politics | Entries tagged with issues: politics: terroism

But it's worth considering how some stories of nine year old children being killed get media attention and which don't. (I have this ongoing hatred of the fact that Fox News always seems to have some ongoing story about adolescent thin pretty cis blonde woman horribly murdered by evil barbarians that huge amounts is spent on at least while I'm visiting my mother.)

Crooks and Liars: The Shawna Forde Trial: Will the mainstream media bother to notice?

The little girl's name was Brisenia Flores. She lived near the border with her parents and sister outside the town of Arivaca, Arizona. On May 30 of 2009, a woman named Shawna Forde, who led an offshoot unit of Minutemen who ran armed border patrols for patriotic "fun". Forde's gang had decided to go "operational," which meant they concocted a scheme to raid drug smugglers and take their money and drugs and use it to finance a border race war and "start a revolution against the government". They targeted the Flores home, which had neither money nor drugs, based on dubious information. They convinced Flores to let them in by claiming to be law-enforcement officers seeking fugitives, then shot him point-blank in the head when he questioned them and wounded his wife, Gina Gonzalez. And then, while she pleaded for her life, they shot Brisenia in cold blood in the head. (Her sister, fortunately, was sleeping over at a friend's.)

Fox News did not cover the story except in one brief online article without any reference to Forde's associations with Minutemen movement

Fox simply has ignored the story. There is a single Associated Press story on the Fox website. This AP piece, notably, contains not a single reference to Forde's long history with the Minuteman movement, her close ties to Jim Gilchrist, or the fact that she intended this Minutemen squad to use its ill-gotten gains to "start a revolution against the United States government."

the_future_modernes

TRIGGER WARNING FOR DISTURBING DESCRIPTIONS.

First they came, the invisible whites, and dealt death from afar

“First they came, the invisible whites, and dealt death from afar.”
—Joseph Conrad, An Outcast of the Islands
The murderous rocket attacks by remote-controlled drones being carried out on a nearly daily basis in Pakistan (and Afghanistan and Yemen and Somaila) should be cause for mass revulsion, shame, protests in the streets. But no. Try hard to find a candidate for office from either party criticizing them. Even the scary crazy Tea Party people are down with Obama on this one!
And, in a recent poll, only 3 percent even mention Afghanistan or “the war” (which war?)—at all— as one of America’s most important problems. So drone attacks are not exactly a red-button issue with the American voter. But … just imagine it happening to you, or to your family. Johann Hari puts it into perspective well with this simple little thought exercise:

Imagine if, an hour from now, a robot-plane swooped over your house and blasted it to pieces. The plane has no pilot. It is controlled with a joystick from 7,000 miles away, sent by the Pakistani military to kill you. It blows up all the houses in your street,
( Read more. Somewhat disturbing imagery under the cut. )

What do you even say to this?

the_future_modernes

Gods and Monsters

( Greek gods analogy to explain American military's murder of civilians )

Ceremonial Evisceration

Both incidents elicited shock and anger from critics of American war policies. And both incidents are shocking. Probably the most shocking aspect of them, however, is just how humdrum they actually are, even if the public release of video of such events isn't. Start with one detail in those Afghan murders, reported in most accounts but little emphasized: what the Americans descended on was a traditional family ceremony. More than 25 guests had gathered for the naming of a newborn child.
In fact, over these last nine-plus years, Afghan (and Iraqi) ceremonies of all sorts have regularly been blasted away. Keeping a partial tally of wedding parties eradicated by American air power at TomDispatch.com, I had counted [13] five such "incidents" between December 2001 and July 2008. (A sixth in July 2002 [14] in which possibly 40 Afghan wedding celebrants died and many more were wounded has since come to my attention, as has a seventh [15] in August 2008.) Nor have other kinds of rites where significant numbers of Afghans gather been immune from attack, including funerals [16], and now, naming ceremonies. And keep in mind that these are only the reported incidents in a rural land where much undoubtedly goes unreported.

