Ethnic riots spread in China's west; 156 killed (AP) - Yahoo! News - Yahoo! Buzz
"Somethings wrong with the world today, I don't know what it is. There is something wrong with our eyes. If you can judge a wiseman by the color of his skin, at least your a better man then I. We are living on the edge you can't help yourself from falling. Tell me what you think about this situation, complication, aggravation is it getting to you? Even if the sky was falling would tell me whoud you still come crawling back again? I bet you would my friend, again and again and again." Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
He wrote this a few years ago and in my eyes it still stands true today. Just thought I'd share this with anyone who reads this. Feel free to let me know what you think.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Palin resigns as governor, leaves plans secret
One of the many pictures anyone can find just by typeing her name in a search. Let us not forget the wolves please.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090704/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_resigning;_ylt=As4bGeyP2ysbaaWPsMYqhjl0fNdF
Please read the above link.
Running from her Oath and responsibility.... nothing shocking about this to me. She can't take the heat she's brought upon her-self. Guess this gives her more time to promote her book (not that I'd read it even if I got it for free!!!!) Allbeit wrong for her to run away I'd say its the best thing she's EVER done. I just hope she stays gone and we don't hear from her come 2012.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090704/ap_on_re_us/us_palin_resigning;_ylt=As4bGeyP2ysbaaWPsMYqhjl0fNdF
Please read the above link.
Running from her Oath and responsibility.... nothing shocking about this to me. She can't take the heat she's brought upon her-self. Guess this gives her more time to promote her book (not that I'd read it even if I got it for free!!!!) Allbeit wrong for her to run away I'd say its the best thing she's EVER done. I just hope she stays gone and we don't hear from her come 2012.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Angelina Jolie voices support for Myanmar refugees in northern Thailand camps
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has called on the Thai government to grant Myanmar refugees in northern Thailand greater freedom of movement, after spending a day listening to refugees tell of the difficulties they have faced in two decades of living in closed camps."I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own child in a camp," Jolie said after her visit Wednesday to Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, home to 18,111 mainly Karenni registered refugees, just three kms from the Myanmar border, near Mae Hong Son."With no foreseeable chance that these refugees will soon be able to return to Burma (Myanmar), we must find some way to help them work and become self reliant," she said.The 111,000 registered refugees who live in nine camps in northern Thailand along the Thai-Myanmar border are not allowed to venture outside the camps to work or receive higher education.In a thatched two-room house on stilts, Jolie sat down on the floor and chatted with refugee Ma Pai, a 44-year-old minority ethnic Kayan woman who has applied for resettlement to the United States.At a boarding school for orphans and children separated from their parents, Jolie listened attentively as two teenage girls – sent across the border to the refugee camp by their parents for education – told of their fears that they might have to go back to Myanmar when they finish their schooling."I hope we can work with the Thai authorities to speed up the government admissions process and that you will not be forced to go back to Burma if danger remains," Jolie said.The Thai government's Provincial Admissions Board, the only body that can grant refugee status to people fleeing fighting or persecution in Myanmar, has yet to process some 5,000 people who arrived in Mae Hong Son province in 2006 and 2007, the last time there was significant fighting in Kayah State just across the border. Throughout last year, people continued to trickle into Ban Mai Nai Soi and three other camps in the province, mostly fleeing forced labor and other human rights abuses.One 26-year-old woman, Pan Sein, told Jolie she fled her village in Kayah State last November, and took a circuitous, hazardous journey on foot that finally brought her to the camp at the beginning of January."Weren't you scared to leave your parents and come on your own?" Jolie asked."Yes, I was scared," Pan Sein replied. "It was dangerous to flee, but even more dangerous to stay in my village."Jolie's visit came at a time of worldwide attention to the large numbers of Rohingya migrants fleeing Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in rickety boats, and just after UNHCR gained access to 78 Rohingya boat people in detention in Ranong in southern Thailand."Visiting Ban Mai Nai Soi and seeing how hospitable Thailand has been to 111,000 mostly Karen and Karenni refugees over the years makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores," Jolie said."I also hope the Rohingya situation stabilizes and their life in Myanmar improves so the people do not feel the desperate need to flee, especially considering how dangerous their journey has become," she added. "As with all people, they deserve to have their human rights respected."
Note:
This woman is so beautiful inside and out to me.
Airlift to displaced civilians in Sri Lanka
I'm sure you’ve seen the news of the fierce fighting in Sri Lanka, and the mass exodus of tens of thousands of civilians from the war zone.The UN Refugee Agency has been assisting the victims of the conflict for months and - at this very moment - is preparing to ramp up its emergency support.
Plans include an airlift to Colombo of 5,000 lightweight family tents and other relief items. UNHCR’s Emergency Response Team is also being dispatched, in order to assess the needs of the victims and coordinate the life-saving operation.The urgent response follows a dramatic escalation in fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in recent days. According to government reports, more than 100,000 people have left the conflict area since April 20. Some 35,000 had already arrived in internally displaced camps as of Friday.
Aid workers cite growing problems of malnourishment, lack of transport to move the sick to hospitals, and a shortage of medical personnel. Many families have not eaten for days.UNHCR is spearheading the international community’s efforts to provide shelter to innocent men, women, and children displaced by the conflict and is also coordinating the distribution of relief items and monitoring the security of the displaced. More to come....
Plans include an airlift to Colombo of 5,000 lightweight family tents and other relief items. UNHCR’s Emergency Response Team is also being dispatched, in order to assess the needs of the victims and coordinate the life-saving operation.The urgent response follows a dramatic escalation in fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in recent days. According to government reports, more than 100,000 people have left the conflict area since April 20. Some 35,000 had already arrived in internally displaced camps as of Friday.
Aid workers cite growing problems of malnourishment, lack of transport to move the sick to hospitals, and a shortage of medical personnel. Many families have not eaten for days.UNHCR is spearheading the international community’s efforts to provide shelter to innocent men, women, and children displaced by the conflict and is also coordinating the distribution of relief items and monitoring the security of the displaced. More to come....
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Blasts kill 78 in Iraq's bloodiest day in a year
BAGHDAD – Suicide bomb blasts tore through crowds waiting for food aid in central Baghdad and inside a roadside restaurant filled with Iranian pilgrims Thursday, killing at least 78 people in Iraq's deadliest day in more than a year.
The toll — at least 31 dead in Baghdad and 47 to the north in Diyala province — follows a series of high-profile attacks this month blamed on Sunni insurgents. The violence highlights potential security gaps as Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead role from U.S. forces in protecting Baghdad and key areas around the capital.
The insurgent push is still nowhere near the scale of violence in past years, but it has undermined confidence that Iraq's security gains were on solid footing at a time when the U.S. military is shifting its focus and resources to Afghanistan.
Thursday's attacks happened as American soldiers who specialize in clearing bombs from roads boarded a plane from Iraq to the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, part of the largest movement of personnel and equipment between the two war fronts.
Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, say they have struck back at the heart of the insurgency: claiming they arrested one of the most wanted leaders of a militant network linked to al-Qaida.
The reported capture of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, could mark a setback to insurgents as they try to intensify attacks after a relative lull.
In the past, however, Iraqi officials have reported al-Baghdadi's arrest or killing, only to acknowledge later that they were wrong. The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters.
A U.S. military could not confirm the arrest, said a spokesman, 1st Lt. John A. Brimley.
In 2007, Iraq's government reported that al-Baghdadi had been killed and released photos of what it said was his body. Later, security officials said they had arrested al-Baghdadi. In both cases, the U.S. military said at the time it could not be confirmed — and the reports turned out not to be true.
The two attacks — along with a suicide blast that killed three Sunnis who joined the anti-insurgent fight north of Baghdad — made it the deadliest day in Iraq since March 8, 2008, when at least 110 people were killed.
The two main blasts Thursday carried separate messages.
The carnage in Baghdad showed insurgents were still capable of hitting the center of the capital. The devastated restaurant, to the north in Diyala province, was a reminder that the area remains an insurgent stronghold despite sustained offensives by U.S.-led forces.
Diyala — with its good roads and proximity to Baghdad — is considered a crucial gateway to the capital and a key to its security. U.S. commanders, facing a planned end of combat operations in August 2010, have dedicated increasing firepower to the region to try to cripple insurgent networks.
The Baghdad attacker hit about noon as police were distributing Iraqi Red Crescent food parcels in the central neighborhood of Karradah — an area where many shops, restaurants and nightclubs have reopened in recent months as violence ebbed.
Police officials and staff members at Ibn al-Nafis hospital said at least 31 people were killed, including eight police officers, and that at least 50 were wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the death toll.
It not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but one witness said it appeared to be a woman. Women have been used in suicide bombings in Iraq, most recently during a Feb. 13 attack on Shiite pilgrims.
Muhanad Harbi, a shop owner near the blast site, said he saw a woman wearing a black robe move into the crowd. He said it appeared she detonated an explosives belt.
Shanoon Humoud, 70, sat weeping among burned food packages scattered on the ground. Her husband, her son and two grandchildren were killed in the blast.
Humoud said she was in her apartment praying when she heard the blast.
"I came down to look for my relatives who were getting the food," she said. "But I couldn't find them."
Abbas Ibrahim, a 24-year-old college student, rushed to the scene, dodging through pools of blood and wincing at the smell of scorched human flesh.
"We regret that violence has come back to Baghdad," he said.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Red Crescent, Mohammad al-Khuzaie, called the attack "a brutal assault on humanitarian activities."
"We were trying to help the widows, orphans and divorced women when the blast occurred," he said.
North of Baghdad, the target was a crowded restaurant near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, and a popular rest stop for Iranian pilgrims traveling by road to and from Shiite shrines in southern Iraq.
At least 47 people were killed and 69 were wounded, said U.S. military spokesman Derrick Cheng. Iraqi officials gave the same death toll.
Iranian state television reported that the blast killed about 35 Iranian pilgrims and wounded 60 others. It did not elaborate and there was no immediate reaction from Iranian officials.
Iraq's Shiite-led government has close ties to Tehran and has dedicated significant security resources to protect processions during major Shiite pilgrimages.
In January, a suicide bomber mingling among Iranian pilgrims killed more than three dozen people outside a mosque in Baghdad.
___
Associated Press
The toll — at least 31 dead in Baghdad and 47 to the north in Diyala province — follows a series of high-profile attacks this month blamed on Sunni insurgents. The violence highlights potential security gaps as Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead role from U.S. forces in protecting Baghdad and key areas around the capital.
The insurgent push is still nowhere near the scale of violence in past years, but it has undermined confidence that Iraq's security gains were on solid footing at a time when the U.S. military is shifting its focus and resources to Afghanistan.
Thursday's attacks happened as American soldiers who specialize in clearing bombs from roads boarded a plane from Iraq to the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, part of the largest movement of personnel and equipment between the two war fronts.
Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, say they have struck back at the heart of the insurgency: claiming they arrested one of the most wanted leaders of a militant network linked to al-Qaida.
The reported capture of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, could mark a setback to insurgents as they try to intensify attacks after a relative lull.
In the past, however, Iraqi officials have reported al-Baghdadi's arrest or killing, only to acknowledge later that they were wrong. The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters.
A U.S. military could not confirm the arrest, said a spokesman, 1st Lt. John A. Brimley.
In 2007, Iraq's government reported that al-Baghdadi had been killed and released photos of what it said was his body. Later, security officials said they had arrested al-Baghdadi. In both cases, the U.S. military said at the time it could not be confirmed — and the reports turned out not to be true.
The two attacks — along with a suicide blast that killed three Sunnis who joined the anti-insurgent fight north of Baghdad — made it the deadliest day in Iraq since March 8, 2008, when at least 110 people were killed.
The two main blasts Thursday carried separate messages.
The carnage in Baghdad showed insurgents were still capable of hitting the center of the capital. The devastated restaurant, to the north in Diyala province, was a reminder that the area remains an insurgent stronghold despite sustained offensives by U.S.-led forces.
Diyala — with its good roads and proximity to Baghdad — is considered a crucial gateway to the capital and a key to its security. U.S. commanders, facing a planned end of combat operations in August 2010, have dedicated increasing firepower to the region to try to cripple insurgent networks.
The Baghdad attacker hit about noon as police were distributing Iraqi Red Crescent food parcels in the central neighborhood of Karradah — an area where many shops, restaurants and nightclubs have reopened in recent months as violence ebbed.
Police officials and staff members at Ibn al-Nafis hospital said at least 31 people were killed, including eight police officers, and that at least 50 were wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the death toll.
It not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but one witness said it appeared to be a woman. Women have been used in suicide bombings in Iraq, most recently during a Feb. 13 attack on Shiite pilgrims.
