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March 13, 2009

ICC indictment of al-Bashir provokes aid worker kidnappings

Posted by Anna Bowen at 12:52 PM ET | Comments (0)

The kidnapping of Medecins sans Frontiers P.E.Islander Laura Archer, and of Mauro D'Ascanio and Raphael Meonier Wednesday night comes on the heels of the International Criminal Court at the Hague accusation last week. The ICC accused Sudan President Omar al-Bashir of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Sudan, issuing another arrest warrant for the President. The ruling, a first for its accusation of a sitting president, perpetuated increased violence in the region, as well as causing the expulsion of several non-profits in the area, including Oxfam, CARE and Save The Children.

The UN reports that 300,000 people have been killed in the Darfur region since the violence began in 2003 and 2.7 million people have been displaced.

Last week President Omar al-Bashir said the accusations are a sign of a new colonialism, and reportedly a crowd of 2,000 gathered in his support in El Fasher last week, and still more gathered in Khartoum.

I'm wondering a few things, namely:
(1) Why has the ICC insisted on accusing Omar al-Bashir of war crimes right now? Probably the fact that no sitting president has ever been accused is for good reason. Not heeding the warnings that violence and anger would increase and NGOs would be forced out, removing needed assistance, seems like a pretty bad move at this point.

(2) Why does the story of one kidnapped Canadian make me write a blog post sooner than the fact of the ICC accusations in the first place? Because I can identify with her and her family? Yes, I suppose that's true. Because I know someone who was kidnapped overseas? Yes, that's true too. Because she made the front page of the G&M? Tripleyes.

(3) What do repeated kidnappings of white foreign aid workers tell us about the role of white foreign aid workers abroad? A couple of years ago at the R.A.C.E. conference that was held in Toronto at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), I was interested to see that there was a paper being given on the sticky issue of the Christian Peacemaker Teams kidnappings in Iraq. I went to the presentation with mixed feelings, because you need a stout heart to enter an academic environment where the golden calves of Canadian identity (Dallaire or Stephen Lewis) are fair game for critical anti-racist theorizing. I was surprised to find that the seminar was actually addressing how Jim Loney was able to subvert the typical white-anglo desire to find another hero by juggling the media with one hand and turning their expectation of him on its head with the other.

My heart absolutely goes out to the friends and families of those who were abducted and are being held, and we hope for their safe and speedy return.

But let's not forget the thousands of detainees and disappeared worldwide who don't make front page news.

I am grateful in a way that can never be adequately expressed in words. There are so many people that need this hand of solidarity right now today, and I'm thinking specifically of prisoners held all over the world, people who have slipped into an abyss of detention without charge, due process, hope of release; some victims of physical and psychological torture, people unknown and forgotten. It is my deepest wish that every forsaken human being should have a hand of solidarity reaching out to them.

-part of a statement made by J Loney the day he was returned to Canada

More entries on: War and peace

January 12, 2009

See for yourself - Conflict goes 2.0

Posted by Elaisha Stokes at 11:17 AM ET | Comments (2)

It's hard to know just what to say about the most recent installment of the Israeli-Gaza conflict. The 16 days of fighting have killed 900 Palestinians and left 1.5 million in urgent need of food and medical aid. Recent reports suggest humanitarian aid is currently denied access at Gaza checkpoints. Many international agencies have pulled out, citing the increase of violence as an extreme hazard to their aid workers.

The Israeli government has forbidden foreign journalists from entering the Gaza strip, making it impossible to confirm accuracy of the reports coming from the region. Fortunately, in the age of the internet, anything is possible. For the first time in history you can act as an international observer from the comfort of your own home.

The Israel Defense Ministry has set up a web cam feed of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the largest boarder crossing between Israel and Gaza. Live images are broadcast during the three hour ceasefire from three cameras that monitor the entrance and exit of the terminal. Are the trucks really making it across the boarder and into Gaza? Is there really a steady flow of aid to the Palestinian people? Now you can see for yourself.

Alternatively, if you're looking for a little hope in these troubled times, why not check out the live feed of the Western Wall.

