Sunday, July 13, 2014


News Clips For The Day


U.S. knew about U.K. newspaper's destruction of leaked NSA data – CBS
AP July 11, 2014

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration knew in advance that the British government would oversee destruction of a newspaper's hard drives containing leaked National Security Agency documents last year, newly declassified documents show. The White House had publicly distanced itself on whether it would do the same to an American news organization.

The Guardian newspaper, responding to threats from the British government in July 2013, destroyed the data roughly a month after it and other media outlets first published details from the top secret documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

After news of the Guardian incident broke the following month, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it would be "very difficult to imagine a scenario in which that would be appropriate." He had been asked whether the U.S. would ever order the destruction of a U.S. media company's computer data.

The NSA emails, obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that senior intelligence officials were notified of Britain's intent to retrieve the Snowden documents and that one senior U.S. official appeared to praise the effort.

"Good news, at least on this front," the current NSA deputy director, Richard Ledgett, said at the end of a short, censored email to then-NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander and others. The subject of that July 19, 2013, email was: "Guardian data being destroyed." A paragraph before Ledgett's comment was blacked out by censors, and the NSA declined to answer questions about the documents.

The White House said Thursday the comment from Ledgett - then the head of the NSA's Media Leaks Task Force - was confined to intelligence operations because it was "good news" that classified information was recovered and "didn't reflect a broader administration view" on press freedoms.

The Guardian's hard drives were destroyed the day after Ledgett's email. Top editor Alan Rusbridger made the decision after a week of increasingly blunt threats from British officials. A senior aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron even warned that Rusbridger's nearly 200-year-old newspaper faced closure unless the documents were destroyed.

In a statement to the AP, the Guardian said it was disappointed to learn that "cross-Atlantic conversations were taking place at the very highest levels of government ahead of the bizarre destruction of journalistic material that took place in the Guardian's basement last July."

"What's perhaps most concerning is that the disclosure of these emails appears to contradict the White House's comments about these events last year, when they questioned the appropriateness of the U.K. government's intervention," the newspaper said.

The White House said Thursday that the British government had acted on its own in destroying the Guardian drives.

News organizations in America are largely protected by the First Amendment, but British media have to comply with laws that prohibit the publication of classified information. The U.S. edition of the Guardian, along with The Washington Post and The New York Times, also had copies of the Snowden files outside of Britain. Last year, British officials also tried unsuccessfully to persuade then-New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson to return the documents.

It was unclear from the heavily censored emails whether the NSA had any role in ordering the Guardian's data destruction, or whether the U.S. pressured Britain to compel the newspaper to return the files. The NSA's British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, also declined to comment for this story.

At least one censored email sent to a top NSA executive appeared to have a date and time format more commonly used in Britain than in the U.S.; another email looped in an NSA liaison at GCHQ.

"Can you confirm that this actually occurred?" Alexander replied on July 20. The largely censored response wished Alexander a "wonderful weekend."

"Thanks, Keith," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in another note to Alexander after being alerted of the incident. "Appreciate the conversation today."

Clapper's office - following a separate, identical request from the AP under the Freedom of Information Act - said it had no records about the incident, even though Clapper's email from his national intelligence director's office account was part of the recent NSA document release.

The Snowden documents revealed the NSA and GCHQ were collecting the phone records and digital communications of millions of citizens not suspected of a crime.

Rusbridger called the file destruction "one of the more bizarre moments in the Guardian's long history." He insisted that Guardian staff carry out the destruction itself, according to an account of the episode published in "The Snowden Files" by Guardian journalist Luke Harding.

The paper's editors spent three hours destroying hard drives and memory cards with drills and angle grinders. Two GCHQ staffers supervised as the sparks flew, feeding the crushed bits of computer into a degausser - a microwave-like device intended to irreversibly erase data.

A month later, the British government also detained the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald under terrorism laws and confiscated his memory sticks when he tried to take Snowden files through a London airport.




“The Obama administration knew in advance that the British government would oversee destruction of a newspaper's hard drives containing leaked National Security Agency documents last year, newly declassified documents show. The White House had publicly distanced itself on whether it would do the same to an American news organization. The Guardian newspaper, responding to threats from the British government in July 2013, destroyed the data roughly a month after it and other media outlets first published details from the top secret documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden....'Good news, at least on this front,' the current NSA deputy director, Richard Ledgett, said at the end of a short, censored email to then-NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander and others.