Muhanad Harbi, a shop owner near the blast site, said he saw a woman wearing a black robe move into the crowd. He said it appeared she detonated an explosives belt.
Shanoon Humoud, 70, sat weeping among burned food packages scattered on the ground. Her husband, her son and two grandchildren were killed in the blast.
Humoud said she was in her apartment praying when she heard the blast.
"I came down to look for my relatives who were getting the food," she said. "But I couldn't find them."
Abbas Ibrahim, a 24-year-old college student, rushed to the scene, dodging through pools of blood and wincing at the smell of scorched human flesh.
"We regret that violence has come back to Baghdad," he said.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Red Crescent, Mohammad al-Khuzaie, called the attack "a brutal assault on humanitarian activities."
"We were trying to help the widows, orphans and divorced women when the blast occurred," he said.
North of Baghdad, the target was a crowded restaurant near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, and a popular rest stop for Iranian pilgrims traveling by road to and from Shiite shrines in southern Iraq.
At least 47 people were killed and 69 were wounded, said U.S. military spokesman Derrick Cheng. Iraqi officials gave the same death toll.
Iranian state television reported that the blast killed about 35 Iranian pilgrims and wounded 60 others. It did not elaborate and there was no immediate reaction from Iranian officials.
Iraq's Shiite-led government has close ties to Tehran and has dedicated significant security resources to protect processions during major Shiite pilgrimages.
In January, a suicide bomber mingling among Iranian pilgrims killed more than three dozen people outside a mosque in Baghdad.
___
Associated Press
Reply:
U.S. troops...stay in your protected bases, protect the flow of oil, and let the Iraqi police their own civil mess. US will need to maintain small bases in Iraq, similar to Germany and Japan after WWII to protect oil interests.
Remember when soldiers were complaining that the armor proof vehicles we sent weren't really armor proof? Thank you Don Rumsfeld for supporting the troops. Or when the shame and embarrassment of Abu Ghraib came out and 11 U.S. soldiers were either imprisoned or demoted only to find out now that the torture methods they used came directly from the White House. Poor bastards were just left twisting in the wind, thanks for supporting our troops George and Dick. Sadly, 4,000+ dead U.S. soldiers later, it comes to light that George and Dick subverted the constitution, blurred the lines of separation of duties, watered down our founding fathers' system of checks and balances and bullied and lied their way into an unjust and uncessary war.
These people in the Middle East have been fighting for thousands of years over religion horses swords & knives. A religion that allows torture, dismemberment, slaves, multiple wives, and the only ones with rights were the clerics and the rich. Now, the only way that they have upgraded is their tools of war- cell phones, computers, AK47s, rocket launchers, high speed motorized vehicles. Only their tools have changed, not their ideals.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
AP source: Craigslist suspect had victims' items
BOSTON – A Boston University medical student accused of robbing women who advertised erotic services on Craigslist, killing one of them, had items belonging to both victims in his apartment, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.
Philip Markoff is charged with killing a masseuse at the Marriott Copley Place hotel April 14. He is also charged in the robbery of another woman who he allegedly met at another Boston hotel four days earlier.
A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said police found items belonging to both women in Markoff's apartment in Quincy, south of Boston. The official wasn't authorized to speak about evidence in the investigation.
The official would not confirm a report by ABC News that the items seized by police included the victims' underwear. ABC News said two unidentified law enforcement sources said Markoff appeared to be collecting underwear as "souvenirs" from his alleged victims.
ABC News did not say how Markoff took the underwear, and he has not been accused of sexually assaulting either woman. Prosecutors have said he went through the purse of the first woman he allegedly robbed.
Investigators are looking into gambling as the possible motivation. The law enforcement source said Markoff was a "frequent visitor" to Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.
Markoff, 23, is accused in the death of Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, a masseuse who was found dead in the doorway of her hotel room after being bashed in the head and shot three times. He's also accused of robbing and tying up another woman, and police have said there could be more victims.
Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Conn., has confirmed it is cooperating with authorities investigating Markoff's gambling habits.
Markoff was arrested on Monday on Interstate 95 in Massachusetts as he and his fiancee drove to Foxwoods.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said he believes Markoff's original motive was robbery, but he ended up killing Brisman when she fought back.
The first woman Markoff is accused of robbing said she believes she's alive because she didn't resist.
"I just complied with everything he wanted me to do and I didn't resist him in any way and I think that's why," she said in an interview with Boston television station WCVB. "I just hope that they can put him behind bars for the rest of his life."
Prosecutors have not released her name.
The woman, 29, of Las Vegas, who also advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, was allegedly attacked on April 10 at the Westin Copley Hotel.
She said she had identified Markoff from the surveillance photos police distributed. He was wearing the same clothing and she recognized his face, she said.
The woman said she was able to slip out of the plastic ties she was bound with about a minute after Markoff left and escape. She said she was robbed of $800 in cash, a debit card and $250 in American Express gift cards.
Markoff is also suspected in an attempted robbery in Warwick, R.I., of a woman who had posted a Craigslist ad as a stripper. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the hotel room and her attacker fled.
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said in a statement Wednesday that Warwick police have developed "promising information" about the April 16 robbery at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.
"Although we're encouraged by the progress being made, this is a complex investigation and is going to take more time," Lynch said.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Wednesday called on Craigslist to stop what he calls "pimping and prostitution in plain sight." He asked the site to immediately eliminate photographs in the "erotic services" section, hire staff to screen images and ads that violate the site's terms of service and fine those who violate those terms.
Craigslist representatives did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
A wake for Brisman was scheduled at a New York City funeral home on Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Reply:
We always hear this about serial killers...they are meek and mild, everyone they know says they wouldn't hurt a fly, they were caring loving people, they were studying hard to be a [doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc], they were good with children, they did volunteer work, it's always the same. Same as it ever was.
If the women who posted erotic things on craigslist, which is also illegal, did not do this then they would not have been robbed, or in one case killed. I am not taking this guy's side but I am saying craigslist needs to do something about this and pull the plug on the sexual part of their site. They are partly at fault as I see it. No they didn't do this but they didn't do anything to help stop it after many reports of all types of sexual abuse and etc. had been reported. I for one will not use their site EVER. I understand that there are other ways to post ad's for these people but why make it easier?
Philip Markoff is charged with killing a masseuse at the Marriott Copley Place hotel April 14. He is also charged in the robbery of another woman who he allegedly met at another Boston hotel four days earlier.
A law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said police found items belonging to both women in Markoff's apartment in Quincy, south of Boston. The official wasn't authorized to speak about evidence in the investigation.
The official would not confirm a report by ABC News that the items seized by police included the victims' underwear. ABC News said two unidentified law enforcement sources said Markoff appeared to be collecting underwear as "souvenirs" from his alleged victims.
ABC News did not say how Markoff took the underwear, and he has not been accused of sexually assaulting either woman. Prosecutors have said he went through the purse of the first woman he allegedly robbed.
Investigators are looking into gambling as the possible motivation. The law enforcement source said Markoff was a "frequent visitor" to Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.
Markoff, 23, is accused in the death of Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, a masseuse who was found dead in the doorway of her hotel room after being bashed in the head and shot three times. He's also accused of robbing and tying up another woman, and police have said there could be more victims.
Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Conn., has confirmed it is cooperating with authorities investigating Markoff's gambling habits.
Markoff was arrested on Monday on Interstate 95 in Massachusetts as he and his fiancee drove to Foxwoods.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said he believes Markoff's original motive was robbery, but he ended up killing Brisman when she fought back.
The first woman Markoff is accused of robbing said she believes she's alive because she didn't resist.
"I just complied with everything he wanted me to do and I didn't resist him in any way and I think that's why," she said in an interview with Boston television station WCVB. "I just hope that they can put him behind bars for the rest of his life."
Prosecutors have not released her name.
The woman, 29, of Las Vegas, who also advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, was allegedly attacked on April 10 at the Westin Copley Hotel.
She said she had identified Markoff from the surveillance photos police distributed. He was wearing the same clothing and she recognized his face, she said.
The woman said she was able to slip out of the plastic ties she was bound with about a minute after Markoff left and escape. She said she was robbed of $800 in cash, a debit card and $250 in American Express gift cards.
Markoff is also suspected in an attempted robbery in Warwick, R.I., of a woman who had posted a Craigslist ad as a stripper. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the hotel room and her attacker fled.
Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said in a statement Wednesday that Warwick police have developed "promising information" about the April 16 robbery at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.
"Although we're encouraged by the progress being made, this is a complex investigation and is going to take more time," Lynch said.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Wednesday called on Craigslist to stop what he calls "pimping and prostitution in plain sight." He asked the site to immediately eliminate photographs in the "erotic services" section, hire staff to screen images and ads that violate the site's terms of service and fine those who violate those terms.
Craigslist representatives did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
A wake for Brisman was scheduled at a New York City funeral home on Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Reply:
We always hear this about serial killers...they are meek and mild, everyone they know says they wouldn't hurt a fly, they were caring loving people, they were studying hard to be a [doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc], they were good with children, they did volunteer work, it's always the same. Same as it ever was.
If the women who posted erotic things on craigslist, which is also illegal, did not do this then they would not have been robbed, or in one case killed. I am not taking this guy's side but I am saying craigslist needs to do something about this and pull the plug on the sexual part of their site. They are partly at fault as I see it. No they didn't do this but they didn't do anything to help stop it after many reports of all types of sexual abuse and etc. had been reported. I for one will not use their site EVER. I understand that there are other ways to post ad's for these people but why make it easier?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Red Cross: Sri Lankans in 'catastrophic' situation
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Sri Lanka's northern war zone face a "catastrophic" situation, the Red Cross said Tuesday, amid fears a final assault against the Tamil Tiger rebels would lead to a dramatic rise in casualties.
The U.N. and others have called for a negotiated truce to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held coastal strip — and the government says more than 52,000 had escaped since Monday.
But it has refused to heed those international pleas to halt the fighting, saying it is on the verge of crushing the separatists and putting an end to the 25-year-old war.
The United Nations estimated more than 4,500 civilians have been killed in the past three months.
The rebels said more than 1,000 civilians died Monday in a government raid, while the government said it rescued thousands after they broke through a barrier built by the insurgents that protects their last stronghold.
Human rights groups say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are holding many people in the enclave against their will and using them as human shields. Those groups have also accused the government of indiscriminate shelling in the region. Both sides deny the allegations.
Thousands of civilians also fled in packed small boats, and they were picked up by navy patrols and transported to camps where Tamils who have escaped the war are being held. More than 2,000 people in about 100 boats were picked up Monday.
The Red Cross said about 50,000 civilians were still stranded, while Human Rights Watch put the number between 50,000 and 100,000.
A worker for Doctors Without Borders said hundreds of wounded were arriving at her hospital in Vavuniya, south of the war zone, in government-arranged buses, and some had died en route. The hospital is overcrowded with 1,200 people being accommodated in a facility with only 400 beds, said mental health officer Karen Stewart, according to a statement from the aid group.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres was concerned about the "dramatic situation" for civilians still in the war zone, said commission spokesman Ron Redmond.
"There are innocent civilians — women and children — caught in the middle of the conflict ... so the high commissioner is saying there should be a pause in the hostilities and the LTTE should allow civilians to leave," Redmond said.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara denied that 1,000 civilians died, saying 17 civilians were killed Monday by rebel shelling and by three suicide bombers.
"Our troops are rescuing the trapped civilians. It's the LTTE which is preventing civilians from fleeing," Nanayakkara said.
It was impossible to get independent accounts of casualties because journalists are restricted from the war zone.
The number of fleeing civilians made it clear that the government had vastly underestimated how many people were caught in the fighting.
"Both sides need to show far greater concern for civilians, or many more civilians will die," said Brad Adams, Asia director for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
A final government offensive "could lead to a dramatic increase in the number of civilian casualties," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
"The situation is nothing short of catastrophic. Ongoing fighting has killed or wounded hundreds of civilians who have only minimal access to medical care," said Red Cross operations director Pierre Kraehenbuehl. "I cannot remember ... as much concentrated pain and exposure to violence with very, very minimal possibilities to reach anywhere that could be called safe."
The U.N. Children's Fund South Asia director Daniel Toole said he was worried about the safety of children still in the war zone because "our greatest fear is that the worst is yet to come."
The military spokesman said there was no fighting Tuesday evening, adding that it avoids using heavy, long-range weapons.
Nanayakkara said 39,081 civilians fled the war zone Monday, the most in a single day, and at least 13,000 people crossed over Tuesday, with the stream continuing.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. was pleased so many civilians had fled, but he remained concerned about what he called credible reports of increasing casualties and indiscriminate firing on civilians by rebel forces.
