human events - progressive news

Sorry for the long absence.

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Todd over at pure bs has found an item that warrants comment.

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh writing for The New Yorker, has gotten ahold of a fifty-three page report, prepared by a U.S. Major General and was not meant for distribution to the public.

My thanks go out to whomever leaked the report to Hersh. Hersh's report is both damning and incredible. It is hard to believe that humans would do such things to each other. But, we see it every day.

Harsh Russian Drug Laws are helping to fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS. Along with not providing clean syringes to addicts, the prisoning of addicts further potentially exposes them to the virus. Here's a snippet:

The Russian government excludes active drug users living with AIDS from antiretroviral treatment, a counterproductive policy in a country where over 85 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS acquired the disease through drug use. Harsh drug laws also ensure that most drug users will spend time in state detention, which puts them at further risk for HIV infection. Russian prisons are breeding grounds for HIV since federal authorities ban syringe exchange and fail to provide condoms and other HIV-prevention services in these facilities.

More at link.

Meanwhile, in Belarus Amnesty International UK is reporting that "independent trade unions and their activists in Belarus are subject to a deliberate pattern of obstruction, harassment and intimidation by the authorities in their attempt to ultimately silence them."

More at link.

The U.N. Security Council has authorized a mission to Haiti in order to help stabilize the troubled Carribean nation. The resolution calls for up to 8,000 tropps and police to bring order and "a functioning democracy" to Haiti.

Whether or not the U.S. was central in ousting duly elected Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Rebruary isn't mentioned. I can't let this pass without comment. Pacifica Broadcasting's Democracy Now! really took the lead in exposing what is potentially an American lead coup d'etat in Haiti.

A quick search of their website will allow you to get the full account of their reporting on Aristide's ouster.

Arabs are understandably furious over what they perceive as a double-standard in the Abu Ghraib scandal.

"Shame on America. How can they convince us now that it is the bastion of democracy, freedoms and human rights?" asked Mustafa Saad, reading the morning newspapers at a downtown Cairo café. "Why do we blame our dictators then?"

Fine question, Mr. Saad. It can't be thoughtfully argued that the U.S. always been a benign force. We are a state sponsor of human rights abuses. It's no secret, but rarely enters the mainstream mind.

Reuters is reporting that Amnesty Internaional is requesting that the Sudanese truce between the 'rebel factions' and the Sudanese governmet be upheld berfore the start of the rainy season to avert a humanitarian disaster. The lack of adherence to the cease-fire emperils at least 60,000 more Sudanese people who were slated to have been moved by late May of this year.

The article also provides some background color to the situation in the Sudan. A good little primer if you're not up to speed on the situation.

Turkey looks to be following the U.S. lead in cracking down on dissident voices in their own country. This is part of the global crackdown on dissidence. If it can be justified by reasons of national security, the U.S. will turn a blind eye. Remember, views not in line with your government are reason for arrest and detention. It's the Miami Model spread across the globe.

Morocco gets it right!

Safeguarding democratic values and consolidating human rights culture, constitute " the only suitable means" to shield Morocco against extremism and terrorism, said, in Mexico Thursday, a high-ranking Moroccan diplomat.

Noureddine Khalifa, Charge d'affaires of the Moroccan embassy in Mexico told a meeting of the Human Rights Parliament, made up of several non Governmental organizations (NGOs), that Morocco which is a constitutional, democratic and social monarchy, has opted since its independence for the political pluralism.

If Morocco performs real reforms, they will most likely fend off extremism. It isn't clear that external terrorist threats would be effected by internal reforms, but it's a good start. Morocco has a long way to go. We wish them well.

That's enough reading for now.

The Independent is reporting that they too(the Brits) engaged in the beating and well, pissing on at least one Iraqi POW at Abu Ghraib.

I have more news from an Arab commentator. I'll post his reaction tomorrow. The West is outraged by this behavior, the Arab street is essentially saying that these acts confirm all of their very worst suspicions about the West, and Christians.

I'll put up that piece tomorrow A.M.

Human Rights Watch is calling for a probe into the alleged - well unless the photographs shown earlier this week, you know - torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi POWs at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Caution: Graphic images!

These are the Abu Ghraib photos.

In a move to 'explain' the depraved behavior og the U.S. personnel involved, a military spokesperson claims that the six U.S. soldiers facing court-martial for the most egregious acts, "did not receive in-depth training on the Geneva Conventions, which governs the handling of captives."

So, it's a 'sensitivity training' issue? No. That behavior was that of animals. Not the human animal.

The military is taking some action. They are to be commended for that.

We just lost the Arab street, all of Islam, and any shred of empathy the world may have felt for the U.S.