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!"

UPDATED Iran Analysis: When "War Chatter" Poses as Journalism (Step Up, Time Magazine)

UPDATE 1945 GMT: Gosh, couldn't have predicted this. With Western "analysts" playing up the it-could-be-war line, Iranian authorities are responding with we-will-repel-you. Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commander General Hossein Salami said, "The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is ready to confront arrogance on both national and global levels....[Missiles] are being produced locally and without any limitations and are ready to strike regional targets with any quantity and quality."

I generally try these days to avoid slaps at US pundits because --- however ill-informed or ill-judged the commentary --- the effort is a diversion from the important issues.

Unfortunately, there are times when superficial, speculative ponderings are puffed-up as important revelations, and there are times when those supposed revelations can do political harm as well as causing unnecessary agitation. And on those occasions, a take-down is needed to get a bit of balance and to damp down the media hysteria.

Today Joe Klein of Time is pushing a piece, "An Attack on Iran: Back on the Table". The title says it all --- Reader, Reader, Come to Me, I Will Enlighten You on Dangerous Times! --- and unfortunately it has worked with even normally-shrewd outlets such as the influential Daily Dish blog.

Unfortunately because when you peel away the onion skins of Klein's claims posing as evidence, there is no onion, let alone a likely war, left.

Here are the sources for Klein's supposed discovery: "a recently retired U.S. official" offering his personal opinion ("I began to think...."), "an Israeli military source", and....that's it. There is not one US Government official at any level, let alone a level which would have access to such sensitive discussions.

Klein tries to cover this by stretching a quote from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, "I don't think we're prepared to even talk about containing a nuclear Iran. We do not accept the idea of Iran having nuclear weapons". You'll note that this quote doesn't actually translate into "military action" and, if you check both the interview and the context, you'll find that Gates was pushing the US-led sanctions regime against Tehran.

Then there's this beauty of a piece of straw making a haystack: "Other intelligence sources say that the U.S. Army's Central Command, which is in charge of organizing military operations in the Middle East, has made some real progress in planning targeted air strikes — aided, in large part, by the vastly improved human-intelligence operations in the region."

Leave aside that "other intelligence sources" does not necessarily mean "US Government" --- Klein immediately skips to a quote from his Israeli official. Militaries make contingency plans all the time for operations. You see, that's what you do in the military: you don't sit without any provisions for land, naval, and air operations since, you know, there's something called "preparedness" if a conflict does arise.

Klein takes refuge in the one public event that has been unsettling in recent weeks,  when "United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef al-Otaiba said on July 6 that he favored a military strike against Iran despite the economic and military consequences to his country". There has been the question as to whether al-Otaiba realised he was "on the record"; more importantly, there's the larger question of whether al-Otaiba is speaking for his Government, let alone any other Arab state, let alone the United States.

So what's the big deal about one jacked-up, macho, doom-laden column? Why not let it fade into cyber-oblivion?

Well, the problem is that, in Washington circles, Joe Klein is a loud voice --- hey, did you know he was the Anonymous author of the novel Primary Colors about the Clintons? --- and others respond to the call even when the voice is saying very little that is productive. So this column might get played up as a smoke signal of what is really happening.

And even though this is not what is really happening, the beat-beat-beat of war talk will be picked up by Tehran, which will echo it as proof of Western perfidy in its attempt to maintain some vestige of internal legitimacy. If the Iranian people are scared of "them", the logic runs, then they may not interrogate why they are disillusioned with the Government.

So let's call this column now. It is not empty, even if it is near-empty of evidence. It is filled with political exaggeration which can cause nothing but trouble: Joe Klein's attention-seeking comes at the expense not of calm consideration. It also comes at the expense of recognition of the Iranian people and their concerns.

The Latest from Iran (16 July): Explosions and Conflict

2049 GMT: In a meeting with journalists, Grand Ayatollah Sane'i has said, “One of the issues that the media should pay attention to is the topic of lying and its transformation to a culture which unfortunately has deepened its roots in our society these days. For some individuals, it is not only a culture but has become part of their nature and telling the truth does not have any meaning for them anymore.”

2045 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Human Rights Activist News Agency claims that intelligence agents are trying to intimidate bazaaris in Tabriz, going to their house and threatening them over closing their stalls.