Encouraged by the exodus, the government Monday asked the rebels to surrender within 24 hours, warning of a final assault if they failed. The ultimatum expired at noon (2:30 a.m. EDT) Tuesday without a response from the rebels.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected a call by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a pause in the fighting, his office said Tuesday.
The president's office said in a statement that Rajapaksa deemed a pause "unnecessary" considering the "unexpected exodus of civilians" when the two leaders had spoken by phone Monday.
Red Cross spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said the organization could not confirm or deny the figures quoted by the military. According to figures received by the Red Cross, 11,000 people crossed the front lines Monday and another 5,000 came Tuesday, she said.
The U.N. refugee agency said it is ready to provide shelter and aid to tens of thousands of displaced civilians.
Redmond said the UNHCR was working with the government to make more land available for displacement camps because existing sites were overcrowded, he said.
The rebels have fought since 1983 for an independent state for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the years of violence.
___
Associated Press
The U.N. and others have called for a negotiated truce to allow civilians to leave the rebel-held coastal strip — and the government says more than 52,000 had escaped since Monday.
But it has refused to heed those international pleas to halt the fighting, saying it is on the verge of crushing the separatists and putting an end to the 25-year-old war.
The United Nations estimated more than 4,500 civilians have been killed in the past three months.
The rebels said more than 1,000 civilians died Monday in a government raid, while the government said it rescued thousands after they broke through a barrier built by the insurgents that protects their last stronghold.
Human rights groups say the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are holding many people in the enclave against their will and using them as human shields. Those groups have also accused the government of indiscriminate shelling in the region. Both sides deny the allegations.
Thousands of civilians also fled in packed small boats, and they were picked up by navy patrols and transported to camps where Tamils who have escaped the war are being held. More than 2,000 people in about 100 boats were picked up Monday.
The Red Cross said about 50,000 civilians were still stranded, while Human Rights Watch put the number between 50,000 and 100,000.
A worker for Doctors Without Borders said hundreds of wounded were arriving at her hospital in Vavuniya, south of the war zone, in government-arranged buses, and some had died en route. The hospital is overcrowded with 1,200 people being accommodated in a facility with only 400 beds, said mental health officer Karen Stewart, according to a statement from the aid group.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres was concerned about the "dramatic situation" for civilians still in the war zone, said commission spokesman Ron Redmond.
"There are innocent civilians — women and children — caught in the middle of the conflict ... so the high commissioner is saying there should be a pause in the hostilities and the LTTE should allow civilians to leave," Redmond said.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara denied that 1,000 civilians died, saying 17 civilians were killed Monday by rebel shelling and by three suicide bombers.
"Our troops are rescuing the trapped civilians. It's the LTTE which is preventing civilians from fleeing," Nanayakkara said.
It was impossible to get independent accounts of casualties because journalists are restricted from the war zone.
The number of fleeing civilians made it clear that the government had vastly underestimated how many people were caught in the fighting.
"Both sides need to show far greater concern for civilians, or many more civilians will die," said Brad Adams, Asia director for the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.
A final government offensive "could lead to a dramatic increase in the number of civilian casualties," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
"The situation is nothing short of catastrophic. Ongoing fighting has killed or wounded hundreds of civilians who have only minimal access to medical care," said Red Cross operations director Pierre Kraehenbuehl. "I cannot remember ... as much concentrated pain and exposure to violence with very, very minimal possibilities to reach anywhere that could be called safe."
The U.N. Children's Fund South Asia director Daniel Toole said he was worried about the safety of children still in the war zone because "our greatest fear is that the worst is yet to come."
The military spokesman said there was no fighting Tuesday evening, adding that it avoids using heavy, long-range weapons.
Nanayakkara said 39,081 civilians fled the war zone Monday, the most in a single day, and at least 13,000 people crossed over Tuesday, with the stream continuing.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. was pleased so many civilians had fled, but he remained concerned about what he called credible reports of increasing casualties and indiscriminate firing on civilians by rebel forces.
Encouraged by the exodus, the government Monday asked the rebels to surrender within 24 hours, warning of a final assault if they failed. The ultimatum expired at noon (2:30 a.m. EDT) Tuesday without a response from the rebels.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected a call by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a pause in the fighting, his office said Tuesday.
The president's office said in a statement that Rajapaksa deemed a pause "unnecessary" considering the "unexpected exodus of civilians" when the two leaders had spoken by phone Monday.
Red Cross spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said the organization could not confirm or deny the figures quoted by the military. According to figures received by the Red Cross, 11,000 people crossed the front lines Monday and another 5,000 came Tuesday, she said.
The U.N. refugee agency said it is ready to provide shelter and aid to tens of thousands of displaced civilians.
Redmond said the UNHCR was working with the government to make more land available for displacement camps because existing sites were overcrowded, he said.
The rebels have fought since 1983 for an independent state for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the years of violence.
___
Associated Press
Reply:
It is good that a dead line is given because otherwise, how long we would or should wait before capture the remaining heart of the LTTE terrorists in the remaining part of Sri Lanka. I encourage many people live around globe that LTTE's final moments approaching and do not be afraid to stand up and help to eliminate without being fooled and helping LTTE and other organizations May the freedom come all sides. May the terrorism ends, May thriple jem bless Sri Lanka and civilians.
An UAV footage from an unmanned aerial vehicle was shown during the exodus of the 35000 Civilians yesterday escaping the clutches of the LTTE and this was shown to the Diplomats and Journalists.The claim of the LTTE in their email is incorrect that the Army killed 1000 civilians.There is no truth in the LTTE claim.The civilians who escaped have exposed the brutality of the LTTE and can be questioned by any journalist.
Do not expect the United Nations to intervene. A sad commentary on the times we live in. U S media is more interested in first family's new pet named Bo than many who protested new taxes and policies that could cost our grandchildren their right to live the American Dream.
When the media uses the word REBELS, it always makes them sound like the bad guys, like all of the are REBELS WITHOUT A CAUSE. Rebellion exists because too many in power ingratiate themselves and their clan, or group at the expense of others. If we treated others like we are selves wanted to be treated there would be no cause for rebellion. So when will those who can make a difference find real solutions to the inequities that have been created and are getting worse as statistics bear out. No wonder murderous rebellion is everywhere.
I just think that this is awful for the civilians; they should not be caught up in such a battle. I would like to see this war end and the civilians get back to a normal life. Why should a person have to try to flee the only home he or she has known just to be safe?
Med student held without bail in Craigslist death
BOSTON – Prosecutors said Tuesday they found a semiautomatic weapon at the home of a Boston medical student who has been ordered held without bail on charges he shot to death a masseuse he had lured to a hotel through Craigslist. Philip Markoff said nothing during the brief hearing in Boston Municipal Court.
Authorities said they followed a computer trail to Markoff, linking an account used to set up appointments on Craigslist with two women who were attacked to his address in Quincy.
They say a search of his home found the gun, ammunition and materials exactly matching those used in an attack on another masseuse in a Boston hotel.
Markoff is charged with murder in the death of Julissa Brisman of New York City and kidnapping and armed robbery in the other assault.
The second-year Boston University medical student lives with his fiance, who claims police have the wrong man.
"He could not hurt a fly," Megan McAllister said in an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America. "All I have to say is Philip is a beautiful person, inside and out," she said in the e-mail read on Tuesday's program.
Markoff's attorney, John Salsberg, did not immediately comment.
Authorities have said there could be more victims.
"Our top priority is holding Philip Markoff accountable. He's a predator," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said Monday night in announcing Markoff's arrest earlier in the day during a traffic stop south of Boston.
An e-mail message sent to McAllister via her Facebook page was not immediately returned Tuesday. The McAllister family did not respond to knocks of the door of their Little Silver, N.J. home Tuesday. Shortly after, a police officer emerged from home and said the family did not wish to speak with reporters, and asked the media respect their privacy.
Michael Bernard, who lives in Markoff's building in Quincy, was shocked to recognize his neighbor on television reports of the killing.
"He was smart, he carried himself well, he was clean, a good looking guy," said Bernard, a retired electric company worker. "He seemed like the type that would have it all. It doesn't make sense."
Authorities believe Markoff also may be connected to the attempted robbery Thursday in Warwick, R.I., of a stripper who had posted an ad on Craigslist. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the room and her attacker fled.
A Boston University spokeswoman said Markoff was suspended from the medical school after his arrest.
___
AP
Authorities said they followed a computer trail to Markoff, linking an account used to set up appointments on Craigslist with two women who were attacked to his address in Quincy.
They say a search of his home found the gun, ammunition and materials exactly matching those used in an attack on another masseuse in a Boston hotel.
Markoff is charged with murder in the death of Julissa Brisman of New York City and kidnapping and armed robbery in the other assault.
The second-year Boston University medical student lives with his fiance, who claims police have the wrong man.
"He could not hurt a fly," Megan McAllister said in an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America. "All I have to say is Philip is a beautiful person, inside and out," she said in the e-mail read on Tuesday's program.
Markoff's attorney, John Salsberg, did not immediately comment.
Authorities have said there could be more victims.
"Our top priority is holding Philip Markoff accountable. He's a predator," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said Monday night in announcing Markoff's arrest earlier in the day during a traffic stop south of Boston.
An e-mail message sent to McAllister via her Facebook page was not immediately returned Tuesday. The McAllister family did not respond to knocks of the door of their Little Silver, N.J. home Tuesday. Shortly after, a police officer emerged from home and said the family did not wish to speak with reporters, and asked the media respect their privacy.
Michael Bernard, who lives in Markoff's building in Quincy, was shocked to recognize his neighbor on television reports of the killing.
"He was smart, he carried himself well, he was clean, a good looking guy," said Bernard, a retired electric company worker. "He seemed like the type that would have it all. It doesn't make sense."
Authorities believe Markoff also may be connected to the attempted robbery Thursday in Warwick, R.I., of a stripper who had posted an ad on Craigslist. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the room and her attacker fled.
A Boston University spokeswoman said Markoff was suspended from the medical school after his arrest.
___
AP
Reply:
Remember folks Ted Bundy was a law student. Don't look thru rose colored glasses, lets wait to see how this plays out. Guilty or not it's for a jury to decide. If more women come forward and name this guy then the picture will become clearer to everyone. No one knows what is in someone's character or heart.
A person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. In this case high tech investigating has eliminated this premise. The authorities are certain they have the right man through the tactics used. They also have physical evidence. It will be difficult for this person to be proven innocent with so much evidence already against him.
Why doesn't Craiglist at least delete the sections where people can advertise "erotic services"... of course this should be illegal, it's prostitution?! It will only get worse... I don't think that Craiglist should completely be shut down, but how about eliminating the personal adds for dating and erotic services. This was bound to happen and I think Craiglist should be somewhat liable for this woman's death. There have even been problems with Human Trafficing on this site. Only the lowest of the low would let this happen on a site.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
1st Post on Examiner.com for Animal Care
A few tips on how to keep your pets safe and well.
Pets rely on you to protect them. Normally you should only feed your pets food and treats made for the type of pet that you have. Some human food and drink can make animals sick or worse, so keep an eye out.
Some examples:
• Alcoholic beverages
• Items containing caffeine, such as coffee,soda etc.
• Chocolate (Big no-no)
• Fatty foods
• Chicken and turkey bones (beef and pork bones normally are fine just watch them when they have one)
Here are a few odd ones that most people aren't aware of:
• Grapes and raisins
• Onions
• Macadamia nuts
• Salt and sugar
• Yeast dough
• Aspirin is especially harmful to cats
There are many other things in or around your home can cause illness or even death in your pet. Here are some more examples:
• Antifreeze
• Bait for rodents
• Batteries (they can contain corrosive fluid)
• Car care products
• Fertilizer
• Household cleaners
• Ice-melting products
• Nicotine products
• Pesticides for insects
• Plants that are toxic to pets ( see below for more information on what plants )
• Pool chemicals
For more information on what to do for a poisoned animal, what plants are poisonous visit the website on "Animal Poison Control Center."
If you suspect your pet has been poisoned and you need immediate assistance, call Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435. The nonprofit hot-line is staffed 24/7 by a team of veterinarians, including veterinary toxicologists.There is a donation fee however. Or call information for your local 24 hour emergency vet hospital.
Just make sure to take a look around your house and make it pet-safe that's what makes a good pet parent.
Pets rely on you to protect them. Normally you should only feed your pets food and treats made for the type of pet that you have. Some human food and drink can make animals sick or worse, so keep an eye out.
Some examples:
• Alcoholic beverages
• Items containing caffeine, such as coffee,soda etc.
