, and planned upgrades to, national telecommunications infrastructure and information systems, networks, and technologies used by civilian and military government authorities, including intelligence and security services. Plans and efforts to acquire US export-controlled telecommunications equipment and technology. Official and personal phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses of principal civilian and military leaders. (CLINTON)
  
SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY
Ljubljana, December 2nd, 2010

WikiLeaks Slovenia: Someone Never Learned to Read

Horror! Shame! Ignominy!… no, seriously, it’s that funny..

"What can Slovenia do to secure a meeting between Prime Minister Pahor and President Obama" asked foreign minister Samuel Zbogar, exposes WikiLeaks

Slovenia is again a topic in the exposed secret US diplomatic documents and again the issue is the desire of Slovene PM Borut Pahor to meet US President Barack Obama

According to German Spiegel, foreign minister Zbogar (Samuel Zbogar) was inquiring with US representatives as to what conditions must be met to make such a meeting happen.

Hillary: “Dear Samuel? You remeber those meetings? There’s something you should know…” (source)

This, more or less is the lead of today's article on RTVSLO (state radio and television) website. This comes only a day after PM Borut Pahor called a press conference and denied allegations of horse-trading with the Americans, basically saying that a) yes, he would like to meet Obama, b) he would be glad to take in a Gitmo detainee regardless and c) he never linked anything to anything else, regardless of what the cable says and when (somewhat predictably, since it's their document which is causing all this embarrassment). The new US Ambassador to Slovenia Joseph Mussomeli issued a written statement saying basically the same thing, adding that PM Pahor is an honest and honourable man. Someone is lying.

Or, better yet, someone can't really read. My money's on the latter. The infamous Spiegel article has been around for at least 72 hours. Pengovsky was first alerted to it by alcessa. I linked to it again yesterday. It was then linked to again by Ziga Turk (a prominent member of the opposition SDS). In short, this shit is old by internet standards.

Even more important, this is part of the same story. Half-wits at RTVSLO - well, their web section at least - for reasons that are known only to them infer that there was a second cable (Slovenia is again a topic... and the issue again is...) which in addition to PM Pahor implicated FM Zbogar as well.

However, there is no "again" here. Not yet, anyhow. Der Spiegel, NY Times, El Pais and Guardian all worked with the same set of documents (the entire 250k+ batch) and they all saw it fit to expose Slovenia-US horse-trading. And save the sole cable posted yesterday by El Pais, none of the cables pertaining to Slovenia have been released by WikiLeaks yet. None. Zero.

Indeed it is still a mystery as to how exactly could they have arrived at such different conclusions: NYT reports US pressured Slovenia. No names are mentioned. El Pais reports Slovenia pressured the US and names PM Pahor and making no mention of FM Zbogar. And Der Spiegel reports Slovenia was horse-trading with the US but mentions Zbogar, omitting Pahor completely. But they all published their pieces on the same day, 29 November 2010 (three days ago), while the general public, which in this case includes Slovene media has yet to see anything more than a single cable from US Embassy Ljubljana. I know I'm repeating myself, but I cannot stress this point enough.

To put it in the words of Al Pacino: We're in the dark here!

Point being, web section of RTVSLO is either making things up or really has a problem reading and/or googling.

SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

Ljubljana, December 1st , 2010

WikiLeaks Slovenia: Make Me An Offer I Can’t Refuse

Diplomatic incontinence strikes Slovenia too. Once again this sorry excuse for a country is front-and-centre on the international stage, courtesy of Julian Assange and his Wikileaks. OK, so we're still just a comical sidekick, but there you go. Slovenia was put forward as prime example of US diplomacy bullying other countries into doing what Washington wanted. The story made the timing of my yesterday's letter to PM Borut Pahor a bit unfortunate, as a plethora of issues was overshadowed by Cablegate - The Slovenian Edition. Well, there's little use crying over spilled milk.. eerr... cables.

