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| Friday, 12-Nov-2010 07:22 |
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Pearl Jewelry - The Story of Pearl Hunters
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As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms.
That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down.
Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer.
There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution.
It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.
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| Friday, 12-Nov-2010 07:20 |
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Buying Pearl Jewelry Without Being Ripped Off
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Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.
Pearls
Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials.
Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated.
Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre.
A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.
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| Friday, 16-Oct-2009 17:07 |
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freshwater pearl jewelry
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The fact that such beauty can occur naturally is what makes pearls so valuable. It's hard to put a price on freshwater pearl jewelry something so singular.
Real pearls fall into two categories: natural and cultured.
Natural pearls are formed by oysters completely without interference from the human world. Real pearls are nature's miracle.
Cultured pearls are also formed by oysters, but they are prompted to grow by pearl growers.
Non-naturally formed pearls or man-made pearls are not created in an oyster shell at all. They are made in machines, and while they can be an attractive addition to one's jewelry box, the cultured pearl jewelry hold no value. Man-made pearls are also called faux pearls, fashion pearls, simulated pearls or manufactured pearls.
Man-made pearls are created from various materials including glass, plastic, ceramic, shells and they are normally varnished with a lacquer mixed with fish scales.
Any jewelry expert can tell right away if a pearl is real or fake. They can usually tell the difference by looking through the drill hole. But the average consumer has no way of really telling the difference. Some recommend the "tooth test". The "tooth test" is a layman's pearl authenticity test. You simply rub a akoya pearl jewelry strand of pearls across your front teeth. Real pearls will have a "gritty" texture, while fake pearls will feel very smooth.
But the only sure-fire way to determine the authenticity of a pearl, for those who aren't in the know, is an X-ray machine. An X-ray will be able to determine the difference between a freshwater pearl necklace real and naturally produced pearl and a pearl that was cultured.
Not everyone can afford a real pearl necklace. And while there is no question as to which one is better: real or fake, it really depends on your budget. There are some exquisite man-made pearls on the market to make any woman proud to display.
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| Friday, 16-Oct-2009 17:05 |
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twisted pearl necklace
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Pearl jewelry is the most romantic gift you can give to your loved ones this holiday season. Pearls are true gems of the sea. Pearls natural lustrous shine has charmed all women from princesses to twisted pearl necklace regular folks around the world. Pearl jewelry truly adds to sophistication and grace to feminine charm.
Unlike other gems like diamond or precious stones, which are cut, shaped and polished to bring brilliance, pearls come out of living organism and have natural lustrous appeal. Pearls are unique and known for multi-strands pearl necklace their the natural beauty. Pearls are formed inside the body of oysters. The mollusk deposits layer of nacre, a combination of crystalline and organic substances, when any irritant or parasite enters or placed inside its body. Over a period of time with nacre building up in layers upon layers, the pearl is formed.
Buying diamond jewelry is often intimidating as one is never sure about its real value. Ordinary person can't possibly comprehend the evaluation process of ascertaining the quality and price of diamonds; as cut, shape, size, color and design settings are very crucial. But for pearls, with little efforts and knowledge, one can easily figure out the quality and price variations and can decide accordingly. The size, color, shape, surface and the type of rope pearl necklace pearl usually define the price in any kind of pearl jewelry. Most of the online pearl jewelry stores have Buyer's Guide or Pearl Education pages added to their websites to help their customers.
Most lustrous pearl gift sets are designed with akoya pearls and freshwater pearls, which are very affordable. White color pearl jewelry gift set, the ultimate trio is very popular and classic but other exciting colors are equally very attractive.
As a token of love, respect and appreciation we humans tend to celebrate and express our feelings and when it comes to akoya pearl necklace celebration and happiness, giving pearl jewelry this holiday season is very brilliant idea.
Undoubtedly, pearls, which were for the rich and famous, have now become affordable by all. Pearls are timeless fashion statement and all women love pearl jewelry. Bring charm and warmth in someone's life this holiday and sweet memories will stay forever.
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| Friday, 16-Oct-2009 17:02 |
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pearl strand wholesale
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The pearls were considered to be the prestigious possessions for very rich and wealthy. From ancient Greece to Roman and British Empire wearing pearl jewelry made with natural pearls was a symbol of pearl strand wholesale opulence and superiority among all royals and affluent.