Similarly, General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, recently expressed surprise at a tally since last summer of at least 30 Afghans killed and 80 wounded at checkpoints when US soldiers opened fire [17] on cars. He said [18]: "We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat." Or consider 36-year-old Mohammed Yonus, a popular imam of a mosque on the outskirts of Kabul, who was killed in his car [19] this January by fire from a passing NATO convoy, which considered his vehicle "threatening." His seven-year-old son was in the back seat.

[20]Or while on the subject of Reuters employees, recall [21] reporter Mazen Tomeizi, a Palestinian producer for the al-Arabiya satellite network of Dubai, who was killed on Haifa Street in central Baghdad in September 2004 by a US helicopter attack. He was on camera at the time and his blood spattered the lens. Seif Fouad, a Reuters cameraman, was wounded in the same incident, while a number of bystanders, including a girl, were killed. Or remember the 17 Iraqi civilians infamously murdered [22] when Blackwater employees in a convoy began firing in Nissour Square in Baghdad on September 16, 2007. Or the missiles regularly shot from US helicopters and unmanned aerial drones into the heavily populated Shiite slum of Sadr City back in 2007-08. Or the Iraqis regularly killed at checkpoints [23] in the years since the invasion of 2003. Or, for that matter, the first moments of that invasion on March 20, 2003, when, according to [24] Human Rights Watch, "dozens" of ordinary Iraqi civilians were killed by the 50 aerial "decapitation strikes" the Bush administration launched against Saddam Hussein and the rest of the Iraqi leadership, missing every one [25] of them.

( There's so much that it makes no sense to bold. )

Its a convincing analogy I must say, and dear GOD I had NO idea that so many people had been killed like this. I am feeling extremely sick at the moment and the fact that this is what my tax dollars are paying for, and all that the news is reporting on is PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ARE GETTING GOOD WAGES OMG OMG ALERT ALERT HOW DARE THEY NOT TAKE STARVATION WAGES OUR TAX DOLLARS!!!!!! But then as that asshole that Diane Sawyer put on to justify the Wikileaks video said, its just the Fog of War. eh? ANd aren't we Americans lucky that we are the ones creating that Fog from afar, instead of living smackdab in teh middle of it.

the_future_modernes

Obama admin authorizes assassination of US citizen without trial.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Should the US expect fallout at the death of cleric?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Opinions:
Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen

the_future_modernes

Listening Post / Listening Post - Yemen news coverage

Media coverage of Yemen and terrorism, Macau ten years since the handover of Macau to China.

Listening Post / Listening Post - Copenhagen Climate Summit / Iranian blogosphere

Media coverage of the Copenhagen climate summit and news seeping out of Iran through its blogosphere

Listening Post / Listening Post - Italian media / Egyptian blogosphere

Silvio Berlusconi, Rupert Murdoch and the media in Italy and an extended interview with renowned blogger Wael Abbas on the Egyptian blogosphere

the_future_modernes

Inside Story - Mumbai attacks, one year on - 26 Nov 09

We assess the damage that still remains after the dust is settled and the way forward for India

101 East - A different India? - 26 Nov 09 - Pt 1

We ask if the governmenment's extra security measures can prevent an attck like that in Mumbai.

101 East - A different India? - 26 Nov 09 - Pt 2

the_future_modernes

The Arab street - Cairo - 16 Nov - Pt 1

In the Arab world, everyone has an opinion about everything. This week we go to Cairo and with 19 million residents - thats a lot of opinions.

The Arab street - Cairo - 16 Nov - Pt 2

The Arab street - Marrakesh - 23 Nov 09 - Pt 1

Terrorism, the economy and the USA's role in the Middle East all are issues that excite strong opinion and argument in Morocco's third largest city.

The Arab street - Marrakesh - 23 November 09 - Pt 2

the_future_modernes

RIGHTS: Outspoken Activists Defend Africa's Sexual Diversity

Yemisi Ilesanmi: African governments are afraid of the advances in LGBT human rights in other countries.

LGBT rights in Africa

Nigerian LGBT activist Yemisi Ilesanmi stresses that the focus for LGBT activism in African countries should be on decriminalisation.

In Africa, Sudan, Mauritania and parts of Somalia and Nigeria impose the death penalty for same-sex acts, according to the non-governmental International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

Sierra Leone, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and parts of Nigeria impose prison sentences ranging between life-long and 11 years.