Are all these live feeds just a publicity stunt for a beleaguered government trying to change international public opinion on their efforts? Is seeing really believing? What do you think?

More entries on: Interweb | War and peace

January 06, 2009

Police State, Version 2.0

Posted by Elaisha Stokes at 01:28 PM ET | Comments (0)

Lately, it seems everyone is talking about slumdog millionaire. I haven't seen it, but I've been assured it is the thing to do. Having recently returned from a little overseas adventure of my own, I've been thinking a lot about slums. What does it mean to live in a slum? Or a compound, a favela, a township, depending on your nation state boundaries. I've got a feeling it's not not as glitzy and glam as Mr. Boyle would have us believe. According to this really cool website, 2008 marked the first time in global history that more people are living in an urban than rural setting. In fact, urban slums are the fastest growing habitat on earth, with one billion people calling a 'slum' their 'home.'

And yet governments around the world continue to treat slums as illegal settlements, refusing to acknowledge the community, culture and necessity they provide for millions. Earlier today, The Washington Post reported that Brazil has begun a counter-insurgency occupation in the shantytown of Santa Maria, located in Rio de Janeiro. The government is taking the concept of police state to new and exciting levels, employing a counter-insurgency pilot project that aims to emulate the tactics used by U.S. soldiers in Iraq to stem drug related criminal activity in the favela.

Maybe it's just me, but the whole operation seems a bit extreme. When did being poor become illegal? (I know, I know, governments around the world have always tried to criminalize the poor just for being poor...) I'll be the first to admit that Rio has had its share of crime related issues, but employing war-time tactics in a peaceful country effectively violates the rights of the citizens who occupy the communities. And I stress the word community. Since its inception, the occupation of Santa Maria has successfully stunted local culture, shutting down businesses, dance parties and motorcycle taxis. While citizens report feeling safer, they also lament the days of yore, when you could walk down the street and chat with your neighbour. These days, no one leaves the house for fear of an interrogation, or worse...

It all prompts the question — in taking the concept of a police state to the next level, are we really engaging in a 'war on drugs' or a war on people?

More entries on: From the intern desk | Global politics | Human rights | War and peace

December 05, 2008

Guest Blogger: What Mumbai means

Posted by Graham F. Scott at 11:47 AM ET | Comments (2)

[Editor's Note: from time to time we feature guest bloggers on important issues. Email editor at thismagazine dot ca to enquire about contributing.]

BY MITU SENGUPTA

In India, the Mumbai attacks have been interpreted as a strike against the country — as "India's 911." The image is one of instant clarity. This was an external operation, orchestrated by an Islamist organization, and was at least partially funded by Jihadist factions inside Pakistan's perennially fractured government. In India, none of this is particularly surprising. Neither is the government's dithering response to the attacks. For most Indians, the rumour of governmental ineptitude is almost as strong as that of Pakistan-sponsored Islamic militancy. The depiction of the events in Mumbai as a sinister foreign plot that unfolded with chilling ease in the face of a corrupt, bungling government is probably not without merit. It is nonetheless an oversimplification, and not just for Indians. The core targets of the attack were two luxurious five-star hotels that cater to international business travellers and India's well-heeled. This serves as reminder that the Mumbai attacks are, at root, an assault on a new, globalizing India, which sees itself, and is perceived by much of the West, as the greatest and perhaps only rational power in that politically chaotic region.

But while the Mumbai attacks certainly speak to the vulnerability of this new, prosperous India, they also speak to its profound lack of awareness of its own vulnerability. It is revealing that the targeted hotels were outrageously short of security, even though they, like other five-star hotels, are conspicuous oases of opulence in an otherwise desperately poor and troubled city. The gunmen seemed to know the hotels' floor-plans, and possibly rented rooms where they stored ammunition. They probably mingled with guests, greeted staff, and strutted in and out of the front lobby. It is not terribly surprising that no-one noticed. Heady with self-esteem and optimism, India's globalizing elites — along with their foreign friends — have a habit of looking the other way when confronted by the ugliness of the politics around them; an almost deliberate obliviousness that is as much to blame as the usual suspects of government incompetence and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