“The White House stated Thursday that the comment “good news” referred only to the fact that secret information has been recovered, and “'didn't reflect a broader administration view' on press freedoms.” “The White House said Thursday that the British government had acted on its own in destroying the Guardian drives. News organizations in America are largely protected by the First Amendment, but British media have to comply with laws that prohibit the publication of classified information..... A month later, the British government also detained the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald under terrorism laws and confiscated his memory sticks when he tried to take Snowden files through a London airport.”

This news article is short, but full of concentrated information. I have a great deal of sympathy for Snowden, who will probably never be able to return safely to the US and maybe to most countries in Europe. He saw what he knew to be illegal under US law and captured proof of it. When he submitted all the data to newspapers, however, he crossed a line that he probably should have left alone. He could have described the files without giving them verbatim to the press.

Now that he has been living in Russia, he will be suspected of giving the files to the Russians as well. He said that he hasn't done that, and I believe him. I think he either naively or bravely risked his whole future to be a whistleblower. The only result is that Congress has modified the law, but still hasn't stopped the collection of data. It is my understanding that now the large telephone companies are doing the collection and holding of the information rather than the government, and that court orders are required to go into the data. That is some progress. It does prevent the government from going into the files without court approval. I expect that there will be some American citizens, especially the Tea Party, who will want our freedom of the press to be abridged as well, but there will be a real outcry about that if it occurs. I don't think Congress could get a law like that passed without a constitutional amendment, which probably won't happen.




Female Yahoo exec sued for sexual harassment
By Laurie Segall  @LaurieSegallCNN 
July 12, 2014

A female tech executive at Yahoo is being sued for sexual harassment by a former female
software engineer at the company. The software engineer, Nan Shi, filed a complaint Friday, alleging sexual harassment, emotional distress and wrongful termination.

The executive is Maria Zhang, a senior director of engineering. Her previous company, Propeld, was acquired by Yahoo in 2013. She also held positions at Microsoft and Zillow in the past.

The complaint says that Shi had worked at Yahoo since February 2013, and that Zhang was her direct supervisor.

According to lawyers representing Shi, the two women had worked together at Propeld.

The complaint says that Zhang "coerced" Shi to have "oral and digital sex" with her on multiple occasions against her will.

The incidents took place at Shi's temporary Yahoo housing unit in Sunnyvale, Calif., the complaint says.

Zhang promised a "bright future" at Yahoo, the complaint says, and also threatened that she could "take everything away from her."

Shi's lawyers told CNNMoney that the women never had an intimate relationship prior to the harassment.

The complaint says that once Shi rejected Zhang's advances, she received poor performance reviews and less important assignments.

The complaint also says that she reported the harassment to Yahoo's (YHOO, Tech30) human resources, and that the company did not perform a proper investigation and ultimately fired her.

In a statement to CNNMoney, a Yahoo spokesperson said "there is absolutely no basis or truth" to the allegations against the executive. "Maria is an exemplary Yahoo executive and we intend to fight vigorously to clear her name," the spokesperson said.

The suit is the latest string of sexual harassment cases in Silicon Valley, including one most recently against the co-founder of Tinder.

"You'll see more sexual harassment cases in Silicon Valley because of the male dominated culture," said Mathew Da Vega, a lawyer representing Shi. He acknowledged this particular case is different because it involves two women.

Da Vega said these cases will keep popping up where there's money and power. But according to the attorney, Silicon Valley companies are "hyper sensitive," operating in a system of money and perception.

"Instead of dealing with the issue like they should have," he said, "their immediate response is to deny, deny."




Matthew Da Vega who is representing Shi in her lawsuit says, “these cases will keep popping up where there's money and power.... Instead of dealing with the issue like they should have," he said, "their immediate response is to deny, deny." Yahoo is backing its executive over the lower level employee, which is a typical case when an employee makes any sort of complaint against management. That's why it's so much easier to just quit that job, unless the economic environment makes it very difficult to get another, as is the case now. It is possible that if Shi had resisted Zhang's advances stubbornly rather than ever submitting to her, she would have a better case against the executive. I'll be interested to see what happens with this case.