Obama: “Yo B., wassup?!” Pahor: “Make me an offer I can’t refuse” (source)

So, what's the story (morning glory)? The esteemed New York Times (one of only a handful of media to have been granted advance access to 250k+ US State Department cables) reported that Slovenia was pressured by the current US administration to take in at least one Gitmo prisoner and that Slovenian leadership could look forward to some quality time with Barack Obama in return. The story was picked up by The Beeb and (naturally) every Slovene media. Big bad America picking on someone not even a tenth of it's size. Not nice.

But then came the twist. Spanish El Pais, another paper with advance access to Cablegate material, posted the "problematic" cable (one of about 900 pertaining to Slovenia). Assuming that he cable is genuine, it was Slovenian PM Borut Pahor who floated the idea of Slovenia accepting a prisoner from Guantanamo in exchange for 20 minutes with President Obama.

And then, another twist. According to Der Spiegel, it was actually foreign minister Zbogar" Samuel Zbogar who was asking around what would the US give in return if Slovenia were to take over a Gitmo detainee. (link kindly provided by alcessa)

Wait. What!?

Yeah, I know. Embarrassing, to say the least. Naturally, all hell broke loose. Spineless begging. Sellout. Corruption. Ass-kissing. Those were prevailing reactions in Slovenia yesterday. However, there’s more to this than meets the eye. We’ll deal with differing versions of the story a bit later on, but for the sake of the argument let’s assume that the cable as published by El Pais is genuine.

The said cable was sent from US Embassy in Ljubljana on 5 January 2010 and detailed a visit by PM Pahor to the embassy on 30 December 2009, where he was hosted by Charge d'Affairs Bradley Freden, at the time the top-ranking US diplomat to Slovenia. The cable summarised the meeting (requested by Pahor) as follows:

CDA [charge d'affairs] and Pahor discussed political and economic priorities for 2010, including the relocation of Guantanamo detainees, stability and integration of the Western Balkans into the EU and NATO, and Westinghouse involvement in the planned second nuclear plant at Krsko.

At this point it should be noted that this was apparently the second such visit Pahor made to the US embassy which (obviously) did not go unnoticed by Freden and was interpreted as "the U.S.-Slovenian relationship [being] one he [Pahor] seeks to cultivate."

I won't bother you with the actual cable, as you can read it here. Let us focus on analysis instead.

Borut Pahor goes shopping

In Pengovsky's opinion this cable shows (if anything) that Prime Minister Pahor, rather than spinelessly licking American ass, actually knows how to play the foreign policy game. Bear in mind that the meeting took place a little less than two months after Slovenia and Croatia signed the Arbitration Agreement on the border dispute, where apparently it was the US who manhandled Croatia into signing the paper which was decried as "high treason" on both sides of the border. Also bear in mind that Slovenia was in 2004 indeed bullied into the "Coalition of the Willing" by the Bush administration just prior to the illegal invasion of Iraq and there was plenty of (needless) embarrassment over a leaked Slovenian cable from Washington on how to handle the imminent declaration of independence of Kosovo. In short, Slovenia-US relations have not been entirely rosy, courtesy of both sides, and PM Pahor saw it fit to keep the current good streak going.

So what Pahor did, apart from going above and beyond the call of duty to show how important the US is (by visiting the embassy in person rather than having the charge d'affairs - then the top ranking US diplomat - come to see Pahor), was actually outlining how he saw US interests in Slovenia and the region. Broadly, these interests include security in the Balkans, a Westinghouse investment into Krško-Nuclear-Power-Plant Krško nuclear power plant and relocation of Guantanamo prisoners.

But things don't just happen by themselves. To make the above possible, Slovenia obviously wanted something in return. And rather than saying outright what Slovenia wanted, Pahor basically said: "Make me an offer I can't refuse". He was, in fact, shopping. With some strings attached. Case in point being Gitmo prisoner(s) where Pahor made it plain that his government was willing to consider the relocation "as long as 'political' and 'financial' obligations were considered separately". Translation: show me the money.