India's achievements are many. Its vibrant, fast-growing economy has generated a 250-million strong middle class. India's democratic credentials are by all means impressive. It boasts an independent judiciary, regular elections with healthy voter turnouts, and an active media that is consistently tough on government. Democracy also appears to have softened the edge of much erstwhile disaffection. It has turned the country's once-formidable Communist Left into market-friendly social democrats. Groups persecuted under India's notorious caste system have organized themselves into influential political parties, which have gone on to form the government in some of India's most politically important states. Not all religious minorities seem unhappy. Many Muslims affirm their patriotism and liberal values with as much zeal as they condemn Islamist extremism.

Beneath this buoyant picture of conciliation, however, is a very different reality. A tragic war has raged on in Kashmir for almost twenty years. While Pakistan has probably stoked the conflict by arming militants, Indian forces stand accused of egregious human rights violations against Kashmir's predominantly Muslim population. Poverty is another scourge. Last year, a controversial report suggested that some 77 percent of the country's population live in extreme poverty, on less than 50 cents a day. A disproportionate number of the abject poor are Muslim, and many poor Muslims live in Mumbai. In fact, Mumbai has often served as an unwitting theatre of action for the country's long history of interfaith violence. In 1993, some 250 Mumbaikers died in bomb blasts, ostensibly by Muslims seeking revenge for the demolition of a revered mosque at Ayodhya by Hindu extremists. In 2006, another 180 were killed in an audacious strike on the city's railway stations by groups linked to Kashmiri militants. When put together with the two thousand or more Muslims slaughtered by Hindu fanatics in the neighbouring state of Gujarat in 2002, this seems a disturbed region indeed. There is no doubt that millions in India are deeply angry, and that this passion is most easily inflamed in big, congested cities like Mumbai, where the aggrieved cannot always avoid each other.

Such anger, however, is rarely noticed by the country's upwardly mobile, who blithely identify with their fellow consumers in the West rather with than the discontented in their own country. Nowhere is this more palpable than in Mumbai, where the rich live like minor kings, and even the middle-level executive can have it all: the warmth of the seaside, resort-like accommodations, a chauffeur-driven car, and a retinue of cooks, maids and nannies, most of who will conveniently disappear at dusk into the squalid slums at the periphery of the city. The affluent can never fully shut out the misery around them. It takes only a short roll-down of one's car window to come nose-to-nose with the sweaty faces of the heaving multitudes who clearly do not consider Mumbai their paradise. But one can look away, as most do, to burrow into some files, a Blackberry, or a sandwich. This is almost a studied obtuseness.

The most recent carnage in Mumbai will probably lead to greater acknowledgement, by India's confident elites, of their profound vulnerability to the stormy politics around them, and of the unnerving proximity of those who are angry as well as willing to act. One will probably see more armed security guards, metal detectors, and bans on shady organizations. It is unlikely, however, that such measures will ever be enough to subdue the violence that seems endemic to that beleaguered region and city. While they may temporarily separate the satiated from the disgruntled, they are no more than a physical expression of the act of looking a way. In the long term, they are likely to damage India's cherished reputation as a beacon of democracy. Although poverty and alienation are never justification for terrorism, they feed its anger and nihilism. It is imperative that the new India, along with its allies in the West, squarely confronts the deep discontentment that bubbles beneath its newfound prosperity and looming great power status.

Mitu Sengupta is Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University. She has also worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and as an editorial writer in New Delhi, India.

More entries on: War and peace

April 10, 2008

Nepal: shining future or end of the path?

Posted by derek at 10:41 AM ET | Comments (1)

Today in Nepal, voting began for a new constituent assembly that may well chart a radically different course for the Himalayan country. The election comes after more than 10 years of warfare waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The main parties squaring off are the Maoists, the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist (essentially social-democrats, counter-intuitively to their name) and the Nepali Congress Party.

