Bashir: no genocide in Darfur.
I came across an article concerning the genocide in Darfur on Al Jazeera that I find rather troubling, and just wanted to bring some attention to it. I am short on time today, so I am not able to do any personal analysis related to the article, but I will do a short summary.
Sudan president Omar al-Bashir said that only 9,000 people have died in the Darfur region, and that the United Nations estimate that over 200,000 people have died is simply western propaganda aimed at justifying military intervention. He claims that there is no humanitarian crisis and therefore there is no need for world to become involved.
I don’t have to tell you how outrageous this claim is given the facts on the ground. The genocide is starting to spread like wildfire, and continues to grow more flammable with time. This denial is without a doubt aimed at preventing UN intervention in the region.
Please read the article, and if you haven’t yet, donate your time, your voice, or your money to ending this genocide.
Supreme Court begins debate on CO2 emissions.
This week the United States Supreme Court begins debating a very important case concerning the environment, the future of the planet, and overall human health. The court is considering whether carbon dioxide (CO2) should be defined as a pollutant and therefore regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. Twelve states and thirteen different campaign groups have brought the case against the EPA claiming that they have failed to perform their duties under the act. The EPA claims that it has no authority to regulate CO2 because it does not believe that it is a pollutant.
This argument (which is supported by the auto industry, the oil companies, and sadly… our government) is based on the belief that since CO2 helps sustain life it can not be considered a pollutant. This argument implies that those things which help sustain life are inherently good, and therefore we as a society can never have enough of them. As you ponder the logic at work here, I encourage you to go drink all the water your body can physically handle. As your vision blurs and you begin to vomit because hyponatremia is beginning to set in, scramble into the kitchen and open the fridge and shovel all you can into your bloated face. Now crawl outside into the sun… and stay there for the next forty-eight hours.
I know I am being facetious, but this is how truly bizarre the logic behind the corporate (and I guess government) argument is. But what is even more bizarre is that they are going to end up winning this case; which will move us further down this dangrous path that our country has chosen to build and maintain. The key clause in the Clean Air Act states that:
“The Administrator shall by regulation prescribe… standards applicable to the emission of any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines, which in his judgment cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”
The key phrase in this clause is the phrase “which in his judgement.” Due to our governments position on this issue the “his” refered to in this passage is the auto industry and the oil companies. I predict that the decision will be a 5-4 decision stating that the EPA has the right to determine what to regulate and therefore CO2 does not have to be regulated if it is not designated a pollutant by the EPA.
I hope my prediction is wrong… but given the makeup of the court its hard to see this ruling going any other way.
100 days of horror.
Following the decision by the United Nations to proceed with the Rwanda war crimes tribunal, many media outlets have been revisiting the genocide of 1994. This genocide was the most significant mass killing since World War II, and was widely ignored by the world. Roughly 800,000 thousand people were killed in one hundred days following the killing of then Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana.
I feel the need to share a slide-show that was put together by the BBC in order to remind everyone of this horrific event… especially in an age when the genocide in Darfur is continuing without much intervention from the world.
Click here for slide-show
I strongly encourage you to help stop the genocide taking place in Darfur. History does not have to repeat itself; informing the world about the atrocities that are taking place can help put an end to this tragic event. Use the link below to find out how you can help.
Save Darfur
Civil war inside of Iraq intensifies.
According to newly released United Nations statistics, more than 7,000 civilians were killed in September and October. 3,709 of these deaths occurred in October, making this the wars bloodiest month since the invasion in 2003.
The reason for this upsurge in violence has been blamed on sectarian conflict and terrorism. The report clearly implies that the civil war inside of Iraq is intensifying and is growing more dangerous every month.
“Terrorist acts and sectarian strife, including revenge killings, fueled by insurgent, militia and criminal activities are the main source of violence in the country, adversely affecting the displacement of individuals and entire communities… violence in Iraq has been increasingly acquiring a sectarian nature, with each attack generating a surge of revenge attacks in Baghdad and around the country.”
The report goes on to point out the failure of US policy inside of Iraq. As a result of US policy related to the training and development of the security forces inside of Iraq, criminal and militia forces have infiltrated the police. According to the report, this enables the civil war to continue expanding into new regions and populations.
“The inability of law enforcement agencies and the justice system to protect the population of Iraq” enables “militias and criminal gangs to operate with growing impunity.”
As the civil war expands, US influence inside of Iraq significantly decreases. The odds that a stable Iraqi government will result from this occupation have been reduced to nearly zero. Like many, I am awaiting the Baker commission report hoping that it will provide the Bush administration with the motivation needed to change policy inside of Iraq, and perhaps even lead them to re-define their current definition of “victory.”
We all have to face the facts presented by the situation on the ground, and understand that it may be too late for a change of policy to be effective. As Iraq pushes further and further into civil war, it will be the insurgent and sectarian leaders that control the fate of Iraq, not US policy.