23 Ukraine troops killed; president says "militants will pay" – CBS
AP July 11, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine -- Pro-Russia rebels fired missiles Friday at government troops near the Russian border, killing at least 19 servicemen, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said, adding that four troops were killed in other clashes.

President Petro Poroshenko summoned security officials in Kiev to discuss Friday's pre-dawn attack at a forward base in eastern Ukraine and declared that the perpetrators would be punished.

"For every life of our soldiers, the militants will pay with tens and hundreds of their own. Not one terrorist will evade responsibility, everybody will get what is coming to them," he said.

Poroshenko said more needed to be done to provide troops with protective gear.

"It is important that every soldier who is at a checkpoint be equipped with a protective vest and everything necessary," he said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznev gave the figure of 19 deaths on his Facebook account and reported the four other troop deaths. The ministry said 93 soldiers were injured in the base clash.

Ukrainian government troops have been fighting for more than three months against separatists in eastern Ukraine. In the last two weeks, however, they have cut the territory held by the rebels in half and forced them out of their stronghold in the city of Slovyansk. The rebels have since regrouped in Donetsk, an eastern industrial city of 1 million, and Ukraine has vowed to cordon off the area.

The brewing siege of Donetsk has prompted many residents to flee. Rebel officials estimated that some 70,000 people had already left the city and more would follow, while the mayor's office said 30,000 had abandoned Donetsk.

It was not immediately possible to reconcile the figures or find out how they were calculated.

The Defense Ministry said the troops hit by missiles Friday had been trying to secure the country's porous border with Russia. Ukraine says large numbers of militants have been bringing in armored vehicles and weapons from Russia, a charge Russia denies.

The rockets were fired from a Grad missile launcher around 15 kilometers (nearly 10 miles) away, the ministry said.

Border crossings are of particular concern to both sides. The rebels have captured a few border crossings and Ukraine has demanded them back.

Vasily Malayev, spokesman for the Federal Security Service in Russia's Rostov region, said three border crossings east of Donetsk were temporarily closed late Thursday because of fighting.

Ukraine said Friday it had regained control of one of those rebel-held crossings




Ukrainian government troops have been fighting for more than three months against separatists in eastern Ukraine. In the last two weeks, however, they have cut the territory held by the rebels in half and forced them out of their stronghold in the city of Slovyansk. The rebels have since regrouped in Donetsk, an eastern industrial city of 1 million, and Ukraine has vowed to cordon off the area.... The Defense Ministry said the troops hit by missiles Friday had been trying to secure the country's porous border with Russia. Ukraine says large numbers of militants have been bringing in armored vehicles and weapons from Russia, a charge Russia denies.

Kiev is making headway against the rebels, though they did have heavy losses two days ago. Poroshenko vows that the rebels 'will be punished'.... 'It is important that every soldier who is at a checkpoint be equipped with a protective vest and everything necessary,' he said.” The Kiev forces have been fighting rather than backing down, as they did at first. Unfortunately, they seem to lack resources. I thought the US was going to give them some things like body armor. We should also give them tanks and weapons, if Russia is sending in supplies across the border, which they have denied. I assume they are doing it, though. They have never tried to “play fair.” See the following article about Russian complaints against Kiev.




Moscow Warns Ukraine Over Alleged Shelling Of Russian Town – NPR
by SCOTT NEUMAN
July 13, 2014

Moscow says artillery shells fired from Ukrainian territory killed one person and wounded two others in a Russian border town. The Kremlin has threatening Kiev with "irreversible consequences" over the incident, which Ukrainian officials have denied.

Reuters says that while both Russia and Ukraine have reported cross-border exchanges in the past, "the incident appears to be the first time Moscow has reported fatalities on its side of the border from the three-month conflict which has killed hundreds of people in Ukraine."

Russia Today reports that up to six mortal shells exploded today in the small Russian town of Donetsk, which has the same name as the Ukrainian city on the opposite side of the border.