The Maoists, still publicly commited to their goal of world communism, have been brought to this point by a number of factors. First, although they have major support in the hill regions, they have been viewed suspiciously by Nepal's urban middle classes, and see winning them over as critical to holding power country-wide. Second, The rapid success of their movement has ran far ahead of similar trends in South Asia, and the Maoists faced the possibility of running the undeveloped country with little or no external support. Third, the people of Nepal have been exhausted by the war and have been thirsting for peace.

The CPN(M) then, sees the push for a constituent assembly as a tactic in a complex dance to move their revolution forward in very unique circumstances.

It's highly unorthodox for their ideological background, and very risky. Anything could happen, from a coup/Indian invasion to Maoist political hegemony, from a new phase in the civil war to the rebels being adopted into the political mainstream.

PHOTO MAOIST SOLDIERS AND CHILDREN IN ROLPA, WESTERN HILL REGION

More entries on: From the intern desk | Global politics | War and peace

March 25, 2008

High heat on Iran

Posted by derek at 12:08 PM ET | Comments (19)

Two interesting, perhaps ominous developments on the "will they bomb Iran" front:

On March 11, Admiral William Fallon resigned as head of the U.S. Central Command. Fallon opposed a military strike on Iran and the word in the halls of power is that his exit may indicate an intention on behalf of Bush and Co. to attack Iran sooner than later.

Just yesterday, General David Petraeus, head of U.S. forces in Iraq, blamed a deadly rocket attack in the Green Zone in Baghdad on Iran, saying the rockets were provided by Iran and those that fired them were trained by Iran.

True or not (and likely not, considering the recent track record of people like him) Petraeus's accusation may be an attempt to build justification for a strike on Iran, making an irreversible "fact on the ground" prior to the election of a new president in November.

PHOTO SPIDER DIJON FLICKR.COM

More entries on: American Politricks | From the intern desk | Global politics | War and peace

August 03, 2007

Mother Jones on Canada's Afghan mission: What needs to be told?

Posted by mason at 10:01 AM ET | Comments (1)

An article in the current issue of Mother Jones magazine, a stalwart of independent media in the United States, has created something of a stir in a rural part of Nova Scotia. The story is a Canadian military doctor's diary of one month at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, and in it is a detailed and sad account of the fight to save the life of Corporal Kevin Megeney.

Cpl. Megeney, a Canadian, died tragically on March 6 when a roommate's rifle went off in his tent, and as the writer, Dr. Kevin Patterson, describes it: "An accident. Ten thousand soldiers who have to carry weapons in order to be served breakfast and it is bound to happen sooner or later."

The dust-up comes in the comments following the article, in which several readers voice their anger over what they see as disrespect for the life of Cpl. Megeney. Several indicate that they are from Cpl. Megeney's native Pictou County and that they knew the victim. They say they can't get on with the grieving process knowing that the details of the man's death are being made public, and admonish both the writer and Mother Jones for exacerbating the pain of Cpl. Megeney's family.

"I cannot believe people feel the need to print this tragic yet graphic story again and again," writes a commenter calling him/herself Pictou County Upset. "The family must be heartbroken, and thus feeling very betrayed, and to think all the while this sits in print someone is making money off it. Being ex- military nothing surprises me anymore. God Bless."

"PATTERSON: You're nothing more than a crude, insensative bastard," writes Greg, Family Friend, while another commenter who signs off as Ed MacIntosh says the details in the article are a breach of patient-doctor confidentiality and indicates that he hopes the writer gets sued.

The vitriol is enough to warrant a response from Mother Jones co-editor Clara Jeffery, who tries in another comment to set the record straight.

I then spoke with Mrs. Megeney by phone at length. She assured me that the family would like to see the article, and that she was a nurse and would read it before any other members of her family; she said it would help to have closure to know more about what happened. We heard from other members of the family who also wanted to read it, and some whom after they did expressed the desire to write to Dr. Patterson "to express my appreciation to him for exhausting every effort to save [him]."