Countries that impose sentences of between a month and 10 years are: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, the Comoros, Libya, Egypt, Western Sahara, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo, Senegal, Guinea, Mauritius and parts of Somalia. Countries that impose imprisonment without stating the period are Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Liberia.

Mauritius, Mozambique and South Africa prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation while South Africa allows marriage and joint adoption by same-sex parents.MORE

Fighting to free those found 'guilty' of Homosexuality

Alice Nkom: Lack of tolerance for diversity is one of the causes of terrorism.

CAPE TOWN, Feb 3 (IPS) - In 2003, Alice Nkom made a decision that has put her on a collision course with the police, prosecutors and judges of Cameroon. Nkom, who has been a barrister at the Cameroonian Bar for 40 years, was chatting with some young men whom she considers her own children.

She realised they were gay. Not only that, having gone after school to France to study and only ever living there as out gay men, they were oblivious to the extent of the persecution they faced for expressing their sexuality in Cameroon. Extortion and unfair prosecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are common occurrences in the Francophone west African state.

They were handsome and full of life, talking passionately about their plans. She was struck by the injustice of their situation and felt she had a duty to do something, otherwise ‘‘coming back to Cameroon means having to choose to go to jail for who you are, to have one’s dignity trampled upon all the time, to be a victim of the police’’.

She founded the Association for the Defence of Homosexuals and has ever since been acting as defence lawyer for LGBT people in Cameroon. MORE

the_future_modernes

A serious debate about torture has been rocking the United States political scene. The options seem to be: don't prosecute, have a truth commission or prosecute to teh fullest extent of the law. Personally I believe that the US has an obligation to follow its own treaties and constitution and prosecute every single soul, from Pres Bush downwards. Has anyone been following this debate? What do you think?

the_future_modernes

I like Al Jazeera English's youtube channel because they offer very good commentary on world issues. This is their take on the Afghanistan War:
Empire - Obama and Afghanistan - 29 Apr 09 - Part 1

Empire examines the path from Iraq to Afghanistan and into Pakistan. With the Iraq operation apparently drawing to a close and a mini-surge underway in Afghanistan, people in the region are wondering what this will all mean on the ground and what will the repercussions be for the region. As locals worry that they will be caught in the crossfire or killed by drones, experts question whether the strategy is the correct one or if it is too little, too late. Empire investigates what went wrong and the plan to fix it.

( Part Two )

To make matters worse Juan Cole reports that

The NYT explains that Obama is readying a major US military push to cut the neo-Taliban off from their funding sources in the poppy trade.

The problem is that a) the Taliban are probably being bankrolled by Gulf millionaires to some extent, and so ending the poppy trade will not put them down. Second, a lot of ordinary Afghan farmers depend on poppies and the new policy could push many of them into insurgency.

I had the lingering impression that Afghanistan was the just war, after all the Taliban supported and shielded Osama and it was understandable that we go in to deal with him. Or at least, that's what the American news kept telling me. But the videos reveal the complications that were ridiculously simplified, in complete disregard of the recent history of Afghanistan (hello Soviet invasion!!!) and to make matters worse, the fact that we keep such close record of US military deaths, while completely ignoring Afghan deaths, (seriously? 711 people killed by the drones, with a 94% innocence rate???? WTF??? And No one will anticipate that this shit leads to radicalization and insurgency? Really?). And questions about American empire, race and our budget being strained by wars we cannot afford while healthcare and education to name a few are a complete shambles, to the comparison to Vietnam and the clusterfuck that was keep bubbling up as well. Quite frankly videos like these are moving me firmly and inexorably to an anti-all-wars position. What are your thoughts about Afghanistan? Your reactions to the video?

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Discussion of All Things Political

January 2013

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Discussion of All Things Political

Entries tagged with issues: politics: terroism

Shawna Forde trial starting (gacked from unfunny_business)

Drone strikes kill 50 civilians to every 1 militant.

It's just collateral damage though, aint it?

In the name of terrorism (tm)

a selection from the listening post

Somehow I didn't realize that this was the anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

The Arab Street

LGBT news in Africa

Torture.

Let talk about Afghanistan

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January 2013

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