1920 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Isa Khan-Hatami --- director and editor of the banned magazine Iran Mehr, secretary of Solidarity for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, and member of Iran National Front central council --- has been sentenced to two years in prison for  assembly and conspiring to commit crimes against national security, anti-regime propaganda, and disturbing the public order.

Khan-Hatami was detained on 28 December and  released on 7 February on $50,000 bail.

An appeals court has upheld a six-year sentence imposed on student activist Salman Sima.

NEW Iran: Thursday’s Suicide Bombings in Zahedan
Iran Follow-Up: The Story Beyond the Opposition, Enduring America, and US “Neoconservatives”
The Latest from Iran (15 July): The Zahedan Bombing

1915 GMT: The Bazaar Strikes. Back from a break to find that influential MP Habibollah Asgharowladi and his Parliamentary group are pressing Bazaaris to accept the Government's deal of a 15% business tax hike.

1410 GMT: Relieving the Oil Squeeze? Mehr News is reporting that, during the summit between Russian and Iranian Energy Ministers, agreement was reached for a joint oil bank within three months.

In contrast, the construction firm linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has pulled out of a $2 billion natural gas project in the South Pars field. The firm was supposed to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of foreign companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol.

1405 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update --- "Boobquake" Seddiqi Bounces Back.

Since his spectacular "Women's Breasts = Earthquake" performance early this week, Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi has struggled to find form. His repetition of the West is Bad, Iran is Doing Mighty Fine line just hasn't matched up for originality and exercise.

Well, today Seddiqi bounced back. Some have been putting out their deep, dark thoughts on the Shahram Amiri defecting/abducted scientist/non-scientist case; others have been raising the real story behind yesterday's Zahedan suicide bombings.

Seddiqi's magic trick was to put the two together: "This act of terror [in Zahedan] aims to cover up America's loss of face and the trampling of its intelligence authority in the international arena over Shahram Amiri's case."

Bravo, sir. But if I may, you could have gone even further with this stop-stopper: there was an earthquake in Washington, DC last night.

1310 GMT: The Bazaar Strike and Politics. HomyLafayette posts some excellent observations on what appears to be a curious development: why would the "conservative" news site Alef post photographs confirming that some stalls in the Tehran Bazaar were closed on Thursday, given that state media were trying to ignore the existence of a strike? Here's the answer:

The web site, Alef, is run by Ahmad Tavakoli, Majlis representative (Tehran) and head of the legislature's research center. Tavakoli is a cousin of Speaker Ali Larijani -- he is the son of Larijani's aunt -- and has been a critic of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since his first term as president. Tavakoli, who obtained his doctorate in economics from the University of Nottingham in the 1990s, was one of the first Malis deputies to accuse Ali Kordan, interior minister in Ahmadinejad's first administration, of faking his doctorate. The late Kordan was subsequently impeached. Tavakoli and several of his close allies in the Majlis have continued to denounce the government's economic policies, the level of the post-election crackdown, and the fake doctorates of several ministers and vice-presidents.

The article which was posted yesterday on Alef contended, "While [National Traders' Council chief] Ghassem Nodeh [Farahani] has spoken of the conclusion of discussions on traders' taxes [...] and business as usual in the bazaar in recent days, Alef's journalist's report shows that some portions of the bazaar remain closed." Alef posted photos of the bazaar which were purportedly taken at noon on Thursday.

HomyLafayette also considers readers' reactions to the posting of the article noting that many criticised the bazaaris, this did not translate into support for the Government. Instead, readers lambasted the state-run media for ignoring the issue.

1225 GMT: The Pretence of Justice. Zahra Rahnavard, activist and wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi, has visited Narges Mohammadi, the women's rights activist recently released from detention, at Mohammadi's home. Rahnavard said, "It is a shame that such things happen in the prisons of a country, whose leaders pretend they are defending justice."

1215 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders have issued a statement on Iran's political prisoners, "Their most basic rights are being violated, starting with the right to adequate medical treatment."

The organisations continue, "[We] are outraged by the conditions in which these prisoners are being held. These conditions have had a considerable physical and psychological impact on their health and most of them are ill. The two organisations believe that the purpose of the denial of medical treatment is to put pressure on them and their families."