Is the anger shown by these readers justified? Should journalists be expected to omit details of a grisly death in a theatre of war out of respect for the dead, or is there a duty to report on the horrors of battle? The account in question is about one-sixth of the complete article, which provides a personal perspective on a mission the public has only limited access to. I encourage all to read it.

(CROSS-POSTED TO PROPELLER)

More entries on: Media navel-gazing | War and peace

July 02, 2007

Vote on Canada's most underrated rebellion

Posted by mason at 03:15 PM ET | Comments (1)

As Canadians, most of us have learned about such nation-defining events as the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada or the Red River Rebellion, but in the next issue of This, we chronicle four under-appreciated rebellions that explode the myth of Canada as a place with a peaceful (and boring) history.

The July/August issue of the magazine is set to hit stores soon, but right now you can read up on the chosen rebellions and vote for the one you think has had the most lasting impact on Canadian life.

More entries on: Aboriginal rights | Feminism | Labour days | THIS matters | War and peace

April 09, 2007

Vancouver journalists to give presentation on Afghanistan

Posted by mason at 01:16 PM ET | Comments (6)

A feature in the current issue of the magazine, entitled "Staying the course: Why Canada shouldn't pull its troops out of Afghanistan," has generated its fair share of discussion, as our next issue's Letters pages will attest. The discussion continues to evolve as Canada's involvement in the NATO mission in Afghanistan carries on -- and obviously yesterday's loss of six soldiers makes it a very emotional discussion.

On Wednesday, the writer of our feature article, Jared Ferrie, will participate in a presentation on Afghanistan in Vancouver, with proceeds from the event going toward educational initiatives for Afghan children.

Details on the event after the jump...

PHOTO: JARED FERRIE

When: Wednesday, April 11th - 7:30 p.m.
Where: H.R. MacMillan Space Centre Auditorium, 1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver

This presentation will feature frontline photos of Canadian troops in combat, and behind-the-scenes images of an imperiled people. Vancouver photojournalists Leslie Knott, Jared Ferrie, and Ethan Baron will provide a window into a land where beauty and hope struggle against violence and injustice, and where Canada is embarked on a controversial military effort to bring stability to a country shattered by three decades of war.

Tickets are $15 at the door, and all money raised will go directly to CW4WA (Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan) and will be used to fund educational projects and schoolteachers' salaries in Afghanistan.

More entries on: Happenings | War and peace

December 20, 2006

Bring the troops home

Posted by mason at 08:53 PM ET | Comments (3)

If you think Canada’s military belongs in Afghanistan, sit up and take notice: The Dominion has a correspondent in Kabul who is finding that even among elected lawmakers, the popular sentiment is that foreign troops are “acting against Islam and they are attacking innocent people,” as Ahmad Shah Khan Achekzai, pictured at right, says.

Interviews with MPs from across Afghanistan reveal a belief that jihad against NATO forces is inevitable, and foreign occupation is not sitting well with ordinary Afghans.

Read the first report from Chris Sands in Afghanistan, “Afghan MPs predict ‘very big war’” at The Dominion’s website.

More entries on: War and peace

November 10, 2006

dude's week just got worse

Posted by john_d at 02:48 PM ET | Comments (1)

From the chickens have a habit of roosting department:

Donald Rumsfeld spent the early part of the week wondering why the President wouldn't phone him back. Then he watched the Republicans get booted out of everywhere but the White House -- at which point I guess he started hoping the President wouldn't call. Then the President called.

Now the soon-to-be former Secretary of Defence can take a short vacation... until next Tuesday, when some folks from his own country are going to file a complaint against him in a German court. The Center for Constitutional Rights in the US intends for this complaint to lead to war crimes charges.

From their release on the subject:

The complaint requests the German Federal Prosecutor open an investigation and, ultimately, a criminal prosecution that will look into the responsibility of high-ranking U.S. officials for authorizing war crimes in the context of the so-called "War on Terror." Former White House Counsel (and current Attorney General) Alberto Gonzalez, former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, and other high-ranking U.S. officials are also charged in the complaint. The complaint is brought on behalf of 12 torture victims - 11 Iraqi citizens who were held at Abu Ghraib prison and one Guantanamo detainee - and is being filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Republican Attorneys' Association (RAV) and others...

