Word: asia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...countries include suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). But the river valleys of Iraq are very different terrain from the mountains and hills of Afghanistan. The equipment the U.S. used in the flatlands of Mesopotamia isn't likely to be as effective in the high crags of Central Asia. Indeed, apart from sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the U.S. is looking to redesign their equipment - from the gear they carry to the vehicles they drive to the drones that spot trouble ahead - as they pursue the mission Barack Obama has called the "right war." (See pictures...
While drone warfare is controversial when it surreptitiously operates over Pakistani territory, there is no secrecy about its use to spot trouble ahead of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan itself. One system perfected in Iraq is headed for Central Asia. Task Force ODIN (short for Observe, Detect, Identify and Neutralize) is reputed to have killed 3,000 alleged bomb-planters and led to the capture of several hundred more...
...Burma almost doubled year on year to nearly $1 billion, according to government figures that don't even take into account significant underground economic activity. Burma today is estimated to produce 90% of the world's rubies by value, 80% of its teak, and is home to one of Asia's biggest oil and natural-gas reserves. The country's jade is the world's finest, and its largely untouched rivers promise plentiful hydropower for its neighbors. "Multinationals are getting rich off Burma, and so is the military regime," says Ka Hsaw Wa, co-founder of EarthRights International...
...Kachin were rendered useless after breaking, and nearby villagers, who never received any electricity, were killed by the rush of water.) The dams, which are slated to generate seven times Burma's entire current electricity capacity, are being jointly developed by state-owned Chinese companies and a Burmese firm, Asia World, whose managing director was the target of U.S. sanctions last year. China will receive most - if not all - the generated power, leaving the Kachin people literally in the dark. The largest dam will be at Myitsone, where two rivers meet to become the mighty Irrawaddy. Chinese engineers and ethnic...
...more than 40 laborers at one time. Some drowned during storms, while others succumbed to malaria or never came up after diving deep into the river. "The foreigners want gold," he says, squinting for yellow dust in the brown silt. "So we look for it." The equation in Asia's new Great Game is simple - and deadly...