Peyke Iran claims that student Sina Golchin and Vahid Asghari are at risk because of the lack of medical care in Section 350 of Evin Prison.

1210 GMT: Parliament v. President. Emad Hosseini, the chair of Parliament's Energy Commission, has warned that the delay in implementation of subsidy cuts is breaking the law and that the Government no longer wants to introduce them.

1200 GMT: The Ascent of Mesbah Yazdi? The opposition website Peyke Iran posts photos of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi --- who this week has put out some interesting statements regarding the Supreme Leader and the President --- greeting Revolutionary Guard commanders. The caption: "Mesbah Yazdi's Rise to Power".



0925 GMT: Refugees. New Media Journal publishes a report on "Iranian Refugees: A Human Rights Disaster".

0855 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Green Voice of Freedom reports on the prevalence of Hepatitis A in the women's section of Evin Prison.

0750 GMT: Parliament v. President. MP Hamidreza Fouladgar has said that the sale of 18% of Iran's Saipa automobile company is as "superficial", i.e., fraudulent. as the  privatisation of Iran Telecom and is not in line with Article 44 of Iran's Constitution.

0745 GMT: Food Fight. Khabar Online claims that the head of Tehran's Institute of Standards will be dismissed because he confirmed imports of polluted rice, contradicting the head of  the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and Minister of Health, who said all was fine.

0730 GMT: Remembering the Past for the Present. Gozaar has interviewed Roya Boroumand about the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation's recent report on the execution of thousands in the 1980s in Iran. Boroumand says:

I believe it’s always the “right time” for the truth of events like the 1988 massacre to be made public. In any event, the officials who helped cover up or provide justification for this event must own up to the truth someday. If we don’t acknowledge the reality of what happened, such incidents and atrocities will continue to occur without anyone ever accepting any responsibility.

0650 GMT: Remembering. During Thursday's memorial service for Mohsen Ruholamini, abused and killed in Kahrizak Prison a year ago, a war veteran cut off Hojatoleslam Abutorabi-Fard's sermon and asked why former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi, now a Presidential aide, had not been held accountable.

0640 GMT: Iran Changes Mind "Psychology & Sociology Useless". According to Khabar Online, the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has said that condemned theories of psychoogy and sociology, asserting that it makes no sense to teach them when their ideas are incompatible with religious assumptions.

Less than a month ago, Larijani had said on national television:

Don't...crimes need a cultural discussion...? Don't drugs need a cultural discussion? Doesn't armed robbery need a cultural discussion? In the whole world this is discussed. The psychology of crimes is itself a topic of discussion. Why does a robber go after robbery? Or why do some want to abuse people's families? Some of these people may actually be sick. Well all of this needs cultural work, even psychological work, and sociological work.

0630 GMT: Shutting Down Students. So you think sanctions have no effect? TOEFL (Teaching of English as a Foreign Language), one of the two leading tests taken by Iranian students who want to study in English-speaking countries, has been suspended because its provider is "unable to process payments from Iran" after the latest UN sanctions.

That restriction complements those already in place by Iran's Ministry of Higher Education. The ministry is refusing to send students to British universities because of the political situation, and it is reported that candidates are being vetted for "reliability" as well as academic merit.

0520 GMT: Yesterday's news was overtaken, if only for a dramatic moment in this post-election conflict, by the double suicide bombing in Zahedan. We have latest updates and analysis in a separate entry.

Meanwhile....

The Nuclear Scientist/Non-Scientist Defection/Abduction Case



The battle for propaganda advantage over Shahram Amiri, the scientist who was in the US for 14 months before returning to Iran this week, continues. It appears that US officials are trying to counter any impression that the time and effort expended on Amiri was largely wasted on information of limited use.

The latest line, handed out to The New York Times, is that Amiri had been a CIA informant inside Iran for several years. He was "one of the sources" for the central 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear programme. (The officials don't seem to care that, if true, this would indicate Amiri provided information against the immediate military development of nuclear weapons: the NIE said that Tehran would not have that capability, even if it had the intention, for several years.)

Doesn't take much to guess who the primary casualty of this campaign may be. Despite the smiles in the photographs as Amiri returned to Tehran, the US statements --- regardless of truth --- put the black mark on him in Iran. A US official was forthright, “His safety depends on him sticking to that fairy tale about pressure and torture. His challenge is to try to convince the Iranian security forces that he never cooperated with the United States.”