I guess the known known coming out of this is that Rumsfeld won't be planning any trips to Germany soon.

Thanks to Talking Points Memo for the tip on this.

More entries on: War and peace

November 09, 2006

White poppies upset some veterans

Posted by mason at 02:47 PM ET | Comments (20)

Depending on the year, sometimes I buy a poppy and sometimes I don't. I guess it has something to do with what message I feel I'm sending by wearing one. This year, I've decided not to buy one -- even though I would be wearing it in remembrance of the horrors of war and the tragic losses of thousands of young men and women in battle, it seems the perception is that a poppy indicates support for Canadian military operations overseas.

As a pacifist this is unacceptable to me, but I would still like to honour the victims of war. Thanks to the white poppies for peace -- if I can find them in Toronto -- I suppose now I can.

However, distribution of the white poppies in Canada doesn't sit well with some veterans' affairs groups. The Legion is also upset, worried that the traditional red poppy is undermined by another poppy. It has even threatened legal action, claiming any depiction of a poppy is a registered mark of the Legion.

"I've had nasty calls from veterans. I've been harassed," Marya Nyland of the international peace organization Women in Black told the Globe and Mail. "They feel that the red poppy should be it. Why shouldn't there be room for both?"

Harvey Shevalier, a regional president with the Royal Canadian Legion, told the Globe and Mail that Nov. 11 should not be politicized, which is what he says supporters of the white poppy are doing.

Unfortunately, politicization of the red poppies happened long before the arrival of the white poppies. When someone criticizes those who don't wear poppies, no matter the reasons, the red poppy becomes political. When people feel obliged to wear red poppies because it's the right thing to do, even if it implies something they don't support, the poppies are politicized. The very semiotics of the poppy are political.

War is a complicated thing, and there should be more than one way to remember our fallen soldiers while recognizing that peace is the ultimate goal. The white poppy seems like a good way to do that.

More entries on: War and peace

November 06, 2006

kill, kill, kill

Posted by john_d at 01:05 PM ET | Comments (6)

What are we to make of Canada's official reticence in opinionating about Saddam Hussein's imminent neck-stretch?

GWB likes it. He's using it to firm up the well-documented flaccid Republican vote in tomorrow's midterm elections, and it just may work for him. US Democrats are predictably not NOT liking it, stressing that Hussein's execution is probably the correct thing to do but will not make the US safer, nor should Republicans be rewarded for it.

Tony Blair does not like it, because England opposes capital punishment (or at least he personally does) and, more than likely, because GWB does like it and now people are asking him more pesky questions about that whole business.

And Canada? Nothing from the Prime Minister that I can find, and Peter MacKay prefers to reserve judgment on Saddam's punishment until the automatic appeals process has run its course. I smell a lack of preparation. I smell a delay in order to ask the Prime Minister what MacKay's opinion is.

But surely, this question is not hard to answer. There are any number of ways to spin support for Saddam's guilt, and regret over the death sentence. And that would be fitting with Canada's official positions on these two things. I could probably write something up for MacKay by the end of the day. Really, they could just crib from Blair if they're desperate.

Are we to understand by this delay that Canada is reconsidering our position on capital punishment?

More entries on: War and peace

August 21, 2006

meanwhile, over in right field...

Posted by john_d at 03:00 PM ET | Comments (1)

...George Will hands his glove to a fan and goes for a beer.

Thanks to Paul Wells for calling my attention to this slapfight on the right.

Respected rightwing commentator George Will zings the Bush administration using the word "realism;" a word they, apparently, despise.

The Bush administration releases the hounds, er, hound, Peter Wehner, to zing back using quotations from old George Will columns.

This, surely, will solve the problems in the Middle East.

My favorite quotation from Wehner:

The status quo in the Middle East was a downward spiral of oppression, officially-sanctioned conspiracy theories, economic stagnation, growing radicalism, and an ideology of violence.

Was?