The main problem, according to Slovene media was the fact that "PM gently - but unambiguously - linked success on detainee resettlement to a meeting with President Obama. He said that "a 20-minute meeting" with POTUS would allow him to frame the detainee question as an act of support for Slovenia's most important ally and evidence of a newly-reinvigorated bilateral relationship."

Shit. Fan. Aim. Fire

This is where the shit hit the fan. Outrage was almost unanimous, especially in the media. One of my favourites was the conclusion that for the PM and - by extension - his government "a life of a (possibly illegaly) detained Arab prisoner is worth 20 minutes with Barack Obama" (Delo, yesterday, in Slovene only)

It was as if everyone was oblivious to the fact that the cable says in no unclear terms that Pahor linked Gitmo and meeting with Obama "in a one-on-one pull-aside with CDA". In other words, he did this after the meeting, unofficially. This was neither his nor his government's official position. He floated an idea. Hinted. Tested the waters, if you will. But he never made it a precondition.

Did Pahor make a mistake?

Yes and no. Foreign policy is a dirty business (and yes, someone’s got to do it). Most of it is trade, tit-for-tat. Taking in Gitmo prisoners is not peanuts. Not just because there is no legal grounds for Slovenia to do it (a law would have to be passed to do it), but also because a) it is a security risk and b) means a country (in this case Slovenia) is really going above and beyond the call of duty to help the US solve a human-rights disaster of their own making.

So Pahor felt he could play the table a bit against the Americans. Maybe he miscalculated. But the point is that he was trading. The trade, however, was not just "Gitmo prisoner for quality time with Obama", but rather "Westinghouse deal, help in the Balkans and Gitmo prisoner in return for more US investments into Slovenia, (officially) recognising Slovenia as an important player in the Balkans, some plain old cash plus 20 minutes with the Big. O (the last one would help, but is optional).

However, the problem with these 20 minutes of Obama's time is not that the idea had been floated, but how it was floated. As @DC43 said on Twitter, the other day, this is not something a PM does personally, but has someone from his cabinet talk to someone from the embassy. That way neither side loses face in case the idea is nixed, plus the whole thing is absolutely deniable in case of a leak such as this one.

More mistakes

The mistake Pahor did - and subsequent damage control he and foreign minister Zbogar are engaging in today - is more of an embarrassment than anything else. On the other hand the media, both Slovenian and international, made some serious errors.

As already noted, Slovene media were over the “Gitmo-for-time-with-Obama” thing faster than you can say WikiLeaks. But only 24 hours earlier, they were all over the “US-is-blackmailing-Slovenia” story with virtually the same gusto. While right now no-one disputes authenticity of the cable as published by El Pais, we have yet to see anyone retract their statements about “big bad US diplomacy treating everyone else like shit”. Right now it is as if the original version of the story (published by NY Times) never happened.

Three newspapers with advance access to 250k+ cables. All three of them saw it fit to point out a specific Slovenia-US cable. And every one of them came up with a significantly different interpretation of the cable. How is this possible? The cable is about as unambiguous as they come. This is what makes it interesting. And yet we have three totally different stories. Are interpretations of other cables subject to this “variation” as well? And – last but not least – are most of the cables so uninteresting that a relatively unproblematic Slovenia with its globally unimportant issues is the best they can do?

If any of the above is the case, are we to take Cablegate seriously in the first place?
  
SLEEPING WITH PENGOVSKY

A Letter To Prime Minister Borut Pahor (Yo B. Wassup)

December 1, 2010

Dear Prime Minister!

It's me again. I hope you don't mind the quip in the title. It seems that these days almost everyone feels comfortable addressing you on first name basis. Not just your (former) brethren in arms but just about anyone who litters the Slovenian corner of the internets with their more or less half-witted comments. Anyways, it's that time of the year again and I'm not talking about the December festiveness, if you catch my meaning. No matter how you look at it, it's been quite a year, hasn't it? You've seen your ratings plummet, the crisis took a turn for the worse and skeletons have been falling out of closets faster than you could say "welfare state". But, unlikely as it may seem, your second year in office earned you much higher marks in my book.