RT says:
"Ukraine's charge d'affaires in Russia has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry where he was handed a note of protest in the strongest terms.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the shelling 'an obviously aggressive act' on Ukraine's part and warned it could have 'irreversible consequences' with Kiev holding full responsibility for the provocation."




"Reuters says that while both Russia and Ukraine have reported cross-border exchanges in the past, 'the incident appears to be the first time Moscow has reported fatalities on its side of the border from the three-month conflict which has killed hundreds of people in Ukraine.'" Russia has threatened “irreversible consequences.” The world will see what those consequences are. Will Russia bring its army across the border into Ukraine? That is possible, but I don't think they want an all-out war. They should stop shelling Ukrainian positions from their side and go to peace talks. What about the “hundreds of people” in Ukraine who have been killed?





Dutch spy chief: Social media fueling terror "swarm"
By ALEXANDER TROWBRIDGE, CLARISSA WARD CBS NEWS
July 8, 2014

Terrorists have changed their management style, and it's making them harder to fight, a top European intelligence official told CBS News. Decisions once left to a top-down hierarchy are now made by the collective "swarm," a shift he said has been fueled by social media.

In an interview with CBS News, Rob Bertholee, the head of Dutch Intelligence said that up until recent years, jihadi groups operated through "vertical communication."

"The leader spoke to his followers and then they would all do what he said," Bertholee told CBS News Correspondent Clarissa Ward. Now, he said, social media and the internet have driven the rise of "horizontal communication" in these groups.

"So what we see now is what you could call a group dynamics, swarming, or the idea of swarming, where many individuals, without a visible leader, actually lead themselves and decide on themselves which way they go," Bertholee said.

"You know they all fly in a swarm, there's no leader there. There's nobody who says yeah we have a map and we have to go this way. But amazingly they all go the same way. That is what we see."

The prevalence of social media among jihadist militants has worried Western observers for years. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria paired a brutal on-the-ground offensive with a sophisticated social media strategy as it marched from Syria into northern Iraq in June.

The use of social media has bolstered fundraising and recruitment for such groups. At the same time, the shift in structure that social media has fed has made it more difficult for Bertholee and other intelligence officials to combat such groups at home and abroad.

"If you can single out a leader then you know where to attack, where to move, where to focus your attention to," Bertholee said. "If you don't have a leader, if you have a swarm that is self-guiding and self-deciding, it's much harder to focus your attention, your efforts."

According to the General Intelligence and Security Service, the Dutch spy agency headed by Bertholee, there are an estimated "few hundred" potential jihadists in the Netherlands, and "several thousand" sympathizers. The agency estimates that 130 individuals have left the country to join the fight in Syria, part of a trend deeply worrying to Western officials who fear such fighters will return home battle-hardened and more radicalized. In a speech Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said there are an estimated 7,000 foreign nationals fighting in Syria, including dozens of Americans.




“Terrorists have changed their management style, and it's making them harder to fight, a top European intelligence official told CBS News. Decisions once left to a top-down hierarchy are now made by the collective 'swarm,' a shift he said has been fueled by social media.... 'If you can single out a leader then you know where to attack, where to move, where to focus your attention to,' Bertholee said. 'If you don't have a leader, if you have a swarm that is self-guiding and self-deciding, it's much harder to focus your attention, your efforts'.... According to the General Intelligence and Security Service, the Dutch spy agency headed by Bertholee, there are an estimated 'few hundred' potential jihadists in the Netherlands, and 'several thousand' sympathizers.”

This does remind me of a news article last week about an ISIS' plan to flood Western societies with immigrants from Islamist cultures and literally take over by sheer numbers, voting in their preferred candidates and changing laws to allow Sharia law. Perhaps it is time for Western nations to scrutinize every Islamic person who tries to come into their territories, and even deport radicalized Islamic people who are already there.

There would be an outcry from liberals and from immigrants themselves if that were done, but until the Islamic nations are brought to a place of peace, the threat to Western societies will exist. It would have to be done without abridging citizens' rights, but would make stricter limitations on who could become a citizen. Rather than trying to keep out all people who are Islamic, try to catch those who are jihadists or sympathizers before they come across the borders. We also probably should watch about freely allowing people in on work and student visas. That would even give our own workers a chance at those jobs. US employers would have to give in and pay higher wages to fill their employee slots. The main reason they want to hire foreigners rather than Americans is because they will work for less pay. At least that's my opinion.





