Posts Tagged ‘Middle East’

This from today’s Guardian
The US has lost track of about 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces since the 2003 invasion, some of which will have ended up in the hands of insurgents, according to an official report published in Washington. Among the missing items are AK-47 rifles, pistols, body armour and helmets.
As Lady Bracknell [...]

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I am not shedding tears at the death of Saddam. Nor is this a rant on the inappropriateness of the death sentance. Instead it is a lament for justice.
‘Justice’ that is delivered without due process being followed is vigilantism – and there is no worse example for Democracy (let’s not forget that Iraq was invaded [...]

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… what ever that is supposed to mean, is gaining popularity world wide. In amchi Mumbai, the standard response to any calamity is ‘we need to deport all those Bihari’s and Bhaiyas from here. When crime goes up – the response is the same … get rid of the Northerners‘.
When terrorism strikes – the response [...]

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Last week i had posted my reaction at Dick Cheney being offended by the use of the word Gulag. I observed that it would have been so much more humane if he had been offended by torture perse.
Bernardo, Yazad and I have been having an interesting exchange of ideas on Semantics. Essentially the use of [...]

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Last week poor Newsweek got jhapoed by the Pentagon for publishing a report on the desecration of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay . The Pentagon put on its most angelic face and swore that nothing of that sort had happened.
Newsweek was blamed for the riots that ensued in Afghanistan leading to loss of life. I [...]

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Today, Amnesty International has called for the shut down of Guantanamo Bay – labelling it the American Gulag.
Amnesty, in probably one of its most contreversial reports in recent times, says:
The US administration’s attempts to dilute the absolute ban on torture through new policies and quasi-management speak such as “environmental manipulation”, “stress positions” and [...]

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The Pentagon has reached a new low. It has accused Newsweek of being “irresponsible” for suggesting that interrogators desecrated the Holy Koran. The Guardian reports a spokesman for the Pentagon saying:

” ….our reaction is that Newsweek reported something that was factually inaccurate on several points. It’s demonstrably wrong, and Newsweek has acknowledged that. [...]

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Yasser Arafat died today. I hope that he finds the peace that so eluded him in life.
He, more than anyone else, ensured that the Palestinians were not forgotten. They didn’t become another statistic in a desire by the West to assuage their collective guilt over the Holoucast .
However, I wish that he had the [...]

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If a soldier refuses to obey orders, is it Mutiny or an act of conscience? One of the boards’ I am on is currently polarised on the topic. The topic, of course, is a report that states that an American Platoon in Iraq refused to follow orders. Half the board wants to see the platoon [...]

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Saudi Arabia is finally having municipal level elections early next year, ushering in the first whiff of Democracy. In this too there is a caveat. Women cannot vote. The excuses offered are ridiculous. Lack of female staff and photo identity can both be overcome if the Government has the desire to do so.
We are in [...]

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