Finger-pointing PM Borut Pahor (source)

You see, in your first twelve months in office you’ve been more or less all fluff. No need to go into details (besides, you can read them up on this blog), but let’s just say that your chronic searching for common ground was beyond counter-productive. Then, all of the sudden, you seemed to have gotten your bearings, released a few carefully placed “gaffes” and transformed – it seemed as if overnight – into this decisive, no-bullshitting, finger-pointing asshole who will walk over bodies to get what he wants.

First and foremost, I congratulate you on securing, signing and winning ratification of the Arbitration Agreement between Slovenia and Croatia. I for one wholly agree with your assessment that consequences of this agreement go beyond mere here-and-now. To think that things regularly escalated almost to an armed border incident while times were good for both countries, it doesn't bear contemplating what would happen if the border dispute were to become a convenient red herring for either country in times of economic woes and rising nationalism. Yes, I think that had the issue remained unresolved, we could have even witnessed an armed conflict. Things were that bad and with that in mind I feel that for this alone you deserve utmost praise.

Having said that I'd like to impress upon you is that this is the moment to construct your own piece of Churchilliana. Remember him? The old conservative fart with a cigar in one hand and a glass of brandy in another (brandy, not whiskey as you mistakenly claimed in your inauguration speech) whom we both appreciate? If memory serves, one of his many quotes includes "In victory - magnanimous". This is how you should go about the arbitration agreement. Yes, you struck it, stuck to it and saw it through. But you were not entirely alone in that enterprise. The government and the coalition were behind you. The majority in the parliament was behind you. A lot of people who needn't stick their necks out were behind you as well. Yes, if you had failed the blame would fall entirely on your shoulders. And, yes, you can claim all the success as yours. But that would be a bit short sighted, methinks. Not only because the story is not quite over yet, but also because a lot of people would feel better about it if you spread some love. Many a voter supported the deal simply because they were fed up with the whole storm in a teacup. This doesn't mean that they're in your bag for good. But they might support you again if you come off as magnanimous enough.

Sir!

Arbitration Agreement aside you seem to have generated some clout with your Balkans initiative which is - as I understand - now seen as a convenient fall-back for NATO and EU ever since the Butmir process more or less failed as did the Spanish initiative during their EU presidency. You were also very active in the Arab world and the much lacked economic aspect of foreign policy now finally seems to be there. Hopefully it is not too little too late. At the very least I'm sure Ljubljana mayor Zoran Jankovic is grateful for your Lybian endeavours, since apparently moneymen from Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya will invest 30 million euros into Stožice Complex.
Foreign policy is your strong suit. Case in point being the cable by US Embassy in Ljubljana which was released by WikiLeaks and picked up by Spanish El Pais daily which detailes how you floated the idea of Slovenia accepting one Gitmo detainee and put it in the wider context of Slovene-US relations. While US charge d'Affairs apparently took the bait, the idea did not bear fruit. It does, nevertheless prove that you know how to play the game, although people whose opinion I value tell me that your performance lacked diplomatic style in this particular episode. However:

If we are to broaden the famous dictum by von Clausewitz and accept that foreign policy is only a continuation of domestic policy using different means, then, my dear Prime Minister, I fear you are on the brink of your ego issuing checks your body can't cash.

You see, most, if not all of your diplomatic exploits will not be worth a pair of fetid dingo’s kidneys if you fail in your domestic policies which – as we both know – constitute a rather tall order unto themselves, doubly so in times of economic and social crisis.

Prime Minister!

While it is generally understood that (in Slovenia, at least) left-wing coalitions are fraught with bickering, divisive rhetoric, principles which sometime border on hard-headedness and a plethora of interests with almost every player, no matter how unimportant, convinced that he/she would do a far better job in your place, you must take caution as to not let this state of “organised chaos” dissolve into senseless waste of time. This can happen either by you and your government being spread thin over too many fronts or by you not keeping your coalition partners and (even more importantly) your own party in check. You seem to be going down both paths with gusto.

