Word: localness
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...American western boomtown, with the equivalent of saloons and other entertainment for the Halliburton or Texaco employee looking to blow off steam. Across from the canoe dock stands a large military casino, funded by—no surprise—oil. A large amount of oil revenue (the local guides claim 40 percent) is funneled directly into Ecuador’s large military...
...CNPC's deal with Baghdad, locals would be given work doing security for the facility alongside local police. But the jobs did not seem to satisfy the expectations of the residents. "We did not get a job and our house is suffering from unemployment," says Umm Mohammed, 65, who lives in nearby Alsabah village. "This is what disgusts me and my children." She and her neighbors say local investment and jobs were promised but not delivered and farmland was damaged by oilfield equipment and compensation was never provided. (See pictures of President Obama's visit to Iraq...
...loathing of Mehsud, Zainuddin was scarcely the model of a local hero rising up against a tyrant. In recent interviews, he pledged fealty to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, declared his fondness for al-Qaeda, and waged 'jihad' against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A key element of his quarrel with Mehsud was a difference in militant priorities: While Mehsud and his allies in the Swat Valley were principally fighting against the Pakistani military and attacking Pakistani territory, Zainuddin believed that it was wrong to attack fellow Muslims and wanted to focus their fire on Western...
...Still, Zainuddin was clearly of some use to the Pakistani military. The militant leader hailed from Mehsud's tribe and came from the same area. The army has insisted, with good reason, that it needs local support to be able to take on the likes of Mehsud. Zainuddin, if his claims to command thousands of fighters were to be believed (and many analysts believe they were inflated), could have helped the army destabilize Mehsud by forcing him to fight on two fronts. (See pictures of the battle against the Taliban...
...some Pakistani analysts point out, there are other options available. "I have no doubt that [Pakistan's armed forces] do need local support," says Cyril Almeida, assistant editor at Dawn newspaper. "There are two ways of doing it. The lashkar route [local anti-Taliban militias] is one of them, which means supporting a genuine form of rebellion. The other route has been making deals with these unsavory characters like Qari Zainuddin. Unfortunately, in South Waziristan, the state has decided to use the short-cut route of just propping up the latter...