Congress' Latest Death Match Involves A Bank You've Never Heard Of – NPR
by ALAN GREENBLATT
July 13, 2014

It sits in an imposing building just across Lafayette Square from the White House. Yet the Export-Import Bank, which has been offering credit to foreign purchasers of U.S. goods for 80 years, could start shutting down operations within a matter of weeks.

"There's about a 50-50 chance," says Dan Ikenson, who directs a trade policy center at the Cato Institute.

The bank has become a prime target of the Tea Party movement and other conservatives who view it as practicing the worst kind of government interference in the marketplace.

"There is probably no better poster child of the Washington insider economy and corporate welfare than the Export-Import Bank," Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation — itself among the groups pushing for the bank's demise.

With Hensarling and other top House Republican leaders ready to kill the bank, it may be difficult for the bank to get the votes it needs to stay in business.

Virginia Republican Eric Cantor, the recently ousted House majority leader, was a major backer of the bank. His successor, Kevin McCarthy of California, says it's time for the bank to go.

This has set up a confrontation between the Tea Party and the GOP's business backers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are putting on a full-court press, calling on small business owners around the country to convince their members of Congress of the bank's continuing importance.

"The business community is pushing this very hard right now," says Christopher Wenk, senior director of international policy for the Chamber of Commerce. "What really matters is members of Congress hearing from their constituents."

What The Bank Does

Since 1934, the Export-Import Bank has been doling out loans and guarantees to foreign entities that want to buy American products. If a Russian car company wants to buy steel from the U.S., say, the bank might step in to help with credit when private lenders won't.

"Banks do not want to lend for Caterpillar to sell tractors to Nigeria," says Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which supports the Ex-Im Bank, as it's sometimes called. "You don't have to Google very much about Nigeria to know how unstable that country is."

The Ex-Im Bank does a tiny amount of the lending involved in exporting U.S. goods — maybe 2 percent. But Hufbauer says it helps fill crucial gaps, aiding in sales of heavy equipment such as power turbines and MRI machines.

Such goods last a long time and private banks are sometimes dubious they'll be paid back through the 30-year life of a tractor.

"If you look most recently, $37 billion worth of U.S. exports in 2013 were supported by Ex-Im," says Wenk, the Chamber official. "That may not be a whole lot in an economy with $2.3 trillion worth of exports, but at the end of the day, that's $37 billion worth of exports that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the Ex-Im Bank."

Shifting Resources

If the bank's boosters consider it an important tool for keeping U.S. companies competitive in the global marketplace, critics say it's an example of the government playing favorites in ways it shouldn't.

"You can't allocate resources to certain firms and industries without diverting resources from other firms and industries," says Daniel Boudreaux, an economist at George Mason University.

Helping foreign competitors buy U.S. goods at a discounted rate gives them an unfair advantage over U.S. companies that might use the same products or raw materials, Boudreaux says.

The example critics often site is Delta Air Lines, which competes with Air India on certain routes and is angry that Air India gets favorable terms through the Export-Import Bank when it buys Boeing aircraft.

The fact that Boeing itself accounts for an outsized share of Ex-Im lending is also seen by critics as an unwarranted subsidy. Boeing says Ex-Im help will support $10 billion worth of sales this year.

"In my camp, the Export-Import Bank has always been a prime example of unjustified, inefficient corporate welfare," Boudreaux says. "The fact that there's a Tea Party movement now, that's what gives opposition to the Export-Import Bank some legs to stand on now."

Political Opportunity

Supporters of the bank have one big advantage. They have been arranging news conferences all across the country with restaurant equipment makers and medical office designers and other small companies whose owners can talk about specific numbers of workers they've hired thanks to help from the bank.

The idea that some companies worry foreign competitors might be gaining a slight advantage through financing help is a bit more abstract.

The fact that the Export-Import Bank has been self-supporting since 2008 — taking in more through fees from borrowers than it costs to run — has also led most editorial writers to call for its continuation.