• Chocolate (Big no-no)
• Fatty foods
• Chicken and turkey bones (beef and pork bones normally are fine just watch them when they have one)
Here are a few odd ones that most people aren't aware of:
• Grapes and raisins
• Onions
• Macadamia nuts
• Salt and sugar
• Yeast dough
• Aspirin is especially harmful to cats
There are many other things in or around your home can cause illness or even death in your pet. Here are some more examples:
• Antifreeze
• Bait for rodents
• Batteries (they can contain corrosive fluid)
• Car care products
• Fertilizer
• Household cleaners
• Ice-melting products
• Nicotine products
• Pesticides for insects
• Plants that are toxic to pets ( see below for more information on what plants )
• Pool chemicals
For more information on what to do for a poisoned animal, what plants are poisonous visit the website on "Animal Poison Control Center."
If you suspect your pet has been poisoned and you need immediate assistance, call Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435. The nonprofit hot-line is staffed 24/7 by a team of veterinarians, including veterinary toxicologists.There is a donation fee however. Or call information for your local 24 hour emergency vet hospital.
Just make sure to take a look around your house and make it pet-safe that's what makes a good pet parent.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Marine acquitted of murder in Iraq slaying
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A military jury on Thursday acquitted a Marine sergeant on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during battle in Fallujah, Iraq. The jury also acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer of dereliction of duty in the November 2004 death.
The panel of eight Marines who served in Iraq or Afghanistan got the case Wednesday and deliberated more than four hours.
Weemer, of Hindsboro, Ill., could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and dishonorable discharge if convicted of murder. The maximum sentence for dereliction is six months in prison and a bad conduct discharge.
In closing arguments Wednesday, a defense attorney said the 26-year-old Weemer acted in self-defense.
The prosecutor, Capt. Nicholas Gannon, recounted that Weemer said in recorded interviews that he shot the man and told a squadmate that he would have to live with that for the rest of his life.
Weemer also said in interviews that he and other Marines shot a total of four men in a house after their squad suffered its first fatality.
"I can't bring you an autopsy report," Gannon said. "I don't have one, but we have a lot of evidence that shows you beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused shot an individual in the chest twice.... The killing was unlawful."
The prosecutor told jurors they should convict Weemer of lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter or assault if they acquit him of murder.
During the one-week court-martial, the defense argued that the government could not prove Weemer killed the unarmed captive because there are no bodies, no relatives complaining of a lost loved one and no forensic evidence.
Weemer's civilian attorney, Paul Hackett, said in his closing argument that Weemer fired while he and other Marines were trying to seize a house from insurgents. He recounted testimony and statements of Weemer's squadmates that portrayed a confusing scene.
"This was chaos!" he said. "(The detainees) were not cooperating. If they're not cooperating, they're not under control. If they're not under control, they pose a threat to these Marines."
Hackett told jurors to be skeptical of a 2006 recorded interview that Weemer gave to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in which he describes shooting the detainee. He said one agent was an experienced interrogator who knew how to wear Weemer down.
"It is a very, very, very complicated, confusing interview," Hackett said.
Weemer told two NCIS agents that he was covered with the blood of his best friend, who had been killed by a sniper, just before his squad leader ordered him to kill the prisoner, according to a tape recording played at the court martial.
"I grabbed a gun and took him to the back of the house," Weemer, 26, said on the tape. "I shot him twice in the chest."
Weemer said he argued with his squad leader, former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario, before complying with the order to kill the man, who was taken prisoner when Marines stormed a house on the first day of the assault on Fallujah.
"I definitely wasn't the type to disobey an order," he said.
Last August, Nazario was acquitted in Riverside federal court of killing two prisoners and ordering Weemer and another Marine to each kill one.
Another sergeant, Jermaine Nelson, has pleaded not guilty to unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty, but his court-martial has been indefinitely postponed because of a flurry of last-minute motions filed by his attorney.
The panel of eight Marines who served in Iraq or Afghanistan got the case Wednesday and deliberated more than four hours.
Weemer, of Hindsboro, Ill., could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and dishonorable discharge if convicted of murder. The maximum sentence for dereliction is six months in prison and a bad conduct discharge.
In closing arguments Wednesday, a defense attorney said the 26-year-old Weemer acted in self-defense.
The prosecutor, Capt. Nicholas Gannon, recounted that Weemer said in recorded interviews that he shot the man and told a squadmate that he would have to live with that for the rest of his life.
Weemer also said in interviews that he and other Marines shot a total of four men in a house after their squad suffered its first fatality.
"I can't bring you an autopsy report," Gannon said. "I don't have one, but we have a lot of evidence that shows you beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused shot an individual in the chest twice.... The killing was unlawful."
The prosecutor told jurors they should convict Weemer of lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter or assault if they acquit him of murder.
During the one-week court-martial, the defense argued that the government could not prove Weemer killed the unarmed captive because there are no bodies, no relatives complaining of a lost loved one and no forensic evidence.
Weemer's civilian attorney, Paul Hackett, said in his closing argument that Weemer fired while he and other Marines were trying to seize a house from insurgents. He recounted testimony and statements of Weemer's squadmates that portrayed a confusing scene.
"This was chaos!" he said. "(The detainees) were not cooperating. If they're not cooperating, they're not under control. If they're not under control, they pose a threat to these Marines."
Hackett told jurors to be skeptical of a 2006 recorded interview that Weemer gave to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in which he describes shooting the detainee. He said one agent was an experienced interrogator who knew how to wear Weemer down.
"It is a very, very, very complicated, confusing interview," Hackett said.
Weemer told two NCIS agents that he was covered with the blood of his best friend, who had been killed by a sniper, just before his squad leader ordered him to kill the prisoner, according to a tape recording played at the court martial.
"I grabbed a gun and took him to the back of the house," Weemer, 26, said on the tape. "I shot him twice in the chest."
Weemer said he argued with his squad leader, former Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario, before complying with the order to kill the man, who was taken prisoner when Marines stormed a house on the first day of the assault on Fallujah.
"I definitely wasn't the type to disobey an order," he said.
Last August, Nazario was acquitted in Riverside federal court of killing two prisoners and ordering Weemer and another Marine to each kill one.
Another sergeant, Jermaine Nelson, has pleaded not guilty to unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty, but his court-martial has been indefinitely postponed because of a flurry of last-minute motions filed by his attorney.
REPLY: 1st I have to say read Kevin Sites book " In The Zone. One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars". Even in the 1st few chapters you will see the real side of things that have happened. 2nd at this moment I personaly know a PFC that is in jail for this same matter at hand. Difference is he wasn't the shooter, 2 other PFC's were and said they were. They also told the court that my friend did not shoot. The courts told him either plead guilty and hopefully get out in around 6-9 years or don't and plan on being there for 18- 25 years. They gave him no time to think about it. He was barely 21, scared and didn't know what to do. So he pled guilty hopeing that the truth would set him free. He's been there for over 3 years now.
He finally had a hearing and awaits the outcome. If they don't let him go he has to wait a year to file again. They bullied him into saying he did something he did not do. I know him very well, he is not a murder. Corey Clagett is his name. Look him up and you'll see what I'm talking about. He has many people pulling for him but not enough. Even Doctors, a radio DJ, an Author and many more know what I know and are trying to help him. I speak to him about once a week, I write him as much as I can. People have come and gone while he's been there. 1st saying they would support him and write him then slowly they fade away leaving him feeling even more alone. He has changed in these 3 years into someone else. He's angry (wouldn't you be?) and our hopes are that when he gets out that he can be helped to have a normal life again. There are a few of us that won't give up on him.
It makes me ill to know what has been done to him. I'll spare you the details about how they treat him (just think of how helpless you could be and can't do anything about it but just take it). I hope this reaches a few people and they too try to free a free man but hope is something that fades fast when you ask people to help in these matters. People either don't want to hear it, don't care, don't want to be bothered to do anything that might help, are to selfish and involved in their own lives to take any time to do something because they don't get anything out of it and much more. I have seen the UGLY side of humans (so many). I've also seen the good side. The good ones are out numbered 20 to 1 but those who fall in that 1 work 20 times as hard to do whats right. The blinders people wear do it by choice!!!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
South African prosecutors drop case against Zuma/Beshir personality cult grips Khartoum
PRETORIA, South Africa – Prosecutors dropped their corruption case Monday against Jacob Zuma, clearing the way for him to become South Africa's next president but leaving behind questions that could haunt the next government.
Zuma, a colorful character and well-known champion of the poor, is the presidential candidate for the governing African National Congress in April 22 elections. He is almost certain to win given the party's dominance.
Hundreds of Zuma supporters reveled in the streets after prosecutors said they would not pursue — now or in the future — accusations Zuma accepted bribes to thwart an investigation into wrongdoing by a French arms company involved in a massive weapons deal in the late 1990s.
But prosecutors said the withdrawal had nothing to do with Zuma's guilt or innocence. They claimed to have a strong case, and said it was withdrawn because of prosecutorial misconduct. They noted that others could file civil cases, an option that may be pursued by opposition parties who decried Monday's announcement.
Zuma did not comment Monday, but scheduled a news conference for Tuesday in Durban, where he was to appear in court for the charges to be formally dropped.
Reactions to the decision highlighted the issues that remain as the country's fledgling democracy attempts to move forward.
Gwede Mantashe, the ANC's secretary general, called Monday's decision "a victory for the rule of law, decency and common sense," and told reporters that Zuma should now be seen as free of suspicion.
"There are no allegations" against Zuma, Mantashe said at ANC headquarters. "They have been withdrawn this morning by the people who laid the charges."
The presidential candidate for COPE, a recently formed political party that broke away from the ANC, countered saying prosecutors should have gone forward with the case.
"We still have not heard about the merits or the demerits of the case against Mr. Zuma. The South African people want to know: Is he innocent or is he guilty?" COPE's Mvume Dandala said.
Mokotedi Mpshe, acting director of public prosecutions, said Monday that key prosecutors had abused their powers by trying to time the announcement of charges against the 66-year-old former guerrilla leader to a key ANC conference in late 2007, presumably to undermine his bid to become party president.
Zuma won the leadership race at that conference, and two days later Mpshe said he had enough evidence to try Zuma. On Monday, Mpshe said he had been unaware in 2007 of attempts to manipulate the case.
"An intolerable abuse of process has occurred which requires discontinuation of the prosecution," Mpshe said at a packed news conference that was broadcast live nationwide.
Mpshe's decision came after Zuma's legal team brought him taped phone conversations between prosecutors discussing the announcement timing. It was unclear how Zuma's team obtained the recordings, but Mpshe said prosecutors determined they were authentic.
Even before Monday's decision, the accusations that Zuma had taken a $55,600 (500,000-rand) bribe to protect a French arms company had not appeared to hurt Zuma among his base — impoverished black South Africans who embrace him as a man they believe understands their struggle.
Support was not even affected by rape charges in 2006, which ended in Zuma's acquittal. In that case, he outraged AIDS activists by testifying that he had unprotected, consensual sex with the HIV-positive woman and then took a shower in the belief that it would protect him from the virus.
Monday's news was greeted with an outpouring of joy and Zuma supporters danced through the streets of downtown Johannesburg, while car horns blared and whistles shrieked. Hundreds waved ANC flags in a downtown square, dancing and singing "Bring Me My Machine Gun," the anti-apartheid song that has become Zuma's trademark.
"I'm very happy for the decision, hoping that this gives our president what he needs for us to go forward," said Victress Iwabi, an ANC town councilor. "I think under Zuma people will have decent work, free and quality education, quality health care for all. And we are going to defeat crime."
Former President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma as his deputy because of the corruption scandal, but Zuma bounced back. The Zuma-led ANC forced Mbeki to resign as national president last September.
Prosecutors said Monday they had found no evidence Mbeki was behind the attempt to manipulate the Zuma case. But Zuma allies called for an investigation into the former president's possible involvement. Mbeki had no comment, spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said.
Adam Habib, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg, called on Zuma to "come clean with the nation" about the corruption case.
"If he does not, not only does he taint the image of his own administration, but the image of his country as well," Habib said.
Neren Rau, chief executive of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said investors needed to have confidence in the rule of law in South Africa, and for that the prosecutors' office "must be perceived as independent, above reproach and free of the perception that it offers political solutions."
Zuma, a colorful character and well-known champion of the poor, is the presidential candidate for the governing African National Congress in April 22 elections. He is almost certain to win given the party's dominance.
Hundreds of Zuma supporters reveled in the streets after prosecutors said they would not pursue — now or in the future — accusations Zuma accepted bribes to thwart an investigation into wrongdoing by a French arms company involved in a massive weapons deal in the late 1990s.
But prosecutors said the withdrawal had nothing to do with Zuma's guilt or innocence. They claimed to have a strong case, and said it was withdrawn because of prosecutorial misconduct. They noted that others could file civil cases, an option that may be pursued by opposition parties who decried Monday's announcement.