Like any other precious gems and metals, these too were prized collections for both men and women who had always adorned with their royal and rich attires. They eloquently displayed the expensive jewelry on biwa pearl all social and formal celebrations or occasions.
But that era ended at the beginning of 19th Century when Mikmoto of Japan invented his bead-nucleating techniques of culturing pearls and harvested in the deep saltwater of pacific sea. This led to increase in production and the quality standards. Ever since the entire pearl jewelry industry around the world boomed to a great height and pearls became more affordable to blister pearl one and all.
All pearl jewelry sold now in any part of the world is all designed with cultured pearls and natural ones are rarity now. After Japan, China has emerged the leading producer of all freshwater and akoya pearls. Even many Japanese firms too have large pearl farms in Chinese Delta River Regions for getting their harvest every season. Often they sell them as produced by them in Japanese sea. Japanese pearls are known by the name as akoya pearls. So whether harvested in Chinese water or Japanese sea, they are still the same akoya pearls produced with the bread pearl same culturing techniques and pricing depends on marketing, presentation and evaluations by the sellers and the buyers.
Until few years back only the jewelry shops thru their grand boutiques or on malls had the privilege to sell them to their customers and make profits but the internet has changed everything like any other business from buying airline tickets online to clothes and shoes thus cutting downs on middlemen. There are couples of very good online pearl jewelry stores who have direct access to the button pearl pearl farms and buy in bulk at wholesale prices and pass on these savings to online customers for anyone to buy at great affordable prices now.
Browse thru all the jewelry collections and buy the pearl jewelry item you like and admire most and it's a wonderful gift for your loved ones too.
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| Friday, 16-Oct-2009 17:00 |
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freshwater pearl earrings
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Unlike other precious gems and stones that are mined, cut, shaped and polished to bring the color brilliance, pearls are naturally grown in rivers, ponds, lakes and deep-sea water. Pearls achieve their most distinctive beauty that comes from the pearl bracelet reflection of light through the layers of crystalline nacre. The iridescence or opalescence in pearl is the result of over lapping of successive layers. The luster is the essence of beauty of all pearls types. A high quality lustrous pearl will emit a brilliant and equal reflection with fine radiance.
Akoya means seawater in Japanese language. Akoya pearls are the classic cultured pearls of Japan. Akoya pearls luster is intense, their nacre is thick and colors brilliant. Undoubtedly, they carry higher values than freshwater pearls. Mikimoto of Japan had invented and patented the pearl pendant bead-nucleating technology of culturally growing these pearls in the seawaters. Akoya pearls are primarily cultivated in the sea salt waters off the coastal areas of Japan and China.
Very small mantle tissue beads are implanted inside the Pinctada fucata martensii oysters to form beautiful pearls. Akoya pearls normally take longer time to grow and the total quantity comparatively is not very large due to variable seawater climatic conditions and oysters' mortality at sea.
Other types of cultured peals are freshwater pearls; Tahitian pearls and South sea pearls and each of these types come in freshwater pearl necklace different color tones and shades. Though white color is synonymous with pearls but they can be color enhanced to bring other exotic shades of colors like pink, peach, golden, gray and black.
Pearl jewelry or necklace designed with most lustrous akoya or cultured pearls typically command higher value no matter which pearl type or size and are most preferred by the customers all over the freshwater pearl earrings world. If diamonds are forever, pearls are timeless fashion statements and adorned by all jewelry lovers.
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| Saturday, 19-Sep-2009 01:22 |
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Daphne Merkin on her forty year battle with depression
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It is a sparkling day in mid-June, the sun out in full force, the sky a limpid blue. I am lying on my back on the grass, listening to the intermittent chirping of nearby birds; my eyes are closed, the better to savour the warmth on my face. As I soak up the rays I think about summers past, the squawking of seagulls on the beach, and walking along the water with my daughter, picking out enticing seashells. My mind floats away into a space where chronology doesn't count: I am back on silver pearl jewelry the beach of my adolescence, lost in a book, or talking to my old college chum Bethanie as we brave the water in front of her parents' house in Connecticut, where she comes to visit every summer.