More entries on: War and peace

August 04, 2006

war porn - from the other middle east conflict

Posted by john_d at 11:56 AM ET | Comments (1)

From The Guardian online:

Don't look now

Images I have seen recently include a close up of a suicide bomber exploding in two, an insurgent being shot through the head by an American sniper, full scale firefights between US patrols and insurgents plus endless images of body parts scattered about in the aftermath of the latest bomb explosion.

This footage is often supported by a running commentary of "awesome" and suchlike from the cameraman who has literally strapped a digital camera onto his helmet or gun barrel and shot the video while he was shooting insurgents.

One filmmaker compared his material with a video game... Another said it was the only way he could feel proud of his work, "like a big game hunter feels proud of his kills".

As someone else has said... you can't simulate this kind of stuff. This is as authentic as it gets.

More entries on: War and peace

July 19, 2006

Remember this story for when he runs for office...

Posted by mason at 12:48 AM ET | Comments (16)

Funny, why haven't we seen this article about John Bolton saying there is no moral equivalent between Lebanese civilian deaths and terrorism victims published anywhere but the independent media?

More entries on: Bushfraud | Human rights | Media navel-gazing | Signs of the Apocalypse | War and peace

July 17, 2006

Times experiences Freudian slip; Senator Clinton slips a brain disc

Posted by john_d at 03:20 PM ET | Comments (2)

Nothing like a heat wave to angry up the blood.

The woman who would be President is displaying some more of that base-cementing political genius she's developed lately. The New York Times reports on comments Senator Hillary Clinton made about the missiles being lobbed back and forth across the Lebanon/Israel border. She leaves no room for doubt whose side she's on:

"We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing for American values as well as Israeli ones," said Mrs. Clinton, who was joined by two dozen political and religious leaders on a stage along 42nd Street.

And then, for good measure, she works in an appeal to all the border-terrified among her own peoples:

"I want us here in New York to imagine, if extremist terrorists were launching rocket attacks across the Mexican or Canadian border, would we stand by or would we defend America against these attacks from extremists?" Mrs. Clinton said to roars of approval.

Um, Mrs. Clinton, what did WE do? Mexico, I get. But Canada?

And, on an even less serious note -- that same New York Times, reporting on President Bush's reasoned response to the Blair/Annan proposal for peace-keeping in the conflict, printed this:

Mr. Bush did not address the plan directly. Nut he expressed his unhappiness about Mr. Annan's overall approach to the crisis quite bluntly and, unintentionally, quite publicly.

It's like they've just become exhausted from the effort of trying to not call him insane.

More entries on: War and peace

War is not the answer

Posted by mason at 11:51 AM ET | Comments (1)

I find myself completely appalled by today's front-page column by George Jonas in the National Post. Normally I try not to let Post columnists provoke me into posting about them, since it just draws attention to their views. But in this case...

Jonas is an apologist for the Israeli military, and practically the first words out of his mouth are that Israel "didn't mean to harm" the eight Canadian citizens it killed in an air strike on Lebanon yesterday. He goes on to put Israel on the moral high ground: while Hezbollah and other terrorists target civilians in their operations, Israel targets its terrorist enemies in the name of protecting civilians, and any civilians deaths that result are "sad, but unavoidable."

That comment alone is so infuriating I should just stop right here. Nothing is gained by painting one side in a war as "good guys" and the other as "bad," as Jonas does. It gets us no closer to peace, understanding or a diplomatic solution to this conflict, and completely ignores the multiple motivations either side might have for an attack.

When eight Israeli civilians are killed, this is rightly portrayed as a tragedy by columnists such as Jonas and papers like the Post. When eight Arab civilians are killed, how can anyone feel good about letting their killers off the hook, just like that? And if we go along with the dubious suggestion that Israel is targetting only terrorists, why is having terrible aim any better than launching a missile over a border? Killing is killing. War is not going to make it stop, nor is it "unavoidable." If that's the world Jonas lives in, I want no part of it.

More entries on: Human rights | Terrorism (not the state-sponsored kind) | War and peace

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