Zuma did not comment Monday, but scheduled a news conference for Tuesday in Durban, where he was to appear in court for the charges to be formally dropped.
Reactions to the decision highlighted the issues that remain as the country's fledgling democracy attempts to move forward.
Gwede Mantashe, the ANC's secretary general, called Monday's decision "a victory for the rule of law, decency and common sense," and told reporters that Zuma should now be seen as free of suspicion.
"There are no allegations" against Zuma, Mantashe said at ANC headquarters. "They have been withdrawn this morning by the people who laid the charges."
The presidential candidate for COPE, a recently formed political party that broke away from the ANC, countered saying prosecutors should have gone forward with the case.
"We still have not heard about the merits or the demerits of the case against Mr. Zuma. The South African people want to know: Is he innocent or is he guilty?" COPE's Mvume Dandala said.
Mokotedi Mpshe, acting director of public prosecutions, said Monday that key prosecutors had abused their powers by trying to time the announcement of charges against the 66-year-old former guerrilla leader to a key ANC conference in late 2007, presumably to undermine his bid to become party president.
Zuma won the leadership race at that conference, and two days later Mpshe said he had enough evidence to try Zuma. On Monday, Mpshe said he had been unaware in 2007 of attempts to manipulate the case.
"An intolerable abuse of process has occurred which requires discontinuation of the prosecution," Mpshe said at a packed news conference that was broadcast live nationwide.
Mpshe's decision came after Zuma's legal team brought him taped phone conversations between prosecutors discussing the announcement timing. It was unclear how Zuma's team obtained the recordings, but Mpshe said prosecutors determined they were authentic.
Even before Monday's decision, the accusations that Zuma had taken a $55,600 (500,000-rand) bribe to protect a French arms company had not appeared to hurt Zuma among his base — impoverished black South Africans who embrace him as a man they believe understands their struggle.
Support was not even affected by rape charges in 2006, which ended in Zuma's acquittal. In that case, he outraged AIDS activists by testifying that he had unprotected, consensual sex with the HIV-positive woman and then took a shower in the belief that it would protect him from the virus.
Monday's news was greeted with an outpouring of joy and Zuma supporters danced through the streets of downtown Johannesburg, while car horns blared and whistles shrieked. Hundreds waved ANC flags in a downtown square, dancing and singing "Bring Me My Machine Gun," the anti-apartheid song that has become Zuma's trademark.
"I'm very happy for the decision, hoping that this gives our president what he needs for us to go forward," said Victress Iwabi, an ANC town councilor. "I think under Zuma people will have decent work, free and quality education, quality health care for all. And we are going to defeat crime."
Former President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma as his deputy because of the corruption scandal, but Zuma bounced back. The Zuma-led ANC forced Mbeki to resign as national president last September.
Prosecutors said Monday they had found no evidence Mbeki was behind the attempt to manipulate the Zuma case. But Zuma allies called for an investigation into the former president's possible involvement. Mbeki had no comment, spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said.
Adam Habib, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg, called on Zuma to "come clean with the nation" about the corruption case.
"If he does not, not only does he taint the image of his own administration, but the image of his country as well," Habib said.
Neren Rau, chief executive of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said investors needed to have confidence in the rule of law in South Africa, and for that the prosecutors' office "must be perceived as independent, above reproach and free of the perception that it offers political solutions."
Reply:
Zuma is a typical African Politician. He is a Murderer, has murdered entire families, He's a Rapist, and is a ruthless mobster.
How can we have someone like Jacob Zuma run a country, if he has been in court for crimnal cases. If this was anyother country, they wouldn't have a leader like this. This just shows us is that you can get away with crime.
Bashir personality cult grips Khartoum
KHARTOUM (AFP) – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir beams from billboards, T-shirts and baseball caps as pictures of the defiant African leader wanted for war crimes in Darfur mushroom across Khartoum.
Once rare portraits of the soldier who grabbed power in a bloodless coup 20 years ago have sprouted in the capital since March 4, the day the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Giant posters showing the 65-year-old leader of Africa's largest country clad in full military regalia can now be seen everywhere since the court accused him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in war-torn Darfur.
And with general and presidential elections due in February 2010, it appears that Bashir has finally succumbed to the traditional temptation of presidential iconography as he bids for political survival.
Since early last month, Bashir has been on the warpath to rally support against the ICC warrant -- the first ever to target a sitting head of state.
He has delivered fiery speeches, made multiple television appearances, gone on trips to the four corners of Sudan and also travelled abroad several times in clear defiance of the international court.
Pictures of the president accompanied by the slogan "All with you, Bashir" are distributed at rallies to which ordinary citizens and supporters of his National Congress Party (NCP) are bused in.
Bashir, who often punctuates his speeches by jabbing the air with his trademark walking stick and doing a little dance, has addressed Darfuris, soldiers, tribal chiefs and even donned a traditional feathered headpiece of Southern Sudanese chiefs.
He began this furious pace more akin to that of a campaigning candidate even before Sudan formally announced on April 2 that it will stage its first general election in 24 years next February.
The elections, which will see Sudanese vote for both their president and the national assembly, will be crucial to Beshir's political future.
"The electoral process starts this April and will finish in February 2010," Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, deputy head of the electoral commission, told AFP.
Under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended Sudan's decades-long civil war between north and south, the elections should have taken place this year. But they were postponed over delays in census results.
"The president is not campaigning for the next elections. What you see is a response to the decision by the ICC," Mandoor al-Mahdi, NCP political secretary, told AFP.
"But the ICC has created a situation which has made the president more popular... and we feel that the conditions are more favourable than before" for his re-election, Mahdi added.
A defiant Bashir recently even went as far as "thanking" the ICC for accusing him, since the court's move enabled him to bolster his support base.
Sudan does not recognise the ICC and refuses to hand over its citizens, but this policy could change under a new government.
"They (the NCP) would like a quick election and a quick victory" in order to cement Beshir's position after the ICC decision, said one Western diplomat who asked to remain anonymous.
But he also added that despite mass rallies in support of the president, "they would have to cheat to win the elections."
The last general election in April 1986 saw a victory for the Umma party of Sadiq al-Mehdi, whose three-year-old democratically elected government was overthrown in the 1989 coup that brought Beshir to power.
Beshir secured 87 percent of the votes in the 2000 presidential election, which were considered a farce by opposition parties despite promises by the president of "free elections."
In next year's polls, the Sudanese people will also vote for the head of the semi-autonomous south, the South Sudanese parliament and local governors.
Holding the vote in Darfur where a deadly conflict has raged since 2003 will take a great deal of "political will" amid great insecurity, according to a study published last month by the United States Institute of Peace.
The ICC accuses Beshir of criminal responsibility for "exterminating, raping and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians" in Darfur, where the United Nations says the conflict has cost 300,000 lives.
Sudan puts the death toll from the six-year war at 10,000.
Sudan analyst Alex de Waal has described Beshir, who joined the military at a young age, as "intensely proud."
"When he feels humiliated, he is prone to angry outbursts marked by extreme rhetorical excess. His language becomes replete with exhortations to avenge insult and betrayal, and crush the cowards and traitors."
Reply:
What can I say that I haven't already????
Monday, March 30, 2009
IRA dissidents burn cars, block Belfast roads
DUBLIN – Suspected IRA dissidents and their supporters hijacked cars Monday in working-class Catholic areas of Northern Ireland in a coordinated effort to block roads and threaten police stations, police said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it was receiving a wave of reports of vehicles being hijacked by masked gunmen in several parts of Belfast and in the Kilwilkie district of Lurgan, a power base for Irish Republican Army dissidents southwest of Belfast.
Some vehicles were being set on fire in roads to disrupt traffic at rush hour, while others were abandoned near four Belfast police stations and on Northern Ireland's major motorway near Lurgan.
Police said they were treating all the abandoned vehicles as potential car bombs, although they cautioned this was unlikely. They urged motorists to avoid Kilwilkie and parts of Catholic west Belfast entirely.
Monday's upheaval came at the end of a month in which IRA dissidents shot to death two soldiers and a policeman — the first killings of British security forces since 1998, the year of Northern Ireland's peace accord.
Police said at least two cars were hijacked in Lurgan's Kilwilkie district, the power base of suspected IRA dissident Colin Duffy. Duffy, 41, was charged last week with murdering the two soldiers.
One of the hijacked cars was abandoned on the M1 motorway, which connects Belfast to Dublin, 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the south. Authorities shut part of the motorway as a precaution.
One abandoned vehicle — which police said did not contain a bomb — was left near the Stormont Parliamentary Building, the center of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government between the British Protestant majority and Irish Catholic minority.
The coalition's Protestant leader, First Minister Peter Robinson, said the rising dissident IRA threat would not spur Protestants to sever links with Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party that represents most Catholics today.
"The criminal terrorists responsible for the series of bomb scares and hijackings are beneath contempt and have no support whatsoever in the community," Robinson said.
The hijackings and security alerts also coincided with a widespread breakdown of Belfast's traffic lights system. Police in a statement called that an "unfortunate coincidence."
From Gaza to Sudan, Ban Highlights Crises Confronting Arab World
From Gaza to Sudan, Ban Highlights Crises Confronting Arab World
From The Widening Fallout of The Global Economic Crisis to The Suffering of Victims of Armed Conflict, The Arab World Faces Insecurity Today and The Potential for More Tomorrow, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon <"http://www.Un.Org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.Asp?statid=455">told The Summit of The League of Arab States in Doha Today.
"the Toll in Human Lives and Deferred Development Has Been Tragically High," He Said in His Address to The Gathering. "the Region's Large Groups of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Continue to Live With Their Dignity Under Attack and With Little Ability to Plan for Their Futures."
mr. Ban Said He Remained Gravely Concerned About The Situation is Gaza, Which is Dealing With The Aftermath of The Three-Week Offensive Launched By Israel in Late December 2008.
"the People of Gaza are Suffering, and The Situation At The Crossings is Intolerable," He Stated, Asserting That The Way Forward is a Durable Ceasefire, Open Crossings, and Palestinian Reconciliation.
on Sudan, The Secretary-General Urged The Government Once Again to Reverse Its Decision to Expel Key International Non-Governmental Organizations (ngos), and Suspend The Work of Three National Ngos That Provide Life-Sustaining Services for More Than One Million People.
the Sudanese Government Took That Decision on 4 March, Immediately After The International Criminal Court (<"http://www.Icc-Cpi.Int/menus/icc/home">icc) Issued An Arrest Warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir, Who Was Also Present At Today's Summit in The Qatari Capital.
"despite The Efforts of Sudanese Line Ministries, UN Agencies and The Remaining Ngos, The Gaps Cannot Be Filled With Existing Capacities," Mr. Ban Noted Concerning The Humanitarian Crisis in The Western Darfur Region of The Country. "relief Efforts Should Not Become Politicized. People in Need Must Be Helped Irrespective of Political Differences."
turning to Another Hot-Spot on The Continent, He Said The Present Situation in Somalia Offers a "rare Window of Opportunity," and Urged Immediate Support for The New Government That Was Sworn in Last Month.
"those of US With Influence on The Groups Remaining Outside of The Peace Process Should Call on Them to Join for The Sake of National Reconciliation," Mr. Ban Said, Adding That More Must Also Be Done to Promote Security on The Ground, Including By Supporting The African Union Mission There (<"http://www.Africa-Union.Org/root/au/auc/departments/psc/amisom/amisom.Htm">amisom) and Somali Security Forces At An Upcoming Donor Conference.
the Secretary-General Also Highlighted The Multiple Elections Taking Place This Year in Iraq to Strengthen Democratic Representation, Advance The Political Process and Promote Stability, and Said He Looked Forward to Free and Transparent Polls on 7 June in Lebanon.
while in Doha, Mr. Ban Held Bilateral Talks Today With The Secretary-General of The League of Arab States, Amre Moussa, as Well as With The Secretary-General of The Organization of The Islamic Conference, The Foreign Minister of Norway and The President of The United Arab Emirates.
yesterday, He Held Separate Meetings With The Emir of Qatar and The Presidents of Lebanon, The Palestinian Authority, Somalia and Syria.
tomorrow The Secretary-General Will Open The International Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, Which Will Assess The Current Political, Security and Development Issues in The South Asian Nation.source: United Nations
URGENT - Stop the killing of kangaroo babies like this.