In the 20 or so minutes of "fresh air" allotted after lunch (one of four such breaks on the daily schedule), I try to imagine myself elsewhere than in this fenced-off concrete garden, planted with patches of green and a few lonely flowers, my movements watched over by a more or less friendly psychiatric aide. Soggy as my brain is from being wrenched off a slew of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications in the last 10 days, I reach for a Coleridgian suspension of disbelief, ignoring the roar of traffic and summoning up the sound of breaking waves.
I have only to open my eyes for the surreal scene to come back into my immediate line of vision, like a picnic area without picnickers: two barbecue grills, bags of mulch that seem never to be opened, empty planters, clusters of tables and chairs. I can see R, the most recent addition to our dysfunctional gang of 12, sitting on a bench in his unseasonal cashmere polo, smoking a cigarette and tapping his foot with equal intensity. On either side of him are ragtag groups of people culled from several units of the hospital, including the one I am on, which is primarily for the treatment of patients with depression or eating disorders. (The anorexic girls, whom R refers to as "the storks", tend to stick together.) The garden is also home to patients from 5 South, which treats patients with psychotic and substance-abuse disorders.
The people on my unit, 4 Center, hidden away in a small building, have next to no contact with the other units; we might as well be on different planets. Then again, intractable depression creates a planet all its own, largely impermeable to influence from others except as shadow presences, urging you to come out and rejoin the world, take in a movie, go out for a bite, cheer up. By the time I admitted myself to the hospital last June after a downhill period of six months, I felt isolated in my own pitch-darkness, even when I was in a room full of conversation and light.
Depression - the thick black paste of it, the muck of bleakness - was nothing new to me. I had done battle with it in some way or other since childhood. It is an affliction that often starts young and goes unheeded - younger than would seem possible, as if in exiting the womb I was enveloped in a grey and itchy wool blanket instead of a soft, pastel-coloured bunting. Perhaps I am overstating the case; I don't think I actually began as a melancholy baby, if I am to go by photos of me, in which I seem impish, with sparkly eyes and a full smile. All the same, who knows but that I was already adopting the mask of all-rightness that every depressed person learns to wear in order to navigate the world?
I do know that by the age of five or silver pearl pendant six, I had begun to be apprehensive about what lay in wait for me. I felt that events had not conspired in my favour, for many reasons, including the fact that in my family there were too many children and too little attention to go around. What attention there was came mostly from an abusive nanny who scared me into total compliance and a mercurial mother whose interest was often unkindly. By age eight I was wholly unwilling to attend school, out of some combination of fear and separation anxiety. (It seems to me now, many years later, that I was expressing early on a chronic depressive's wish to stay at home, on the inside, instead of taking on the outside, in the form of classmates and teachers.) By the age of 10 I had been hospitalised because I cried all the time, although I don't know if the word "depression" was ever used.
As an adult, I wondered incessantly: what would it be like to be someone with a brighter take on things? Someone possessed of the necessary illusions without which life is unbearable? Someone who could get up in the morning without being held captive by morose thoughts as she measures out tablespoons of coffee from their snappy little aluminium bag: You shouldn't. You should have. Why are you? Why aren't you? There's no hope, it's too late, it has always been too late. Give up, go back to bed, there's no hope. There's so much to do. There's not enough to do. There is no hope.
Surely this is the worst part of being at the mercy of your own mind: the fact that there is no way out of the reality of being you, a person who is forever noticing the grime on the bricks, the flaws in the friends - the sadness that runs under the skin of things, like blood. It is a sadness that no one seems to want to talk about in public, at cocktail-party sorts of places, not even in this age of indiscretion. Nor is the private realm particularly conducive to airing this kind of implacably despondent feeling, no matter how willing your friends are to listen. Depression, truth be told, is both boring and threatening as a subject of conversation. In the end there is no one to intervene on your behalf when you disappear again into what feels like a psychological dungeon - a place that has a familiar musky smell, a familiar lack of light - except the people you've paid large sums of money to talk to over the years. I have sat in shrinks' offices going on four decades now and talked about my wish to die the way other people might talk about their wish to find a lover.