But opponents of the bank have an ace up their sleeve. Killing the bank isn't like trying to abolish the Affordable Care Act, say, or funding highway construction — decisions that would require all the political branches to agree and then take action. The bank's authorization will simply expire on Sept. 30, unless Congress takes an affirmative vote to keep it going.

It's not like its building would then be padlocked on Oct. 1. It would continue to service existing loans, without issuing any new ones. It would be like a single-agency shutdown, with a skeleton crew hanging around to oversee the bank's slow death.

The business lobby is pushing hard to prevent that. A Senate bill to keep the bank in business is expected to be introduced any day and should have enough support to pass.

A group of 41 House Republicans last month signed a lettercalling for the bank's reauthorization. But many members of their caucus are bound to resist holding a vote to extend the bank, which would likely pass with largely Democratic support.

"I believe it is a defining issue for our party and our movement," Hensarling said in his Heritage speech.

And, if Congress has shown itself capable of anything lately, it's not voting on something.
"It's action through inaction," says Ikenson, the Cato scholar.




“...The Export-Import Bank, which has been offering credit to foreign purchasers of U.S. goods for 80 years, could start shutting down operations within a matter of weeks. "There's about a 50-50 chance," says Dan Ikenson, who directs a trade policy center at the Cato Institute. The bank has become a prime target of the Tea Party movement and other conservatives who view it as practicing the worst kind of government interference in the marketplace.... This has set up a confrontation between the Tea Party and the GOP's business backers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are putting on a full-court press, calling on small business owners around the country to convince their members of Congress of the bank's continuing importance.... 'If you look most recently, $37 billion worth of U.S. exports in 2013 were supported by Ex-Im,' says Wenk, the Chamber official. 'That may not be a whole lot in an economy with $2.3 trillion worth of exports, but at the end of the day, that's $37 billion worth of exports that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the Ex-Im Bank.'

Ex-Im has been self-supporting since 2008, taking in more in fees than it spends on operations. Government support of the bank will expire on September 30 unless the legislature acts to extend it. “The business lobby is pushing hard to prevent that. A Senate bill to keep the bank in business is expected to be introduced any day and should have enough support to pass. A group of 41 House Republicans last month signed a lettercalling for the bank's reauthorization. But many members of their caucus are bound to resist holding a vote to extend the bank, which would likely pass with largely Democratic support.” Personally, I think anything that stimulates business and helps small businesses is a good thing in this very slow recovery from the Great Recession. Also, the article said that the Ex-Im levels the playing field between US companies and foreign companies which are often subsidized by their governments. We are struggling along as an economy as it is. Why do something to make doing business harder for the smaller businesses who are trying to compete abroad and at home?





Afghan Presidential Candidates Agree To Full Recount – NPR
by SCOTT NEUMAN
July 12, 2014

Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates have agreed to a full recount of ballots cast last month, in a deal brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that's aimed at resolving a potentially damaging political deadlock.

The 100 percent recount is set to begin within 24 hours, and a presidential inauguration, which had been scheduled for Aug. 2, will be postponed, Kerry told a joint news conference with the two candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, according to Reuters.

Kerry said it would be the "largest, most comprehensive audit" of the ballots possible. NPR's Sean Carberry, reporting from Kabul, says the process "will take weeks."

"Both candidates have committed to participate in and abide by the results of the largest and most comprehensive audit; every single ballot that was cast will be audited," Kerry said. "This is the strongest possible signal by both candidates of the desire to restore legitimacy to the process."

The Associated Press says Ghani and Abdullah have agreed to a national unity government.

A preliminary count has Ghani in the lead, but Abdullah has charged election fraud.

As we reported on Friday, the two sides had earlier agreed to recount only a portion of the thousands of polling stations where ballots were cast by an estimated 8 million people.




Kerry said it would be the "largest, most comprehensive audit" of the ballots possible. NPR's Sean Carberry, reporting from Kabul, says the process 'will take weeks.' 'Both candidates have committed to participate in and abide by the results'.... The Associated Press says Ghani and Abdullah have agreed to a national unity government.” This has happened without bloodshed and is another step toward maintaining democracy in Afghanistan. It is of great importance to the US that Afghanistan remain peaceful and safe for citizens and international activities alike. Only through stability and strength can disruptive forces like the Taliban be held at bay.