UPDATED Iran: Thursday's Suicide Bombings in Zahedan

UPDATE 1930 GMT: Iranian officials, having initially blamed Jundullah for the attack, are now fervently putting out the line that Jundullah could not have been responsible. Over to you, Ali Mohammad Azad, Governor of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, “It cannot be true [that Jundollah is responsible]. We are investigating to see who did it.”

UPDATE 1235 GMT: The member of Parliament for Zahedan, Hossein-Ali Shahriari, has resigned because of "the inability of authorities to maintain security in his constituency".

UPDATE 1145 GMT: On its website, Jundallah have claimed responsibility for the bombings: "This operation is in response to the continuous crimes committed by the Iranian regime in Balochistan. These two men sacrificed their souls to humiliate the regime and have proved that our misery will only end with Jihad and by scandalizing the criminals."

Iranian state media put the death toll at 27 with about 300 wounded. There has been a shift in phrasing, however, over who is responsible: "Hard-line Wahabis and Salafis trained by the CIA in Pakistan are the main elements behind the bombings."

The reason for the change? Jundullah were supposed to have reduced to obscurity with recent Iranian security operations, including the execution of Abdolmalek Rigi.

UPDATE 0840 GMT: Having noted Washington's condemnation of the bombing, the Iranian state media machine is back to normal service. The head of Parliament's National Security Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, declares, "The intelligence services of the US, Israel and a number of Western countries support and fund terror operations in the Middle East....Such terror operations will not deter Iranian's resolve in fighting against arrogant powers."

UPDATE 0620 GMT: An EA correspondent makes a sharp observation: the bombings have symbolic significance as they came just after Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Day; some initial reports put IRGC troops amongst the victims. Revolutionary Guard commanders have boasted about "complete security" in Sistan and Baluchistan after the execution of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi.

Overnight information on the double suicide bombings in southeastern Iran maintains the death toll at more than 20 with more than 100 wounded.

The Baluch insurgent group Jundullah have reportedly said, in an email to Al-Arabiya television, that the assault was a response to the recent execution of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi, that there will be more attack.. Iranian officials had already pinned the blame on the organisation, who also carried out bombings last autumn.

The names of some of the victims are now being printed, and photos of the two alleged suicide bombers are circulating in Iranian media.





As one would expect, the Supreme Leader's representative and Governor of Sistan and Baluchistan Province have issued a joint statement calling for people to show "unity".

Of more interest may be Washington's quick move to criticise the bombings, joining Tehran in blaming Jundullah. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said --- in a statement featured by Iran's Press TV --- "I condemn in the strongest possible terms today's terrorist attacks claimed by Jundullah that targeted Iranians at a mosque in the Sistan-Baluchestan Province of Iran. This attack, along with the recent attacks in Uganda, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Algeria, underscores the global community's need to work together to combat terrorist organizations that threaten the lives of innocent civilians all around the world."

Yadollah Javani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's political bureau, has already said that "there is no vestige of doubt" about US and Israeli involvement.

China This Week: Concern over US-South Korea Drill, Internet Openings and Closings, China Relations with UK, France, & EU

China Calls for Restraint as US, South Korea Plan Military Drill:  China on Thursday called for  an avoidance of tensions on the Korean Peninsula in response to a possible naval drill by the US and South Korea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang reiterated China's opposition to foreign warships or aircraft entering the Yellow Sea area and adjacent waters, engaging in activities that would affect Chinese security and interests.

Answering a question on whether China and North Korea would plan a military exercise if US and South Korea proceeded, Qin called the hypothesis "a typical Cold War mindset."

"Times have changed," said Qin. "No single country or military alliance can resolve issues like regional security and stability."

China Comments on  South Korea warship sinking:  China urged the involved parties to "flip over the page", after the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan warship, and restart the six-party talks over nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the comment after the United Nations Security Council released a Presidential statement on the Cheonan incident. The statement has encouraged the settlement of the outstanding issues on the Korean Peninsula by peaceful means and the resumption of direct dialogue and negotiations between the two Koreas.

