Afghanistan Shocker: Taliban Training Killer "Monkey Soldiers"

And now a tale of the challenge that the US and international forces face in Afghanistan....

Recently a "British-based media agency" --- one we are still trying to track down --- put out a press release that its reporters had spotted and photographed  "monkey soldiers" holding AK-47 rifles and Bren light machine guns in the Waziristan tribal region near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. American experts were warning of the "monkey terrorists".

Chinese media were lured in by the press release and soon its reports of the new Killer Monkey phenomenon were racing across the Web. By 9 July, the story was in China's English-language People's Daily, complete with this military analysis:

The emergence of "monkey soldiers" is the result of asymmetrical warfare. The United States launched the war in Afghanistan using the world's most advanced weapons such as highly-intelligent robots to detect bombs on roadsides and unmanned aerial vehicles to attack major Taliban targets. In response, the Taliban forces have tried any possible means and figured out a method to train monkeys as "replacement killers" against American troops.

This claim was backed up by the revelation --- well, new to me at least --- that "between the 1960s and the 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained massive 'monkey soldiers' in the Vietnam War and dispatched armed monkeys to dangerous jungles to launch assaults on Vietnamese soldiers". The report added a bit of monkey- and other creature-related psychological warfare:

Analysts believe that apart from using "monkey killers" to attack the American troops, the Taliban also sought to arouse Western animal protectionists to pressure their governments to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

And, at the end, there was even philosophical reflection: "When armed animals enter interpersonal wars, what kind of world will we face? This cannot but arouse our reflections and concerns."

All quite amusing --- or frightening? --- but surely that was the end of the Monkey Line.

No. Dallas Blog went beyond its normal Texas market to ponder, "If President Barack Obama withdraws from the war in Afghanistan, he would be the first commander-in-chief in American history to surrender to an army of monkeys; and we’re not talking about fighting the Planet of the Apes." The very-conservative "Gateway Pundit" blog (Where Hope Finally Made a Comeback") greeted the news with an "Allahu Akbar!".

Suddenly the New York Post was declaring "Jihad Monkey!" A NATO spokesman was having to say on the record, “We have absolutely nothing that leads us to believe that this tale could be even remotely based in reality,” while a specialist on primates was brought in for this wondrous pondering:

While you could train a monkey to shoot a gun, I certainly wouldn’t want to be anywhere in the neighborhood after that. I rather doubt you could trust its aim....

But in all cases, they are trained and reinforced by giving them food treats. So the Taliban would definitely have to bring along a large supply of bananas to keep up the morale of their monkey troops.

Readers were split between those with genuine warnings of the new monkey military threat, those were confused, and those who saw an opportunity for a laugh. But the end of this Monkey's Tale awaited the concise analysis of "Eliza"....

"It's gorilla warfare!"

China Watch: Beijing Media’s Global Expansion (Shan Shan)

Last week, Xinhua news agency, China’s main news service, launched a 24-hour global TV news network in English, China Xinhua News Network Corporation (CNC) World.

According to Xinhua’s report, CNC aims to reach 50 million viewers in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, North America and Africa by satellite, cable, cellphone and the Internet within its first year. Plans are for it to be available on cable networks in regions including the United States by 1 Ocotber.

Meanwhile, Xinhua's North American headquarters will move to the top floor of a 44-story skyscraper in New York's Times Square, alongside media giants such as Thomson Reuters and Conde Nast, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The two efforts are being seen as attempts by China to enable “more voices to be heard by the rest of the world” and to counter foreign media views. Beijing officials contend that China is often misunderstood and misrepresented by the international media, which “present a biased or unfair view of news from the country, focusing on negative stories and ignoring positive developments”.



The move points to Xinhua’s intention to be “a global player” and to the recogntion of China "in the global arena that soft power is as important as hard power”. However, many critics are doubtful about CNC World’s independence and objectivity in news reporting because of Xinhua’s state-owned status and Chinese censorship.

Countering these views, Wu Jincai, controller of CNC World, insisted that CNC World is " a news channel, not a propaganda station". Unlike other Chinese media, CNC is “51% owned by Xinhua but also has private investors, including Gree --- a private Chinese home appliances maker”.

Shirong Chen, the BBC China Editor, points out that since 2008, Xinhua has made efforts to “transform itself from an official news agency to a multimedia empire with direct access to audiences both at home and abroad”. At the same time, even though international news will take up more than half of its programs, CNC World “is competing for the strongest forces for covering China news. With ubiquitous correspondents positioned throughout China, CNC World produces extensive and in-depth TV programs on China news.” Li Congjun, Xinhua President, summarised, "CNC World will report international news with a China perspective and China news with a global vision" for overseas audiences.

CNC World’s launch and Xinhua’s move are only part of efforts to expand China's influence abroad. It is also said that “Beijing has been pouring millions of dollars into the broadcasters in an attempt to promote its own messages about China to the wider world”.

In recent years, China’s media organiaztions have been trying to increase its presence outside the country, echoing Chinese President Hu Jintao's aspiration for "a modern communication system" and "communication capacity" for Chinese media at home and abroad. Integrating several media’s reports, China Central Television, the country’s biggest state-run television broadcaster, has been expanding overseas and offering broadcasts in English, Spanish, French, Arabic and other languages.

People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party, owns two newspapers: China Daily, an English-language daily newspaper, and an English edition of Global Times. The Xinhua news agency, which already has more than 10,000 employees and 120 bureaus around the world, has begun recruiting non-Chinese journalists from around the world to write for its news services.

Last month, the Southern Daily Group, which publishes one of the most influential liberal newspapers in China, the Southern Metropolis Daily, made a bid to purchase Newsweek magazine. Even though the bid was unsuccessful, it was reported that the Southern Daily Group's senior management was "expecting to make other similar purchases".