Target:
Australian Government
Sponsored by:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/feedback/439891577
Here is Australia's Dirty Secret...it is home to the largest wildlife massacre in the world. And Canberra, the nation's capitol, has earned the title, "Kangaroo Killing Capitol of the World". The title is well earned. Last year, the government massacred over 500 kangaroos on a decommissioned military base. They refused all non-lethal solutions, including relocation. This year they plan to kill 5,000 kangaroos including mothers and babies, and they plan to do it in secret because they don't want negative publicity.To learn more: http://www.kangaroolives.com/The government doesn't protect public land from cattle or horse over-grazing; the only solution the government provides is to first blame and then kill the kangaroo. All information presented to the public is confusing, and conflicting. The Australian government has shown no respect to its own national icon, the gentle kangaroo, and is "managing" Australia's native land and animals to death.Sign this petition to tell Australia's government to immediately stop this kangaroo cull, and to actively research and provide alternative solutions. Your signature and comments will be delivered via email to the Australian government.
Here is Australia's Dirty Secret...it is home to the largest wildlife massacre in the world. And Canberra, the nation's capitol, has earned the title, "Kangaroo Killing Capitol of the World". The title is well earned. Last year, the government massacred over 500 kangaroos on a decommissioned military base. They refused all non-lethal solutions, including relocation. This year they plan to kill 5,000 kangaroos including mothers and babies, and they plan to do it in secret because they don't want negative publicity.To learn more: http://www.kangaroolives.com/The government doesn't protect public land from cattle or horse over-grazing; the only solution the government provides is to first blame and then kill the kangaroo. All information presented to the public is confusing, and conflicting. The Australian government has shown no respect to its own national icon, the gentle kangaroo, and is "managing" Australia's native land and animals to death.Sign this petition to tell Australia's government to immediately stop this kangaroo cull, and to actively research and provide alternative solutions. Your signature and comments will be delivered via email to the Australian government.
Australian Government
Sponsored by:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/feedback/439891577
Here is Australia's Dirty Secret...it is home to the largest wildlife massacre in the world. And Canberra, the nation's capitol, has earned the title, "Kangaroo Killing Capitol of the World". The title is well earned. Last year, the government massacred over 500 kangaroos on a decommissioned military base. They refused all non-lethal solutions, including relocation. This year they plan to kill 5,000 kangaroos including mothers and babies, and they plan to do it in secret because they don't want negative publicity.To learn more: http://www.kangaroolives.com/The government doesn't protect public land from cattle or horse over-grazing; the only solution the government provides is to first blame and then kill the kangaroo. All information presented to the public is confusing, and conflicting. The Australian government has shown no respect to its own national icon, the gentle kangaroo, and is "managing" Australia's native land and animals to death.Sign this petition to tell Australia's government to immediately stop this kangaroo cull, and to actively research and provide alternative solutions. Your signature and comments will be delivered via email to the Australian government.
Here is Australia's Dirty Secret...it is home to the largest wildlife massacre in the world. And Canberra, the nation's capitol, has earned the title, "Kangaroo Killing Capitol of the World". The title is well earned. Last year, the government massacred over 500 kangaroos on a decommissioned military base. They refused all non-lethal solutions, including relocation. This year they plan to kill 5,000 kangaroos including mothers and babies, and they plan to do it in secret because they don't want negative publicity.To learn more: http://www.kangaroolives.com/The government doesn't protect public land from cattle or horse over-grazing; the only solution the government provides is to first blame and then kill the kangaroo. All information presented to the public is confusing, and conflicting. The Australian government has shown no respect to its own national icon, the gentle kangaroo, and is "managing" Australia's native land and animals to death.Sign this petition to tell Australia's government to immediately stop this kangaroo cull, and to actively research and provide alternative solutions. Your signature and comments will be delivered via email to the Australian government.
U.S. deploys anti-missile ships before North Korea launch
POST: 1SEOUL (Reuters) – The United States deployed a missile-interceptor ship from South Korea on Monday, a military spokesman said, days ahead of a North Korean rocket launch widely seen as a long-range missile test that violates U.N. sanctions.
The launch presents the first significant challenge by the prickly state to U.S. President Barack Obama, who will discuss Pyongyang's intentions with global leaders including Chinese President Hu Jintao this week at the G20 summit in London.
The United States, however, has no plans to shoot down the rocket in a test seen by Washington as part of Pyongyang's goal to eventually develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.
"I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it," Gates said on "Fox News Sunday" when asked if the Pentagon planned to shoot down the missile.
"If we had an aberrant missile, one that looked like it was headed for Hawaii, we might consider it," he said, adding the Pentagon does not believe North Korea can put a warhead on the missile or reach the U.S. West Coast.
U.S. Forces Korea dispatched one Aegis-equipped destroyer on Monday and plans to send another one later in the day from the South Korean port of Busan, a spokesman said without offering further details.
Local media quoted informed sources as saying the vessels with sophisticated radar will monitor the launch, which Pyongyang has said is planned for April 4-8. South Korea also plans to dispatch one of its missile intercepting destroyers closer to the launch date, officials have said.
Japan deployed two missile-intercepting vessels to waters off its west coast at the weekend and another off its Pacific coast.
The North Korean rocket is supposed to drop booster stages to the east and west of Japan. Government officials said Tokyo is poised to shoot down debris that poses a threat to its public.
PEACEFUL PURPOSE OR TEST?
North Korea has installed the completed three-stage rocket on a launch pad at its Musudan-ri missile base on the east coast but it was unclear what was at the top of the rocket, the Institute for Science and International Security said at the weekend based on an analysis of satellite imagery.
North Korea has said the launch is for the peaceful purpose of sending a satellite into orbit, while the United States, South Korea and Japan see it as a disguised test of the Taepodong-2 missile and a violation of U.N. sanctions.
The three have said they want the U.N. Security Council to punish the North for the launch but analysts see China, a veto-wielding permanent council member and the closest the North has to a major ally, blocking new sanctions and reluctant to call for tighter enforcement of existing ones.
Japan is considering tightening its unilateral sanctions on North Korea, Kyodo news agency reported. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said he opposes a military response to the launch.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Lee said he also does not want to punish Pyongyang by ending a joint business park located just north of their heavily militarized border or cutting humanitarian aid because that could hurt separate nuclear disarmament talks and Seoul's goal of peaceful unification.
"For us to go the other way, taking a harder stance, I don't think that would necessarily be helpful in achieving this ultimate objective," Lee said.
In July 2006, the only time the North tested the missile designed to carry a warhead as far as Alaska, it exploded just seconds into its flight.
North Korea is expected to start fuelling the rocket this week, starting a process experts said takes three to four days to prepare it for launch. U.S. spy satellites can watch the moves at the Musudan-ri missile base.
Weather forecasts for the area indicate rain on Saturday, the first planned day for the launch, followed by clear skies.
Investors said the impending launch has not cast much of a shadow, for now, over trading this week in Seoul.
"They will worry about that once the rocket is launched," said Kim Joong-hyun, a Goodmorning Shinhan Securities analyst.
Japan's Sankei Shimbun at the weekend said the North may also test-fire a barrage of mid-range ballistic missiles when it shoots off the rocket, as it did in 2006, but experts see that as unlikely because it could undermine Pyongyang's position.
"Such a test would be squarely contradictory to its arguments thus far that the rocket launch is for peaceful space development," said Moon Hong-sik, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul.
POST 2:
SKorea opposes military reaction to NKorean launch
SEOUL, South Korea – President Lee Myung-bak said South Korea opposes any military response to North Korea's planned launch of a rocket, while Washington's defense chief said the U.S. won't try to shoot it down.
The remarks by Lee and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates appear to reflect concerns that any tough reaction could send tensions spiking out of control at a time when the communist regime is warning that even U.N. sanctions would prompt it to quit nuclear disarmament talks.
North Korea says it will launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8 as part of its space development program. Regional powers, however, suspect the North is using the launch to test long-range missile technology.
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have warned the North that if it goes ahead with the launch it could face international sanctions under a 2006 U.N. Security Council resolution prohibiting ballistic activity by Pyongyang.
Pyongyang has said sanctions would violate the spirit of agreements in nuclear disarmament talks, and said it would treat the pacts as null and void if punished for exercising its right to send a satellite into space.
In an interview with the Financial Times published Monday, Lee said all countries, including China and Russia, oppose the North's plans. But Lee stressed that he is against using military means as punishment.
"What I do oppose is to militarily respond to these kind of actions," Lee said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the presidential office.
Lee also ruled out shuttering a joint industrial complex in North Korea — widely seen as a source of hard currency for the impoverished nation — as punishment. He said he does not believe "taking a harder stance" would be helpful in achieving Seoul's ultimate objective of ridding the North of nuclear programs.
In Washington, Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the U.S. has no plans to try to intercept the North Korean rocket but might consider trying if an "aberrant missile" were headed to Hawaii "or something like that."
Still, Gates said the North's launch is a step toward developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead, and "a mask for the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile."
Commercial satellite imagery taken Sunday by DigitalGlobe clearly shows what appears to be a three-stage launch vehicle on the launch pad in Musudan-ni on North Korea's east coast, said Tim Brown, an analyst for globalsecurity.org.
However, it remains unclear whether the rocket is a long-range Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile or a space launch vehicle designed to carry a satellite, Brown said.
He noted that the service-level swing arms appear to be rotated away from the launch vehicle.
"The loading of liquid fuel from nearby fuel storage buildings and final check-out procedures could take place in the next few days," Brown said.
On Monday, two U.S. destroyers were to depart from South Korea on a mission believed to monitor the North's rocket launch. The ships are equipped with Aegis radar, a system that enables the vessels to locate, track and shoot down missiles.
U.S. military spokesman Kim Yong-kyu said the ships would depart from the South Korean port of Busan, but declined to give details.
South Korea also plans to dispatch an Aegis-equipped destroyer off the east coast to monitor the launch.
In addition to the long-range rocket, North Korea is preparing to launch a short- or medium-range missile, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday.
The Sankei newspaper, citing several unnamed Japanese government sources, said the North is preparing to test-launch another missile from Wonsan, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Musudan-ni. It said U.S., South Korean and Japanese intelligence analyses said the missile could be short or medium range.
The report said the North may conduct another missile test if the U.N. Security Council approves sanctions against it or if it cannot wrest concessions from the United States.
Japan's Defense Ministry declined to comment on the Sankei report. South Korea's Defense Ministry and National Intelligence Service — its main spy agency — said they couldn't immediately confirm the report.
Reply:
Is this just all a game NK is playing? They will launch it then will say that future launches can be avoided for more aid, recognition and to bolster their egotistical image of themselves infront of their brainwashed people. NK knows full well that starting a war would be disasterous for them because most of their military hardware is antiquated not to mention that they dont have the resources for a prolonged war.
If the countries around North Korea don’t want to do anything then we need to just leave it alone. Stop spending the tax payer’s dollars on other people’s problems. These guys only have the technology to hurt the countries around them, not us. Also with our missile defense system we could shoot down any missile that would be shot from North Korea. Watch when they piss off the countries that are around them they will be taken care of and we won’t have to lift a finger.
America stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves???? OR do they???? This is why we are watching ( as always pretending to care), to make sure that korean bottle rocket doesn't go nuclear over Japan or some other innocent country!!! Technology just gives us more efficient ways of killing eachother and they call it advances in civilization. What a joke.
Long-delayed Khmer Rouge genocide trial opens
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A former teacher accused of carrying out the murderous policies of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge went on trial Monday, as prosecutors opened their first case against the hard-core communists who turned the country into a killing field three decades ago.
A U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal has charged Kaing Guek Eav, 66, with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide.
The tribunal is seeking to establish responsibility for the group's brutal 1975-79 misrule of the country under Pol Pot, the group's leader who died in 1998. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died of starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge.
"Cambodians have been waiting 30 years for the Khmer Rouge to be tried for the violence and suffering they inflicted upon the population," said Professor Alex Hinton, director of Rutgers University's Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. "That day has arrived."
Cambodian state television and radio were broadcasting Monday's proceedings live, and 70 percent of the country's 14.3 million people were expected to tune in, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said. The verdict at the end of the trial is also expected to be broadcast live.
The defendant stood when asked to identify himself and gave his name as, "Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch," — his nom de guerre (pronounced "Gang Geck Ee-uu" and "Doik"). He then listed other names he used while in hiding after the regime's fall.
Duch ran the Khmer Rogue's main prison, the notorious torture center known as S-21, or Tuol Sleng, in Phnom Penh. As many as 16,000 men, women and children were brutally tortured there before being sent to their deaths.
According to Duch's lengthy indictment, which was read aloud by court officials, "Every prisoner who arrived at S-21 was destined for execution."
"Interrogators used several forms of torture in order to extract confessions from prisoners," said the indictment, listing the main methods as "beating, electrocution, placing a plastic bag over the head and pouring water into the nose."