Challenges (to use one of your favourite buzzwords) you and your government are facing today are numerous, chief among them the upcoming pension reform where you’re bleeding too much too fast and should bring the issue to a favourable close as soon as possible. The longer it takes you to do it, the less positive outcome there will be.

You are most likely facing a referendum in pension reform in 2011. Ditto for legislation on menial work. The same quite possibly goes for the new Family Code. You're also up for a referendum on the new law on RadioTelevision Slovenia (RTVSLO). These are battles you must win. It is only with political victories at home that you can claim clout abroad. But to win them, you desperately need to get your own house in order. The fuck-up over your former chief of staff Simona Dimic put quite a dent in your armour. Leader of one of your coalition parties is on trial for dereliction of duty in the Patria Affair and has burdened this country with an attack boat Slovenia got as compensation for the so called "clearing-debt" owed to us by Russia. True, Karl Erjavec of DeSUS had a hand in this while he was defence minister in Janez Janša's government, but fact of the matter is that your government is taking heavy flak over it. Not to mention that it is Erjavec who is continuously giving you the short shrift over pension reform.

Not that it stops there. Your other two coalition partners, Zares and LDS are having problems of their own and I don't mean just fighting for survival in the public opinion polls. Zares and its leader Gregor Golobic is constantly fighting off ever more silly attempts to implicate him and Ultra company in every half-baked investment in this country while LDS is possibly up for a third consecutive interpelation of one of its ministers, this time of Justice Minister Aleš Zalar (not in the least because he is using Twitter, which some find irresponsible).

But all of the above is peanuts compared to the slaughterhouse that is to become your own party if you don't kick some serious ass soon. Case in point being bloc 6 of Šoštanj Coal Powerplant (TEŠ6), an investment of a whooping 1.2 billion euro with so little oversight that it probably made even tax consultants cringe. While TEŠ6 is more of a "local v. national" rather than inter-coalition feud, fact of the matter is that some very powerful players in your party became very nervous when one of the largest investment in Slovenian history was (finally) starting to be questioned.

Dear Prime Minister!

You yourself often said that your political opponents tend to underestimate you. But you yourself must not underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. Regardless of your (probably intentionally) misleading signals over whether you will seek another term as PM, I think that – barring a disaster – you will do just that. But elections are never won, only lost. And right now you seem poised on losing them not because you’re doing the wrong thing, but because you’re doing too little of the right thing.

Put your own party in order. Roll a few heads. Kick some pensioner butt. Possibly kill TEŠ6. To quote Winston C. again: "If you're going through hell, keep going". And stop worrying whether Ljubljana mayor Zoran Jankovic will run for PM in 2012. He won't.

Oh, and while you're at it, do make sure Slovenia hosts 2013 European Basket Championship. I know you're just playing hard-to-get when you're not (yet) giving it your full support, but really... We could do with a bit of good copy in this day and age.

Kind regards,
Pengovsky

P.S.: If by any chance you didn't get the joke in the title, here is a hint

8 Comments to "A Letter To Prime Minister Borut Pahor (Yo B., Wassup!)"

Pris Says:
November 30th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
I’d like to enclose a brief telegram to the PM, if I may.
Dear Borut *stop* it’s a downward spiral all the way *stop* please please please *stop*

pengovsky Says:
November 30th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Ouch… A certain politically incorrect joke comes to mind

alcessa Says:
November 30th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
I wonder why Spiegel says it was Zbogar begging for Obama’s personal contact with Pahor?
BTW, if you read the whole Spiegel article, you’ll find out there were much worse scenes going on in other countries concerning Guantanamo prisoners and we were literally un-greedy. And after having been informed on every corner what Americans think about German politicians, I have to say Pahor got a nice treatment and didn’t seem to make too negative an impression – in comparison. Anyone curious about verdicts on Janša?
  

What WikiLeaks revealed

From soporific to sizzling
Plenty of gossip, some titillation—and also a few surprises

Dec 2nd 2010 | from PRINT EDITION

NONE of the material published by WikiLeaks provides an earth-shattering new perspective on the way the world works. It is hardly news, for example, that American and British officials are worried that Pakistan’s nukes may fall into the hands of radical Islamists. Mostly the new information fleshes out worries and strategies that are already known. It falls broadly into three categories.

