General Kahlid Shamim Wynne, Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, canceled his planned six day visit to the United States.
The General has not yet given a reason.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, said in an interview on May 12, that communication between the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence has broken down.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency officials, announced that a shield will be built to entomb Reactor 1, at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
It was discovered that Reactor 1 did indeed experience fuel rod melt down! To try and reduce the amount of radiation spewing from the reactor a shield will be built around it. Construction will start in June. TEPCo still has to deal with contaminated water pouring from the building.
U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter was summoned to Pakistan’s Foreign Office, where an official protest was issued to him.
Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Secretary, Salman Bashir, officially stated that the May 2 operation to assassinate Osama bin Laden was an attack on Pakistan. He added the Pakistan will not tolerate any future operations from the U.S., without consultation.
Ambassador Munter said it was regretful that the U.S. did not consult with the Pakistani government before the operation.
The May 2 operation, and the fact that U.S. drone attacks continue, is splitting the Pakistani government. Several political parties in the Pakistani Parliament, are calling for an end to relations with the U.S.
Since the supposed assassination of Osama bin Laden, the United States has actually increased the number of drone attacks in Pakistan.
Since May 2 there have been four attacks.
An unnamed official says the assassination of bin Laden will not affect U.S. policy in Pakistan: “There are absolutely no plans at present to cease or scale back U.S. counter terrorism operations in Pakistan.”
As if the United States and Europe aren’t doing enough for the Libyan Civil War. Today, May 13, Libyan rebel reps are meeting with President Obama, to ask for more money.
Mahmoud Jebril, with the rebel’s National Transitional Council, is asking that Obama turn over the frozen assets of Gaddafi. Jebril is a U.S. educated technocrat, who is helping to lead the rebel campaign against the Libyan government.
Jebril says that if the rebel Council doesn’t get more money soon, they will not be able to pay their mercenaries, I mean rebel troops. The implication is that the so called rebel freedom fighters would walk away.
In the rebel controlled city of Berga, at least 16 civilians were killed, 40 wounded, after NATO planes bombed them.
Witnesses say most of the victims were Muslim clerics. They were holding a religious meeting at a home in the city. Many rebels now doubt that NATO is acting to protect civilians in rebel held territory. They point out that NATO rarely acts when they need them, and, as in the recent airstrike on Berga, NATO has bombed civilians on several occasions.
Officials with Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency say it’s too late now that fuel rods in Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 1 have melted down! Tokyo Electric Power Company officials wanted to pump more water into the reactor, in the hopes of stopping the meltdown.
Nuclear Safety officials think the melted rods have cooled enough in the water at the bottom of the reactor, that there might not be too much concern. However, TEPCo believes that holes in the reactor vessel have been created by the meltdown, which is causing large amounts of radioactive water to pour into the Pacific Ocean.
The Agency suggested that TEPCo should inject water only to the point of keeping the bottom of the reactor filled.
Two prefectures bordering Fukushima Prefecture, have discovered that plants are contaminated with cesium.
Tochigi and Ibaraki Prefectures have cesium contamination well about safe limits. As much as 3,600 becquerels of cesium has contaminated pasture land, and crops! The government’s safe limit is 300 bequerels.
Farmers are being told not to feed their animals the grass. Crops are so contaminated that farmers are being told not to harvest, or ship their crops. Some contaminated parsley had already been shipped to market.
13 March 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company has announced that fuel rods in reactor 1 have melted. Government officials think this might be the cause of holes where highly contaminated water is pouring from.
TEPCo officials say that most of the fuel rods have melted and are now melting through the bottom of the reactor. Officials think the melted rods are cooling down at the bottom of the reactor because there is still water there.
TEPCo is now trying to find out how much water is actually in the reactor, and come up with a new plan to address the meltdown.
“In a post-Gaddafi era, I think we will still have a role to play in assisting a new Libyan government in a transition to a sustainable democracy.”-Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General
Rasmussen explained that NATO will focus on rebuilding Libya’s security and military units.
Basically what Rasmussen is saying is that U.S. led NATO plans on setting up shop in Libya, after they kill off Gaddafi. What was that Obama said about this not being a long term adventure?