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Obama’s War: The U.S. Occupation of Afghanistan -- 'Obama and Biden will refocus American resources on the greatest threat to our security -- the resurgence of al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They will increase our troop levels in Afghanistan, press our allies in NATO to do the same, and dedicate more resources to revitalize Afghanistan’s economic development. Obama and Biden will demand the Afghan government do more, including cracking down on corruption and the illicit opium trade. Pakistan: Obama and Biden will increase nonmilitary aid to Pakistan and hold them accountable for security in the border region with Afghanistan'. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/foreign_policy/) Currently, June 2009, some 38,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Afghanistan, and the upcoming Afghan Surge will bring that number to 60,000. In addition, some 120,000 mercenaries or private contractors are also operating in Aghanistan. From an increase of armed contractors in Afghanistan to his handling of detainees, Scahill sees the Obama administration continuing what he believes to be some of the most dangerous U.S. foreign policies from the Bush administration. According to Scahill, President Obama has moved from inheriting policies to adopting them, "Obama is sending one message to the world, but the reality on the ground, particularly when it comes to private military contractors, is that the status quo remains from the Bush era". (Jeremy Scahill on Bill Moyer’s Journal, 05 June 2009) Afghan Taliban Responds To Obama's Cairo Speech:‘US President Obama has been trying to restore the dignity and credibility that America has lost since his election (as US president). Now he has turned to the Muslim world. Besides other preparations for this visit, the western media has been trying to mentally prepare Muslims for Obama..s speech for some weeks. The contents of the speech, which he delivered under the title “Address to the Muslim World” on Thursday afternoon (4 June) in Cairo, did not have anything which could play a crucial role in reducing the hatred between America and Muslims. Obama..s speech lasted for 48 minutes. However, he failed to deliver a clear and true message to the Muslim world. Obama..s speech mainly consisted of symbolic and political terms and its body was vague. Contrary to expectations, there was no sign of practical change in the hostile policy of America towards Muslims. The Supreme Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regards Obama..s speech to the Muslim world as part of the US.. misleading slogans and gives the following explanations about it’. Their third point of criticism is ominous: ‘Barack Obama wants to create divisions among Muslims and the Muslim world and to separate Muslims from their real protectors and defence force (mojaheddin) (as published) in line with his hostile policy through such speeches. These Muslim nations have willingly trained and strengthened them (mojaheddin) with their support. He is trying to create divisions among Muslims and to exploit the divisions among them. However, the religious beliefs and relations of Muslims are not so weak that they can be broken by a few words of the supreme commander of the occupation forces like Obama. Today, all vigilant Muslims are engaged in jihad in one way or the other. Therefore, the US war against the mojaheddin is considered a war against all Muslim nations and Islam’. (http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22795.htm)And Now: 'IRAQ - President Obama and Vice President Biden will responsibly end the war in Iraq so that we can renew our military strength, dedicate more resources to the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and invest in our economy at home. The Obama-Biden plan will help us succeed in Iraq by transitioning to Iraqi control of their country'. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/iraq/)..The three founding directors of Alternate Focus -- a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim -- are working together for peace and justice by offering the public media which shows another side of Middle Eastern issuesEx-Communicated: Enclosure Landscapes in Palestine (2009) ‘Ex-Communicated’ tells the story of Isreali occupation in Palestine through the genre of landscape and the perspective of a camera lens. In his series of remarkable photographs, Gary Fields, a professor of communication at the University of California, San Diego takes us behind the walls, gates, and fences of this deliberately fragmented geography in revealing Palestinian life under Israeli military rule. What he shows in these images is how the forces of occupation use the landscape as an