Copper PlPant closed after Waste Leakage:  Zijin Mining Group Co., China's largest gold producer, has shut down a copper smelter in East China after a leakage of acidic water.

The plant in Fujian Province, producing 12,800 metric tons of copper a year, will only be reopened after checks by local environmental authorities, Lan Fuyan, vice-mayor of Shanghang County, said at a press conference.

According to initial estimates, the acidic water killed more than 1.9 million kilogrammes of fish.

New Government Transparency Rules:  A new regulation extends the list of declarable assets for officials and introduces dismissal as the maximum penalty for failing to report assets honestly and promptly.

The newly added items include the official's salary and subsidies; income from other sources such as lecturing; housing owned by the family; the family's investments in unlisted companies; the family's investment in stocks, investment-oriented insurance, and other financing products; and the employment of a spouse and children at home or abroad.

However, according to Zhu Lijia, an anti-corruption professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, the new regulation fails to make a breakthrough in making officials' assets transparent. While the regulation requires officials to report to higher officials, it does not make that information public.

China and Britain seek stronger relations:  British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday that Britain hopes to further its relationship with China, as he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Beijing.

Hague said the new British government stands ready to develop its relationship with China and would take the bilateral strategic partnership to a new level. He added that the two countries maintained close coordination and communication on issues such as development in African countries, the global economy, climate change, and the Iranian nuclear issue.

China, France Pledge to Strengthen Co-operation:  Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo met with Marseilles Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin on Tuesday, vowing to further cooperation at the local level between China and France.

Wu hoped Marseille would take the opportunity of the Shanghai Exposition to build links on new energy and materials, public transportation. and port construction. Gaudin said he hoped to cement cooperation with China on scientific, educational, cultural, and tourism matters.

China, EU enhance space technology co-op:  China and the European Union have strengthened their cooperation in space technology to better monitor climate change and improve the ability to prevent and control natural disasters.

At a conference entitled "Let's Embrace Space", Reinhard Schulte Braucks, head of the European Commission's Unit Space Research and Development said air pollution is a problem facing the entire world and China and the EU should strengthen cooperation to improve air quality monitoring.

China's Ministry of Science and Technology and the European Space Agency are conducting a cooperation project-DRAGONESS, which is China's largest international cooperation project in the field of earth observation.

China, Serbia vow to expand cooperation:  The top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo and Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic met on Thursday and agreed to expand cooperation between two countries.

Thanks to their joint efforts, the two countries have made remarkable achievements in their cooperation in infrastructure construction, automobile manufacturing and other areas, noted Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China.

Wu added that China and Serbia should make a full use of such advantages and seize opportunities to deepen bilateral collaboration in infrastructure construction including roads, bridges, and power plants.

Nokia to be awarded online map license:  China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said it plans to give Nokia a license to provide online mapping services in China, making it the first foreign firm to get such approval.

The announcement may open doors for other foreign applicants such as Google and Microsoft, which have also reportedly applied for such licenses.

To avoid State secrets being disclosed and uncertified maps published online, the bureau launched a regulation in May requiring all companies providing online maps and location services in China to apply for approval.

It is unclear if the bureau will also approve Google's application. The US search engine had its Internet Content Provider license renewed by the Chinese government last weekend.

Filter software Green Dam "Closure" refuted:  The "Green Dam --- Youth Escort" Internet content-filtering software, which aroused opposition due to privacy and security concerns at home and abroad last year when it was launched, is facing funding difficulties, the Beijing Times reported.

One of two companies linked to the nationwide Internet pornography-filtering project refuted reports on Tuesday that the controversial software has been halted.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced in May last year that starting 1 July, all computers sold in the country must pre-install Green Dam. But after strong opposition from both foreign and domestic computer manufacturers makers as well as users over security concerns, the installation was restricted to schools and Internet cafes.

China's Population Statistics:  China's population on the mainland will reach 1.39 billion by the end of 2015, with as many as 700 million living in urban areas. This will be the first time that the urban population exceeds the rural population in China.

The Chinese aging population, senior citizens over 60 years of age, had reached 167 million, accounting for 12.5% of the country's population. The average life expectancy in China has surpassed 73, and 18.99 million people are more than 80 years old.

China's population of floating migrant workers reached a record 211 million by 2009 and will hit 350 million by 2050 if government policies remain unchanged.