Nasir Dead; Depardieu Has too Many Passports

There are two stories today. One is about the death of a dissident leader in northern Pakistan, hit by a US drone. The other involves the ongoing fight between French actor Gerard Depardieu and France over his tax status. These two stories may seem unrelated in the extreme, but they show two similar faces of our world - where everyone is reachable, everyone can move out of government control at least temporarily - everyone is vulnerable because technology is all-invasive. AND where money is often both the problem and the solution. ~~~~~~~~(1). An unmanned American drone has killed Maulvi Nazir, an extremist, Taliban/al-Qaida related, leader based in northern Pakistan near rhe Afghan border. Nazir, who often moved around and was wounded at least once by his US pursuers, was killed when two missiles hit the house in a village in South Waziristan where he was meeting with supporters and fellow commanders. Eight other people were killed, according to Pakistani security officials, speaking to western media on condition of anonymity. Nasir's death will be seen in Washington as affirmation of the value of the controversial US drone program. The US Defense Department, which does not confirm drone hits, would not confirm Nazir's death, but a spokesman said that if true, it would be "a significant blow" to extremist groups in the region. Pakistani military and government officials may, however, see his death as a problem, because Nazir did not focus on Pakistani targets and he was said to be cooperating with Pakistan. Their fear could well be that his successor may turn more directly on Pakistan targets, even though Nasir did support others who attacked Pakistan. In addition, the drone strikes infuriate many Pakistanis who see them as a violation of their country's sovereignty. They say that innocent civilians have also been killed, something the US rejects. Nazir's killing could cause even more friction in the already-tense relationship between Washington and Islamabad. However, recently, intelligence cooperation between Pakistan and the US military and CIA has been improving, after December's high-level meeting of defense and intelligence officials in Peshawar cleared the way to release a long-delayed payment of $688 million in US funds to the Pakistan military. The money is part of a regular program to reimburse some of Pakistan's financial outlays in fighting militants and patrolling the Afghan border. The Pakistani high commissioner in London told BBC today that Pakistan has told the US that it would prefer that the drones be given to the Pakistani military so that they can control and target border extremist leaders themselves. ~~~~~~~~~ (2). Gerard Depardieu has moved from France to Belgium...to become just the latest "tax exile." The new French socialist prime minister called him "pathetic." Depardieu answered in a public letter that he had never harmed anyone, that in his 45-year career, he has paid €145 million ($190 million) in taxes to the French government, and so feels free to pursue his life. The glitch is that today Depardieu's good friend, Russian president Vladimir Putin, granted him Russian citizenship. Russia's income tax rate is 13%, a lot better than the French 75%. But, Depardieu has already asked for Belgian citizenship and if he accepts the Russian passport, Belgium may not look so favorably on his petition. Too many choices - at least when it comes to passports - may not be a good thing.