Duch has acknowledged there was also a practice of puncturing or removing finger and toenails, it said, and "at least one prisoner was force-fed excrement."
Scores of survivors traveled from around the country to witness the hearing. Among them was Svay Simon, a one-legged, 64-year-old farmer whose limb was blown off by a Khmer Rouge bomb in 1975. He lost 10 relatives, including his sister and brother, to the regime.
"I never thought I would have a chance to see Duch and sit in on this trial," he said, walking with a cane as he entered the courtroom.
Duch holds the distinction of being not only the first member of the Khmer Rouge to face trial for the regime's atrocities, but also the only one to express remorse for his role.
Duch's French lawyer, Francois Roux, said during a procedural hearing that his client wished "to ask forgiveness from the victims, but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."
Duch disappeared after the group fell from power, living under two other names. He returned to teaching and converted to Christianity before he was discovered by chance by a British journalist in the Cambodian countryside in 1999.
Since then he has been in detention awaiting trial. Technically, Duch's trial opened in February, when the judges ruled on procedural issues such as scheduling and witnesses. But Monday's hearing marks the start of its substantive phase, including the first chance for Duch to publicly tell his story and face the families of victims.
Duch methodically recorded the treatment of each prisoner in thousands of documents that were found in the compound after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in January 1979. One shows Duch's signature on a list of prisoners, with the words "Kill them all."
"It's going to be a painful process but it's a process that we believe will lead to ... a feeling that finally justice is achieved, and it will be worth experiencing this pain," Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis told The Associated Press.
Human rights groups want the number of defendants increased beyond Duch and the four senior Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial in the next year or so.
Critics of the tribunal also charge that Cambodia's government has sought to limit its scope because other suspects are now loyal to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and to arrest them could be politically awkward.
___
Associated Press
A U.N.-assisted genocide tribunal has charged Kaing Guek Eav, 66, with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, as well as torture and homicide.
The tribunal is seeking to establish responsibility for the group's brutal 1975-79 misrule of the country under Pol Pot, the group's leader who died in 1998. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians died of starvation, medical neglect, slave-like working conditions and execution under the Khmer Rouge.
"Cambodians have been waiting 30 years for the Khmer Rouge to be tried for the violence and suffering they inflicted upon the population," said Professor Alex Hinton, director of Rutgers University's Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. "That day has arrived."
Cambodian state television and radio were broadcasting Monday's proceedings live, and 70 percent of the country's 14.3 million people were expected to tune in, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said. The verdict at the end of the trial is also expected to be broadcast live.
The defendant stood when asked to identify himself and gave his name as, "Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch," — his nom de guerre (pronounced "Gang Geck Ee-uu" and "Doik"). He then listed other names he used while in hiding after the regime's fall.
Duch ran the Khmer Rogue's main prison, the notorious torture center known as S-21, or Tuol Sleng, in Phnom Penh. As many as 16,000 men, women and children were brutally tortured there before being sent to their deaths.
According to Duch's lengthy indictment, which was read aloud by court officials, "Every prisoner who arrived at S-21 was destined for execution."
"Interrogators used several forms of torture in order to extract confessions from prisoners," said the indictment, listing the main methods as "beating, electrocution, placing a plastic bag over the head and pouring water into the nose."
Duch has acknowledged there was also a practice of puncturing or removing finger and toenails, it said, and "at least one prisoner was force-fed excrement."
Scores of survivors traveled from around the country to witness the hearing. Among them was Svay Simon, a one-legged, 64-year-old farmer whose limb was blown off by a Khmer Rouge bomb in 1975. He lost 10 relatives, including his sister and brother, to the regime.
"I never thought I would have a chance to see Duch and sit in on this trial," he said, walking with a cane as he entered the courtroom.
Duch holds the distinction of being not only the first member of the Khmer Rouge to face trial for the regime's atrocities, but also the only one to express remorse for his role.
Duch's French lawyer, Francois Roux, said during a procedural hearing that his client wished "to ask forgiveness from the victims, but also from the Cambodian people. He will do so publicly. This is the very least he owes the victims."
Duch disappeared after the group fell from power, living under two other names. He returned to teaching and converted to Christianity before he was discovered by chance by a British journalist in the Cambodian countryside in 1999.
Since then he has been in detention awaiting trial. Technically, Duch's trial opened in February, when the judges ruled on procedural issues such as scheduling and witnesses. But Monday's hearing marks the start of its substantive phase, including the first chance for Duch to publicly tell his story and face the families of victims.
Duch methodically recorded the treatment of each prisoner in thousands of documents that were found in the compound after the fall of the Khmer Rouge in January 1979. One shows Duch's signature on a list of prisoners, with the words "Kill them all."
"It's going to be a painful process but it's a process that we believe will lead to ... a feeling that finally justice is achieved, and it will be worth experiencing this pain," Tribunal spokeswoman Helen Jarvis told The Associated Press.
Human rights groups want the number of defendants increased beyond Duch and the four senior Khmer Rouge leaders being held for trial in the next year or so.
Critics of the tribunal also charge that Cambodia's government has sought to limit its scope because other suspects are now loyal to Prime Minister Hun Sen, and to arrest them could be politically awkward.
___
Associated Press
Reply:
"Cambodians have been waiting 30 years for the Khmer Rouge to be tried for the violence and suffering they inflicted upon the population," said Prof. Alex Hinton, director of Rutgers University's Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. "That day has arrived."What took so long? Most Cambodians don't even have a Memory of this in their Country..some still deny it even ever happened..Why the UN and War Crimes Tribunal dragged its feey for so long in bringing these criminals to justice..is just another example of how truely ineffective they are..Would it be that China as a Security counsil member had anything to do with the delay?
For Cambodia to have arrived at the point of being able to put anyone responsible on trial for the Communist period of their past is terrific...Lets trust that the current free government will not allow any of those responsible, regardless of their present status, to save themselves from the consequences of the genocide committed upon the Cambodian people in those "killing fields" of the past
Sunday, March 29, 2009
N. Ireland police re-arm after killings
BELFAST (AFP) – Police in parts of Northern Ireland have begun wearing flak jackets and carrying rifles for the first time in years following three high-profile killings, they said Sunday.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has returned to arming some of its officers after the fatal shootings of two British soldiers and a police officer within 48 hours of each other in early March.
"Regional commanders will decide where it is appropriate to advise patrols to carry Heckler and Koch rifles," a police spokeswoman said.
One member of a PSNI mobile patrol unit on the Foyle Bridge in Londonderry, an area northwest of the province near the border with the Republic of Ireland, said the practice had become common there.
"All patrols carrying out checkpoints like these in the city of Londonderry have at least one officer armed with a rifle and we are wearing flak jackets," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He added: "After the killings in Masserene (army barracks) and in Lurgan, we were told to start carrying these weapons."
The PSNI spokeswoman confirmed officers have to undergo "specialist training" to use the rifles, explaining: "No officers passing out (qualifying) in the past two years would have been trained in the use of those weapons."
Police are being re-armed only in certain areas, including Lurgan where constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead on March 9.
After the killings, Northern Ireland assembly member Ian Paisley, the son of former first minister Ian Paisley, expressed concern about a shortage of flak jackets for police officers.
"At this time of increased terrorist criminal threat it is vital that our officers feel safe and secure as they serve the community," he said.
Civil strife between the largely Catholic and Protestant communities in the British-ruled province raged for three decades before 1998 peace accords led to power-sharing.
The recent murders were claimed by dissident republicans who reject the peace process and want a united Ireland.
On Saturday, violent clashes also kicked off between rival fans attending a Northern Ireland-Poland football match in Belfast. Four men have been charged with disorderly behaviour in connection with the disturbances. There is a lot of history on the rival "fans" that many don't know about. They are more like gangs then fans. Enough said for now.
(my post on yahoo)
NKorea launch threatens to undo disarmament talks
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's plans to launch a rocket as early as this week in defiance of warnings threatens to undo years of fitful negotiations toward dismantling the regime's nuclear program.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan have told the North that any rocket launch — whether it's a satellite or a long-range missile — would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution prohibiting Pyongyang from any ballistic activity, and could draw sanctions.
North Korea said sanctions would violate the spirit of disarmament agreements, and said it would treat the pacts as null and void if punished for exercising its sovereign right to send a satellite into space.
"Even a single word critical of the launch" from the Security Council will be regarded as a "blatant hostile act," a spokesman with North Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday, according the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency. "All the processes for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which have been pushed forward so far, will be brought back to what used to be before their start and necessary strong measures will be taken."
That would be a sharp reversal from June 2008 when the North made a promising move toward disarmament, dramatically blowing up a cooling reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex.
But the regime routinely backtracks on agreements, refuses to abide by international rules and wields its nuclear program like a weapon when it needs to win concessions from Washington or Seoul, analysts say.
"History has shown them that the more provocative they are, the more attention they get. The more attention they get, the more they're offered," Peter M. Beck, a Korean affairs expert who teaches at American University in Washington and Yonsei University in Seoul, said Sunday.
Despite years of negotiations and impoverished North Korea's growing need for outside help, it's clear the talks have done little to curb the regime's drive to build — and sell — its atomic arsenal, experts say.
"If this is Kim Jong Il's welcoming present to a new president, launching a missile like this and threatening to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday."
North Korea, a notoriously secretive country, has been challenging the international community with its atomic ambitions since 1993, when the regime briefly quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty amid suspicions it was secretly developing atomic weapons.
In 1994, North Korea and the U.S. worked out an agreement that promised Pyongyang oil and two light water nuclear reactors if the country would give up its nuclear ambitions. The power-generating reactors cannot be easily used to make bombs.
Four years later, North Korea fired a multistage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. The North pledged in 1999 to freeze long-range missile tests, but later threatened to restart its nuclear program and resume testing missiles amid delays in construction of the reactors.
In 2002, Pyongyang admitted to a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of the 1994 agreement, prompting the U.S., Japan and South Korea to halt oil supplies promised as part of the pact. The North withdrew again from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003, and announced it had reactivated its nuclear power facilities.
That August, six nations — the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — began negotiations on disarmament now known as the "six-party talks," eventually resulting in a landmark accord on Sept. 19, 2005. The agreement called for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid, diplomatic recognition and a security guarantee from Washington.
As the talks continued in fits and starts, the North in 2006 carried out a surprise 5 a.m. test-fire of six missiles, including its Taepodong-2 long-range missile, which U.S. and South Korean officials believe has the potential to strike Alaska.
The rocket fizzled just 42 seconds after takeoff but the launch, denounced as "provocative" by Washington, angered even North Korea's longtime ally and main donor, China, which agreed to a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Resolution 1695 condemning the move.
Later that year, an underground nuclear test prompted U.N. Resolution 1718, which bans the North from any ballistic activity. The U.S., South Korea and Japan say that sending satellites into space since the technology for launching a satellite and a missile are virtually the same.
By February, Pyongyang agreed to concrete steps toward disarmament: disabling its main nuclear facilities in exchange for the equivalent of 1 million tons of energy aid and other concessions. Disablement began that November.
But the North halted the process in 2008 amid a dispute with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page account of past atomic activities. The last round of talks — in December 2008, weeks before President Barack Obama moved into the White House — made little apparent progress.
Analysts speculated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was holding out for talks with Obama. But in forming its North Korea policy, the fledgling Obama administration has made it clear it will work through the six-party process.
The rocket launch scheduled for April 4-8, at a time when Pyongyang has custody of two American reporters detained March 17 at North Korea's border with China, could provide the opening North Korea needs to force direct talks with Washington, analysts said.
"The timing couldn't be better for North Korea. It strengthens the North's bargaining position with the U.S. in dealing with the nuclear issue. They can try to link these two issues in some way," said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group.
Bringing everyone, including North Korea, back to the talks will be "rough going," said Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank.
But South Korea's envoy expressed confidence the talks would be back on track soon. "I am looking forward to seeing the talks resume after certain amount of time, and I am not deeply worried or concerned about resumption of the talks," Wi Sung-lac said last week.
Ultimately, the talks may never achieve their aim, Beck said.
"It may very well be that in the end, the North will try to play it both ways: continue to negotiate for goodies while never giving up its nuclear trump card," he said in his House testimony. "After all, that is essentially what it has done for the past 16 years."
___
(Associated Press)
The U.S., South Korea and Japan have told the North that any rocket launch — whether it's a satellite or a long-range missile — would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution prohibiting Pyongyang from any ballistic activity, and could draw sanctions.
North Korea said sanctions would violate the spirit of disarmament agreements, and said it would treat the pacts as null and void if punished for exercising its sovereign right to send a satellite into space.