Then there is this: in some way, the quiet terror of severe depression never entirely passes once you've experienced it. It hovers behind the scenes, placated temporarily by medication and renewed energy, waiting to slither back in, unnoticed by others. It sits in the space behind your eyes, making its presence felt even in those moments when other, lighter matters are at the forefront of your mind. It tugs at you, keeping you from ever being fully at ease. Worst of all, it honours no season and respects no calendar; it arrives precisely when it feels like it.
My most recent bout, the one that landed me on 4 Center, an under-the-radar research unit at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, asserted itself on New Year's Eve 2007. Despite my grim mood, I had somehow managed to put on make-up, pull on clothes, affix pearl earrings and go to a civilised old-New York type of dinner, where we talked of ongoing things - children, schools, plays to see, reasons to live as opposed to reasons to die. But even as I talked and laughed with the other guests, my thoughts were dark, scrambling ones, ruthless in their sniping insistence. You're a failure. A burden. Useless. Worse than useless: worthless.
Shortly past midnight, I watched the fireworks over Central Park and stared into the bursts of colour - red, white and blue, squiggles of green, streaks of purple, balls of silver, sparks of champagne. My 17-year-old daughter, Zoë, was standing nearby, and as I looked into the fireworks I sent entreaties into the sky. Make me better. Make me remember this moment of absorption in fireworks, the energy of the thing. Make me go forward. Stop listening for drum rolls. Pay attention to silver pearl earrings the ordinary calls to engage, messages on your answering machine telling you to buck up, it's not so bad, from the ex, siblings, people who care.
For the next six months I countered the depression with everything I had, escaping into the narcotic of reading, taking on a few writing assignments (all of which I delivered weeks, if not months, late), meeting friends for dinner, teaching a writing class and even taking a trip to St Tropez with a friend. I gobbled down my usual medley of pills - Lamictal, Risperdal, Wellbutrin and Lexapro - and wore an Emsam patch. (I have not been free of psychotropic medication for any substantial period since my early 20s.) But this was not a passing episode. Although many depressions resolve themselves within a year, with or without treatment, sometimes they take hold and won't let go, becoming incrementally worse with each passing day, until suicide seems like the only exit. This was one of those depressions.
In the weeks leading up to my checking into 4 Center, I had gone from being able to put on a faltering imitation of mental health to giving up all pretence of a manageable disguise. Since I found it painful to be conscious, I had stopped doing much of anything except sleeping. Mornings were the worst: I got up later and later, first 11, then noon, and now it was more like two in the afternoon, the day three-quarters gone. In the few hours that I was awake, I felt a kind of lethal fatigue, as if I were swimming through tar. Phone messages went unanswered, emails unread. In my inert but agitated state I could no longer concentrate long enough to read - not so much as a newspaper headline - and the idea of writing was as foreign to me as downhill racing. (James Baldwin: "No one works better out of anguish at all; that's an incredible literary conceit.") I barely ate - there is no more effective diet than clinical depression - and had dropped 30lb. I had essentially withdrawn from communication. When I did speak, it was mostly about my wish to commit suicide, a wish that was never all that far from my mind, but at times like these became insistent.
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| Friday, 18-Sep-2009 06:14 |
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9/15 is another date we should never forget
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This week, as you may have noticed on Monday, but had probably forgotten by this morning, was the first anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
For Rip Van Winkles who look at their finances only once a year and note that stockmarkets, house prices and currencies are today pretty much where they were a year ago, Lehman was a second-tier Wall Street investment bank that went bankrupt on September 15 2008: 9/15 is not ingrained in our memories like 9/11 but it triggered what was briefly the biggest financial crisis in history and inspired widespread prophecies of a 1930s-style Great Depression and the end of the capitalist world as we know it. We now know that the sky did not fall in as the Chicken Little commentators predicted, but does this mean that all the fuss was just a storm in a teacup?
The answer is no. As a result of Lehman’s bankruptcy, millions of people have needlessly lost their jobs, hundreds of cultured pearl jewelry thousands of homes have been needlessly repossessed and trillions of dollars, pounds and euros have been needlessly added to the debt burdens of governments around the world. I repeat that word needlessly because most of these losses would not have happened if Lehman had been supported or wound down in an orderly way.
