Richard Armitage, the former US deputy secretary of state, has told Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi that the conflict in Afghanistan may be “spinning out of control”.
Mr. Armitage, who served in the Bush Administration, also said it was “a little backward” of Barack Obama, the US president, to send thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan before he completed a review of US policy on the region.
In a wide-ranging interview he began by answering a question on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On February 17, 2009, Smithfield Foods acquired Vall, a hog producer, for $60.7 million, solidifying its position as the nation’s number one producer of pork products. The company boasts over $12 billion in total sales. The company’s growth has been nothing short of spectacular. Since 1990, Smithfield Foods has grown by more than 1,000 percent. In 1997 it was the nation’s seventh-largest pork producer; by 1999 it was the largest. Today, it accounts for 27% of hog production in the United States, doubled what it accounted for just three years ago.
Based in Virginia, Smithfield has embarked on aggressive acquisition strategy to fuel its growth. While the company has production facilities across the US as well as overseas most of its operations are in the southeastern region of North Carolina. Smithfield raised 14 million hogs in 2006. This tremendous population of hogs enabled Smithfield to produce about 3.1 billion pounds of fresh pork in 2006. In 2001, Smithfield expanded into the beef industry and it is already the nation’s 5th leading beef producer. The Smithfield family of brands consists of over 50 brands and 21 major subsidiaries. Smithfield employs 52,500 people globally, including 11,000 in North Carolina. In addition, Smithfields acquired the Butterball turkey brand.
Founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, Smithfield Foods overcame financial difficulties in the 1970s under the leadership of Joseph W. Luter III, its combative CEO until he retired a year ago. Mr. Luter began an expansion of the company during the early 1980s that continues through today. Since 1981, Smithfield Foods has made more than 30 acquisitions both domestically and internationally. Smithfield owns subsidiaries in France, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom, and has joint ventures or major investments in Brazil, Mexico, Spain and China. Like many of the other major players in the industry, they are making a major push into the emerging Japanese pork market and of course the ever alluring Chinese market, the world’s largest consumer of pork products.
Militants in northwestern Pakistan have been making major gains, creeping closer to the capital city of Islamabad. There have even been fears voiced that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal could in danger.
In recent weeks, top U.S. officials have been critical of Pakistani officials for not moving aggressively enough against the militants. This week, Pakistan’s military went on the offensive against the Taliban and recaptured a key town in the strategic Buner district, just 60 miles from Islamabad.
Walter Russell Mead, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the situation in Pakistan, whether this offensive is just a way to appease frustrated American officials and what the administrations next steps should be.