"Even a single word critical of the launch" from the Security Council will be regarded as a "blatant hostile act," a spokesman with North Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday, according the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency. "All the processes for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which have been pushed forward so far, will be brought back to what used to be before their start and necessary strong measures will be taken."
That would be a sharp reversal from June 2008 when the North made a promising move toward disarmament, dramatically blowing up a cooling reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex.
But the regime routinely backtracks on agreements, refuses to abide by international rules and wields its nuclear program like a weapon when it needs to win concessions from Washington or Seoul, analysts say.
"History has shown them that the more provocative they are, the more attention they get. The more attention they get, the more they're offered," Peter M. Beck, a Korean affairs expert who teaches at American University in Washington and Yonsei University in Seoul, said Sunday.
Despite years of negotiations and impoverished North Korea's growing need for outside help, it's clear the talks have done little to curb the regime's drive to build — and sell — its atomic arsenal, experts say.
"If this is Kim Jong Il's welcoming present to a new president, launching a missile like this and threatening to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday."
North Korea, a notoriously secretive country, has been challenging the international community with its atomic ambitions since 1993, when the regime briefly quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty amid suspicions it was secretly developing atomic weapons.
In 1994, North Korea and the U.S. worked out an agreement that promised Pyongyang oil and two light water nuclear reactors if the country would give up its nuclear ambitions. The power-generating reactors cannot be easily used to make bombs.
Four years later, North Korea fired a multistage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. The North pledged in 1999 to freeze long-range missile tests, but later threatened to restart its nuclear program and resume testing missiles amid delays in construction of the reactors.
In 2002, Pyongyang admitted to a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of the 1994 agreement, prompting the U.S., Japan and South Korea to halt oil supplies promised as part of the pact. The North withdrew again from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003, and announced it had reactivated its nuclear power facilities.
That August, six nations — the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — began negotiations on disarmament now known as the "six-party talks," eventually resulting in a landmark accord on Sept. 19, 2005. The agreement called for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid, diplomatic recognition and a security guarantee from Washington.
As the talks continued in fits and starts, the North in 2006 carried out a surprise 5 a.m. test-fire of six missiles, including its Taepodong-2 long-range missile, which U.S. and South Korean officials believe has the potential to strike Alaska.
The rocket fizzled just 42 seconds after takeoff but the launch, denounced as "provocative" by Washington, angered even North Korea's longtime ally and main donor, China, which agreed to a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Resolution 1695 condemning the move.
Later that year, an underground nuclear test prompted U.N. Resolution 1718, which bans the North from any ballistic activity. The U.S., South Korea and Japan say that sending satellites into space since the technology for launching a satellite and a missile are virtually the same.
By February, Pyongyang agreed to concrete steps toward disarmament: disabling its main nuclear facilities in exchange for the equivalent of 1 million tons of energy aid and other concessions. Disablement began that November.
But the North halted the process in 2008 amid a dispute with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page account of past atomic activities. The last round of talks — in December 2008, weeks before President Barack Obama moved into the White House — made little apparent progress.
Analysts speculated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was holding out for talks with Obama. But in forming its North Korea policy, the fledgling Obama administration has made it clear it will work through the six-party process.
The rocket launch scheduled for April 4-8, at a time when Pyongyang has custody of two American reporters detained March 17 at North Korea's border with China, could provide the opening North Korea needs to force direct talks with Washington, analysts said.
"The timing couldn't be better for North Korea. It strengthens the North's bargaining position with the U.S. in dealing with the nuclear issue. They can try to link these two issues in some way," said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group.
Bringing everyone, including North Korea, back to the talks will be "rough going," said Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank.
But South Korea's envoy expressed confidence the talks would be back on track soon. "I am looking forward to seeing the talks resume after certain amount of time, and I am not deeply worried or concerned about resumption of the talks," Wi Sung-lac said last week.
Ultimately, the talks may never achieve their aim, Beck said.
"It may very well be that in the end, the North will try to play it both ways: continue to negotiate for goodies while never giving up its nuclear trump card," he said in his House testimony. "After all, that is essentially what it has done for the past 16 years."
___
(Associated Press)
Reply:
They have money for missile's but lack money to feed there people, how cruel. Well now Russia, maybe you should wake up before you find yourself sandwiched between two power hungry 3rd world radicals. Not to mention supplying them with fuel for at least a dirty bomb. Good luck Mr. Putin!!!!
"I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it," Gates told "Fox News Sunday."-ie our administration does not have the balls to stop them.This is not a minor matter, if they sucessfully carry this off, they will have a nuclear program capable of hitting the US with an icbm.
I believe the U.S. should shoot any rocket down as soon as it lifts off the launch pad, even if it is just a satellite. If we don't, then Japan or South Korea should. It is foolish for us to concede anything to that despotic regime. We have conceded too much already and it isn't working, plus it sets a bad example to other regimes we are dealing with in that they now know, if they get far enough with their weapons development....need I say more? We need to draw a line in the sand and take the hard line approach.
Picture: March 29th 09' Black and White picture of missile/rocket area.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
3 Part Post about Sudan, UN, US etc. With reply at the end.
I took some time to sit back and watch/read whats been happening feeling much like others -powerless, not knowing what to do, what the right move would be etc.... Well, here it is I have to speak/write. Sitting back is as good as doing nothing. Sure I've started a pledge here and there and sent it to others but there is so much more I could and will be doing.
One thing I'd like to point out at this time is Genocide, Darfur,Bashir, Chad, ICC, UN and many more are misunderstood mostly do to not knowing the history of the truth. Its like watching a movie starting in the middle. To many this can be confusing, misunderstood, not understood at all and etc. If you want a good way to learn about this and more please check out "Not on Our Watch" by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast or " In the Hot Zone" by Kevin Sites. You can even look them up on line Kevin Sites has a web-site that provides a mass amount of information. Although Kevin's book is "One man, One year, 20 Wars" it is insightful and helpful all the way around. There are many other great books out there so please I ask you just pick up one. Thanks.
First Post:
Defying warrant, Sudan's president visits Libya
TRIPOLI, Libya – Sudan's president visited his third country in four days Thursday, this time touching down in Libya, the latest nation to welcome the leader who's wanted by an international court on war crimes charges.
Omar al-Bashir met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, praising Libya's support for Sudan following the March 4 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. His visit Thursday came after a trip Wednesday to key U.S.-ally Egypt and a stop Monday in the isolated African nation, Eritrea.
The Sudanese leader has been emboldened by the decision of the 22-member Arab League to not enforce the warrant even though three of its member countries are signatories to the court's founding treaty.
The court accuses al-Bashir of orchestrating a counterinsurgency against Darfur rebels that has involved rapes, killings and other atrocities against civilians. His government has been accused of unleashing Arab militiamen against Darfur civilians in a drive to put down a revolt by ethnic Africans in the western region.
Up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes since 2003, according to the U.N. Sudan says the U.N.'s figures are exaggerated.
Al-Bashir responded to the arrest warrant by expelling 13 foreign aid groups from Darfur, exposing hundreds of thousands of people already suffering from the six-year conflict to an even greater crisis.
He has been greeted warmly in the countries he's visited.
But as al-Bashir was in Libya, the Libyan ambassador at the United Nations in New York, Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham said his country and the U.N. are urging the Sudanese leader to reconsider the expulsion of the aid organizations from Darfur.
Shalgham, who presides over the Security Council this month, said council members agreed Thursday that al-Bashir "should reconsider the decision on suspending the activities" of the aid groups.
On Wednesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak received al-Bashir at Cairo's airport in a show of solidarity with the wanted Sudanese leader.
Al-Bashir's visits are designed to challenge the ICC and show that "he doesn't care about the arrest warrant," said Mohammed Aboul Fadl, an analyst with the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram.
"This is the same agenda that Sudan has adopted ever since the indictment became public," Aboul Fadl said. "By visiting those countries, he is saying that his African relations are not being affected by the ICC ... All those messages confirm that Sudan is not retreating, despite all the political pressures being practiced by the West."
Another goal of the visits is to get Arab countries to help Sudan cope with the gap that was left by the departure of the aid groups, Aboul Fadl said.
The Sudanese president is also slated to attend the Arab League summit March 27 in the tiny Gulf nation of Qatar. However, there have been public calls in Sudan for him to stay away over concerns he might be taken into custody while there.
Neither Libya or Egypt are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, and both countries as well as the Arab League have backed al-Bashir, arguing that the warrant could further destabilize the country.
The United States is also not a signatory to the ICC but has been strongly critical of al-Bashir following the arrest warrant.
(AP)
Second post:
U.N. council urges Sudan to let back aid groups
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council appealed to Sudan on Thursday to reconsider a decision to expel some aid groups in Darfur after an international court issued an arrest warrant for the country's leader.
Khartoum ordered out 13 foreign groups and shut down three local ones after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant on March 4 against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in the conflict-torn Darfur region.
In a statement, the council said its members "stressed the importance of continuing the distribution of humanitarian assistance to all the needy in Darfur."
They urged Sudan's government "to continue cooperating with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations and appeal to it to reconsider the decision on suspending the activities of some non-government organizations in Sudan."
The statement was read to media by Ambassador Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam of Libya, this month's council president. Diplomats said it had been agreed unanimously by all 15 council members, who include Libya, a neighbor of Sudan.
Bashir, defying the international arrest warrant, traveled to Libya on Thursday for talks with leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's government said.
Khartoum ordered out 13 foreign groups and shut down three local ones after the International Criminal Court issued the warrant on March 4 against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of war crimes in the conflict-torn Darfur region.
In a statement, the council said its members "stressed the importance of continuing the distribution of humanitarian assistance to all the needy in Darfur."
They urged Sudan's government "to continue cooperating with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations and appeal to it to reconsider the decision on suspending the activities of some non-government organizations in Sudan."
The statement was read to media by Ambassador Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam of Libya, this month's council president. Diplomats said it had been agreed unanimously by all 15 council members, who include Libya, a neighbor of Sudan.
Bashir, defying the international arrest warrant, traveled to Libya on Thursday for talks with leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's government said.
(Reuters)
Third Post:
At least two dead in arson attack on Darfur camp
KHARTOUM (AFP) – At least two people were killed after assailants set fire to a camp for displaced people in Darfur, destroying hundreds of shelters, Sudanese and UN officials said on Wednesday.
"An unknown group burnt Abuzar camp" in the overnight attack, a local government official said, requesting anonymity. "The fire destroyed 600 shelters."
The UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said two people died in the blaze at the camp near the West Darfur state capital of El Geneina. It spread fast because of strong winds, affecting about 1,500 residents.
UNAMID military and police sent to probe the fire were informed that "two armed men in military uniform and two others in civilian clothes were seen entering the camp, starting a fire ... and then fleeing," it said.
A woman died at the scene and a 22-year-old man later died in hospital, UNAMID said in a statement. Three others were seriously hurt and are being treated at El Geneina hospital.
Amy Martin, in charge of a UN aid programme in West Darfur, said the fire destroyed the food distribution centre in the camp.
A spokesman for the Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) put the toll at three dead and three injured and blamed a pro-government militia for the attack.
Ahmed Hussein accused the Khartoum government of trying to "dismantle the refugee camps."
Abuzar houses more than 12,000 of the estimated 2.7 million people displaced by six years of fighting in Darfur. The camp also came under attack earlier this month, local sources said.
A Sudanese man working for a Canadian aid group was shot dead in West Darfur on Monday night, in the third murder of a member of the embattled relief operation in war-ravaged Darfur since the start of 2009.
The United Nations says 300,000 people have died -- many from disease and hunger -- after ethnic Darfur rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, complaining of discrimination.
Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.
Reply:
This fills me with anger that can only be reduced when this genocide is halted and justice is served for the perpetrators, or at least those who orchestrated this madness. Until that happens, I will not stop sounding the alarm. In fact, I cannot stop. I hope many feel the same way. Two realities I'd like to share with anyone reading this would be....
1) If conflicts aren't resolved, efforts to support Africa's development will be underminded repatedly.
2) Political will for supporting positive agendas in Africa has a great deal of competition from many other pressing priorities, so unless we become much more vocal, little will change in how we respond to Africa.
So it is absolutely imperative that resolving conflicts and confronting mass human rights abuses be central objectives of U.S. policy of Africa. However, the U.S. government usually does not respond to cases of mass atrocities (particularly in Africa). When American people - or influential subsets of them - do not make noise, then it is highly unlikely that the U.S. government will do much more then express (or pretend to express) concern and call on the parties to lay down their arms. In the case of Darfur this is different. We have expressed great horror and DEMAND more action. So for those of you that have sat back speak up, write the government, tell your friends and family, make calls. Do what it takes!!!! If you don't know how ask, if you don't care then be on your way with your head turned away from the mass genocide that has and is still in full force.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