instrument of control over Palestinians and a mechanism for dispossessing them of land and property. Much of this story is untold and largely unseen. These photos convey forcefully how the process of enclosure on the landscape has “ex-communicated” Palestinians, immobilizing them into ever-diminishing spaces, while at the same time inspiring them into heroic acts of peaceful resistance.This documentary provides a proper context instrumental to understanding the reasons behind the current conflict in Palestine. Ottoman Palestine possessed a mixed population of Muslim and Christian Arabs (97%), and a minority of Jews (3%). Nineteenth-century anti-semitism in Europe eventually led to the publication of Theodor Hertzl’s ‘Der Judenstaat’ (“The Jewish State”, 1896) calling for Jews to ‘return’ to Palestine, which led to waves of Jewish immigrants flooding Palestine. Even though Gary Fields’ presentation appears even-handed and historically accurate, pro-Israeli and Zionist organizations such as the media watchdog ‘Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America’ condemn his work as outright propaganda.Onward, Christian Zionists: Christian Zionists believe that in order to fulfill Biblical prophecy, Israel must conquer most of the Middle East. They are a growing force in American politics with ties to many powerful pro-Israel groups in Washington. Once considered a marginal doctrine among evangelicals, the dispensationalist theology of Christian Zionism includes a belief in the rapture, when the faithful are to be lifted up to Heaven while the rest of humanity—including most of the Jews—will perish...BBC Special - power of nightmares - the rise of the politics of
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. Starting in 1985 with Athens, the European Capital of Culture event has always been a highly popular and successful annual feature: “Since 1985, a total of 32 cities have been designated European Capital of Culture . . . Over the years, this event has evolved without losing sight of its primary objective: to highlight the richness and diversity of European cultures . . . and [to] encourage a sense of belonging to the same ‘European’ community”. The designation also entails the award of a prize in honour of Melina Mercouri, amounting to 1.5 million €. (http://ec,europa.eu/culture/pdf/doc633_en.pdf)The phrase refers to a policy of ethnic cleansing enacted by the Ottoman government during the Great War, which subsequently became known as the First World War (1914-18). At the time, the Ottoman heartland, Anatolia, had a population which was an uneven mix of many religious groups, with the Muslim section being in the majority. These Muslims were however not all Turks, even though they constituted a slim majority. Anatolian Muslims consisted of Kurds, Arabs, Lazes, Muslim Georgians, Greek-speaking Muslims, Albanians, Macedonian Muslims, Pomaks, Serbian Muslims, Bosnian Muslims, Tatars, Circassians, Abkhazes, and Daghestanis among others. In the course of the ongoing war, possibly as a result of a perceived security threat, or, maybe to construct a more homegeneously Islamic population composition, the Ottoman authorities decided to forcibly relocate the 'entire Armenian population of the war zone to Zor [Deir-ez-Zor or Dayr-az-Zawr] in the heart of the Syrian desert' (E.J. Zürcher). As a result, the government issued a 'Temporary Law of Deportation' (Tehcir Kanunu) on 29 May 1915, which remained in effect till 8 February 1916. In the course of the execution of this officially-approved exercise in ethnic cleansing, many Armenian Ottomans perished, the historian Erik J. Zürcher estimates that '[b]etween 600,000 and 800,000' individuals died, a number he calls 'most likely'. Problems arise now when people try to apply the term ‘genocide’ to these events. The United Nations' Convention against Genocide, adopted in December 1948 and put into effect in January 1951, defines genocide as follows: '[t]his convention bans acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group'. It seems to me that the government of the Republic of Turkey will never 'recognise' the Armenian genocide as a result of the inclusion of these four words – 'with the intent to'. The Turkish journalist Ali Bayramoğlu, and the Turkish academics Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran, Prof. Dr. Ahmet İnsel ve Dr. Cengiz Aktar started the signature campaign 'I Apologise to My Armenian Brothers' ["Ermeni Kardeşlerimden Özür Diliyorum"] on 15 December 2008. The campaign can be joined at the website www.ozurdiliyoruz.com. My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I apologize to them.France 24: REPORT -- Online Apology for the Armenian Genocide
Informed Comment
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