The chaotic collapse of Lehman was the heart attack that turned a serious, but manageable, ailment in the world of finance and the housing markets into a near-death experience for the real economy of industry and jobs. In short, the world changed with Lehman.
BACKGROUND
Anyone who believes that stabilising Lehman was financially or politically impossible should note that the US Treasury bailed out the insurance group AIG at far greater public expense 24 hours later, when AIG’s potential failure threatened the survival of J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Had it not been for this rescue and the unlimited guarantees offered by governments to every significant financial institution the world over, the sky really would have fallen in.
The US Government’s decision toakoya pearl jewelry let Lehman go bankrupt will go down in history as one of the greatest public policy mistakes made. This unforced error proved even more costly to the Bush Administration than its blunders in Iraq, Afghanistan and New Orleans.
Conversely, the rapid improvement in economic policymaking and financial conditions once a new administration took office amply justifies my claim that Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, was to finance what Donald Rumsfeld was to military strategy.
The clearest lesson of the Lehman debacle, therefore, is that sound leadership is as vital in economic crises as it is in wars. This may seem a simplistic platitude in comparison with the sophisticated analyses of moral hazard, global imbalances and monetary objectives offered by other commentators. But I believe that the main long-term impact of Lehman will be to remind the world of the symbiosis between markets and political ideologies. And this recognition will encourage the emergence of a new phase of global capitalism to replace the market fundamentalism inaugurated by Margaret Thatcher 30 years ago. What might this new thinking entail?
First, that a market economy requires active government. This is now obvious in the financial sector, whose survival always depends ultimately on government guarantees. The only alternative to guaranteeing all bank deposits and interbank transactions would be to revert to the world of mortgage queues, credit rationing and foreign exchange controls. But limitless government guarantees mean that banks will face more intrusive scrutiny from regulators who will be bolder than in the past.
A second controversial function of government has been reinforced even more by the crisis: active demand management. This boom-bust cycle has demonstrated conclusively that monetary and fiscal demand management works and is necessary. Conversely, the post-Lehman experience has refuted the unrealistic theory that markets behave rationally and which purported to freshwater pearl jewelry show that demand management was ineffective and which dominated university economics for almost 20 years.
This small earthquake in academic economics may seem arcane, but the demise of this theory points to a third aspect of post-Lehman thinking with huge political implications. By discrediting the dogma of rational markets, the financial crisis has reopened ethical debates on issues such as executive earnings, income distribution and environmental subsidies that were previously closed down simply by invoking market forces to legitimise the status quo.
Governments will also have to take responsibility for micro-economic decisions such as regulating speculation in mortgages and oil that they previously dodged simply by asserting that prices reflected the realities of supply and demand.
But surely Lehman showed that governments make disastrous mistakes at least as often as financial markets? And surely the post-Lehman collapse in tax revenues proves that governments need banks as much as banks need governments? The symbiotic relationships between imperfect markets and imperfect governments leads to the fourth and most fundamental lesson of the crisis: everyone now understands that economic events are inherently unpredictable — and this implies that both markets and politicians are prone to error. Recognising this inherent fallibility should not be paralysing, but empowering.
The virtue of competitive markets is to correct small misjudgments fairly quickly. In politics, democratic competition plays a similar error-correcting role. But when herd instinct overtakes investors, markets magnify errors instead. The same happens in democracies when one ideology overwhelms all debate.
In a fast-moving, interdependent and unpredictable world, scepticism, experimentation and flexibility are crucial. Ideological flexibility and the recognition of errors should be seen as a cardinal virtue in politicians and central bankers, as well as in businessmen and financiers.
If the world can absorb these lessons and evolve new relationships between government, business and finance, then the redesigns of monetary policy, regulation and economic theory will naturally follow. The bolt from the blue that was Lehman wiped out the market fundamentalism of Mrs Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Intellectual evolution must now create a new species of capitalism to bestride the post-crisis world.
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| Friday, 18-Sep-2009 06:10 |
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Afghanistan is hard all the time, but it’s doable
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Colin Cramphorn, a policeman who served with distinction in Northern Ireland among many other places, observed that while every location is different, all are nonetheless connected. He realised not only that local knowledge is critical, but that the fate of one location often depends on the destiny of another. This insight was almost John Donnesque, akin to his observation that “no man is an island”. It is a key insight for our security: no problem can be viewed in isolation.