One is casting public light on the private behaviour of prominent personalities. An American diplomat who attended a meeting with Britain’s Prince Andrew, on a trade-promotion visit to Kyrgyzstan, was both captivated and appalled by his forceful behaviour and candid language. He railed at anti-corruption investigators for their “idiocy” in almost scuttling the al-Yamama arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia. The prince also claimed that France was corrupt and Americans’ command of geography was weak.

The Argentine president, Cristina Fernández, is notoriously thin-skinned. But it is still interesting to read that Hillary Clinton asked her diplomats to find out, amid a cautious rapprochement with Argentina, whether she was taking medicine for her moods and how they affected her decision-making. Mrs Clinton might not be amused if this was asked about her.

A gripping account of a wedding in Russia’s North Caucasus, attended by the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, displays a fine turn of phrase by an anonymous State Department official from the Moscow embassy. He describes “disjointed fragments” of cows and sheep, boiled whole in cauldrons, being served to guests in a colossal mansion on the Caspian Sea. Mr Kadyrov presents the happy couple with five kilos of gold, but leaves late in the evening. “Ramzan never spends the night anywhere,” his aides explain.

America’s view of Russia’s leadership is caustic, whatever platitudes are mouthed in public. Russia is a “virtual mafia state” run by the security forces, where President Dmitry Medvedev plays “Robin” to Vladimir Putin’s “Batman”. The Russian prime minister is also described as an “alpha dog”, whereas a hapless (and so far unidentified) former British government minister is described as a “hound dog” because of his libidinous habits. Colonel Muammar Qaddafi’s “voluptuous” Ukranian nurse is carefully appraised.

Another cable assesses Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu as an “exceptionally dangerous” Islamist influence. Beaming after an apologetic meeting with Mrs Clinton, Turkey’s top diplomat brushed that off, saying that he is indeed dangerous, but only “for those who want to create new tensions” in his region.

The most grovelling apologies from American officials in recent days are said (by those who have received them) to concern not gibes at personalities, but dirty tricks conducted in friendly countries. That is part of the second category of leaks, concerning American statecraft. Few doubt that the main activity of diplomats posted to the United Nations in New York is snooping on other countries’ plans. But the instruction to American diplomats to hoover up “biometric data” and other personal details from officials working there, including the secretary-general, blurs the line between diplomacy and espionage. It also infringes the “inviolability” of the UN, enshrined in international law.

Another long-standing taboo is naming the European countries in which America keeps nuclear weapons. A cable reveals them: Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey. That is unsurprising, but will sharpen the debate about the future of America’s nuclear presence in Europe. The difficulty of closing down the Guantánamo Bay prison is nicely exemplified by a choice posed to Slovenia: take one of its inmates, and your president will meet Barack Obama.

The third category, a tendentious one, purports to show other countries’ private thinking. Tantalising glimpses appear of China’s views on North Korea’s collapse (long a taboo subject) and its incorporation into the capitalist South. One official calls the troublesome neighbour a “spoiled child”. Chinese diplomats responded to the leaks by saying that they have long backed peaceful reunification.

It is no surprise that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries detest and fear Iran. But the cables reveal how they are privately urging America to take speedy military action to block its nuclear plans. King Abdullah, a cable says, urged America to “cut the head off the snake”. And the prime minister of Lebanon was actually in Tehran, on a friendly visit, when he was revealed to have told the Americans that an attack on Iran was “necessary”.

Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, dismissed the leaks as a “worthless” psychological-warfare campaign against his country. Unusually, he did not blame it on a Zionist plot. But Israel and its supporters are proclaiming vindication: their worries about Iran are only what other countries in the region think, but are too shy to say. A website linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, however, highlighted the connections revealed between pro-democracy protesters and American officials.

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says that his next target is an unnamed, but big, bank. In nervous anticipation, Bank of America’s share price suddenly dipped when he spoke. America’s stock is down, too.