The region under my command consists of wholesale pearl jewelry 20 countries, from Egypt in the west to Pakistan in the east, and from Kazakhstan in the north to Yemen and the waters off Somalia to the south. This region sits astride the traditional land of former empires and the pull of ancient tensions can still be felt.
It includes some 530 million people from at least 22 large ethnic groups, who speak 18 languages, and ascribe to four leading religions. The area is rich in oil and natural gas but poor in fresh water. It has countries with the highest per capita income in the world, and others in the lowest five. In 18 of the 20 states, young people between the ages of 15 and 29 constitute more than 40 per cent of the population, and economic opportunities for many are insufficient. It is the unique combination of all of the dangers and resources in the Central Command Region that make it so critical to the security of all developed nations.
Countering terrorists and extremism requires more than a conventional military approach. Military operations enable you to cultured pearl jewelry clear areas of extremist and insurgent elements, and to stop them from putting themselves back together. But the core of any counterinsurgency strategy must focus on the fact that the decisive terrain is the human terrain, not the high ground or river crossing.
BACKGROUND
Focusing on the population can, if done properly, improve security for local people and help to extend basic services. It can help to delegitimise the methods of the extremists — especially if you can contrast your ability and willingness to support and protect the population with the often horrific actions of extremist groups. Indeed, exposing their extremist ideologies, indiscriminate violence and oppressive practices can help people to realise that their lives are unlikely to be improved if under the control of such movements.
For the strategy to work, it is also necessary to find ways to identify reconcilable members of insurgent elements and to transform them into part of the solution.
In Iraq, security has improved dramatically over the past two years, though, as always, the situation remains fragile and reversible. Insurgent attacks are down from more than 160 per day in June 2007, to about 20. There have been similar declines in violent civilian deaths, high-profile attacks and virtually every other measure of security.
In Afghanistan, security is the principal concern, although there are numerous other challenges as well, with governmental legitimacy prominent among them. Clearly, the security trend in Afghanistan has been a downward spiral, with levels of violence at record highs in recent weeks.
At a time when the challenges loom so large, it is important to remember why we are there. That is to akoya pearl jewelry ensure that al-Qaeda and other transnational extremist groups are not able to re-establish sanctuaries in Afghanistan like those they had during Taleban rule there before 9/11.
General Stan McChrystal, the Commander of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force, who has spent most of his career since 9/11 leading the US’s most elite counterterrorist element, the Joint Special Operations Command, is employing a comprehensive, counterinsurgency campaign. He is the first to recognise not just the extraordinary capabilities but also the limitations of counterterrorism forces in Afghanistan.
In addition to our military operations we are helping the Afghan Government to combat the corruption that has undermined the legitimacy of certain Afghan institutions. We are also working hard to accelerate the development of the Afghan security forces. And we are working to disrupt narcotics trafficking by promoting agricultural alternatives and developing the infrastructure to help Afghan farmers to get their products to market.
But we need to be realistic in recognising that the campaign will require a sustained, substantial commitment. Many tough tasks loom before us — including resolution of the way ahead after the recent election, which obviously has been marred by allegations of fraud. The challenges in Afghanistan clearly are significant. But the stakes are high. And, while the situation unquestionably is, as General McChrystal has observed, serious, the mission is, as he has affirmed, still doable. In truth, it is, I think, accurate to observe that, as in Iraq in 2007, everything in Afghanistan is hard, and it is hard all the time.
Iran constitutes the main state-based threat to stability in the region. The impact of its malign activities and harsh rhetoric are felt throughout the Arabian Peninsula, making it, ironically, the best recruiter with prospective partners. We now have eight Patriot missile batteries spread across countries on the western side of the Gulf, where two years ago we had far, far fewer.
If Cecil Rhodes was correct in his wonderful observation that “being an Englishman is the greatest prize in the lottery of life”, and I’m inclined to think that he was, then the second greatest prize in the lottery of life must be to be a friend of an Englishman, and based on that, the more than 230,000 men and women in uniform who work with your country’s finest day by day are very lucky indeed, as am I.
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