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Here is the dilemma: launch military action to save civilian lives -- and yes, civilians were threatened -- but only because they wanted to oust an autocrat (tyrant, etc.). When civilians started to march to that drum, when did they stop becoming civilians, and started to become a "rebel" military force? And are rebels owed the same protection as civilians? If the rebels were to massacred, it will be a civilian massacre. But if they win this conflict, and change the leadership in Tripoli, then they would do so as a rebel army. It's no secret that the west would rather no deal with Gaddafi. The man easily flips between lunacy and pragmatism (yes -- remember eight years ago, when he decided to "change" his stripes). But will the west stop short of holding off Gaddafi's forces, or will they assist the rebels militarily? Will the west go all the way and enable a regime change? Taking out Gaddafi's air force was one thing, but crippling his military i...

War is war, but this isn't war anymore. This is just plain state-sponsored terrorism. I don't understand why the Americans can't see that they will win no friends; not secure the American homeland; and not make the world a safer place. With the release of the top secret US military documents by Wikileaks , the world is getting a little glimpse into shadowy world of special forces operations in Afghanistan. The CIA's Special Activities Division , along with the Army Rangers , Green Berets , Navy Seals , and special operations groups from other countries, including Canada, are waging a covert war to find and kill, suspected terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and who knows where else. Killing the bad guys isn't a problem for me. But killing innocent civilians along the way -- that just doesn't work. And as the History News Network reports , a lot of civilians are getting killed. How many is unknown, because for one, the records for the operations conducted...

Wikileaks has obtained and decrypted this previously unreleased video footage from a US Apache helicopter in 2007. It shows Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen, driver Saeed Chmagh, and several others as the Apache shoots and kills them in a public square in Eastern Baghdad. They are apparently assumed to be insurgents. After the initial shooting, an unarmed group of adults and children in a minivan arrives on the scene and attempts to transport the wounded. They are fired upon as well. The official statement on this incident initially listed all adults as insurgents and claimed the US military did not know how the deaths ocurred. Wikileaks released this video with transcripts and a package of supporting documents on April 5th 2010 on http://collateralmurder.com . Namir Noor-Eldeen was 22-years-old when he was killed. It is true, in war, accidents will happen. What follows however, shouldn't have been a bending of the truth -- or just plain lies. In this case, it's hard ...

Six million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis between 1945-46. Six million people. And after the second world war, we, the world, vowed we would never let it happen again. As of the 2007 survey of the conflict in the Congo, since 1998, 5.4 million people had been killed. At a rate of 45,000 a month, the deaths have now surpassed the 6 million Jews from the second world war, and still, the world shows little interest in putting an end to it. As horrific as the numbers are, the horrors don't end there. Slaughter doesn't even begin to describe what the women are being put through in the Congo. Rape doesn't describe the horror. Words fail to describe the horror being inflicted, repeatedly, on little girls, teens and women. Congo is especially noted for a conflict where war is waged on women -- on daughters, sisters and mothers. And we do nothing about it. What does that say about the rest of us? in reference to: Special Report: Congo ( view on Google Sidewiki ) “It ...

Pirates are thieves. There's nothing really nice about what they do. That being said however, the Somali pirates may offer a few benefits that should be reflected on in this imperfect world. To start with, the Somali piracy problem may be a bit overblown. If 22,000 ships passed safely by Somali pirates last year, and only hundreds were taken for ransom -- recorded hijackings put the number at 42, last year -- resulting in about a $100m loss due to ransoms -- then is it really a big problem requiring the world's navies to try and manage? To increase patrols would cost a lot more money. Economically, it might be just as effective to pay higher insurance premiums and take the risk. The pirates themselves make it a dangerous place for ships to be -- especially closer to coast. There is already evidence that ships have used the waters off Somalia to dump toxic waste -- including nuclear material. Illegal fishing off Somalia's coast has also been a problem. Somalia, a fa...

Source: Uppsala Conflict Data Program (Date of retrieval: 09/09/21) Wish I could say " happy peace day " ... but there's anything peaceful about this day.

The UN refugee agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has a stated purpose to lead, coordinate and safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees worldwide. It exists to ensure "everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country." And by UNHCR's own count, business is unfortunately quite good, and has only been getting better since the agency was established at the end of 1950. UNHCR today lists 31 million people to be in some state of concern around the world -- directly assisting 4.5 out of 11 million refugees, and advocating for the rest. It's an admirable job, with Africa, the Middle East and Asia, getting most of the attention. Wherever there is trouble, you'll probably find the UNHCR logo fluttering in the parched, smoky and quite possibly, violent winds. Critics of UNHCR however hardly see th...

Well here's a surprise. Obama has authorized the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison that the Bush Administration has used to illegally imprison people from around the world on charges of terrorism -- without due process, without trials, and without proof of committing a crime in some cases. The Obama Administration is now looking into each and every case -- an exercise they were barred from doing until Obama became president. What have they found ? [They've] discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them [the 245 prisoners]. Instead, they found that information on individual prisoners is "scattered throughout the executive branch," a senior administration official said. The executive order Obama signed Thursday orders the prison closed within one year, and a Cabinet-level panel named to review each case separately will have to spend its initial weeks and perhaps months scouring the corners of the federal government in search of relevant m...

Launch attacks. Brace for the retaliation. Escalate the violence. Get world attention. Start the propaganda war for the hearts and minds of world opinion. Let the cry-track play between the spates of artillery fire. After the death toll reaches an acceptable horrendous level, negotiate a ceasefire. Rewind. Repeat. The result from the latest situation war between Palestine and Israel: 22 days of fighting -- mostly Israel bombing the hell out of everything 1,300 lives taken in Gaza -- close to 60 per day 412 of the dead are kids 5,450 are wounded in Gaza 1,855 of them are kids 13 Israelis die 500,000 people are without access to clean drinking water Sewage and sanitation systems are gone Nothing positive was accomplished. It wasn't really worth it. Hamas and Israel both share the blame.

Well, if this doesn't beat it all -- former poster boy for terrorism, Muammar Qaddafi -- has written an opinion piece in the New York Times , proposing a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian hatred. I've thought about this one before two, but wouldn't have been able to put the case forward as simply as Qaddafi does. Many believe in a two state solution -- if only Israel and Palestine would see reason. But they won't. And even if they do, the regional players would do their best to fuck it up. Qaddafi rips apart conventional wisdom of pulling the two warring tribes apart, and instead, proposes an interesting idea. Force them together. It's not such a far fetched idea, as Qaddafi points out. Assimilation is already a fact of life in Israel. There are more than one million Muslim Arabs in Israel; they possess Israeli nationality and take part in political life with the Jews, forming political parties. On the other side, there are Israeli settlements in the West ...

On the idyllic Parash Hill, just outside of Sderot , there are spectacular views of a nature reserve, the Mediterranean sea and Gaza City in the distance. From this spot, Israelis come these days with binoculars and zoom lenses, not the catch an elusive bird, but to delight in the thrilling and relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israel forces. Sderot is within striking distance of Hamas' Qassam rockets. The town has endured its fair share of bombings. Now, it's time for revenge . An eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24). But not an eye and a life for an eye.

Content warning: following some of the links in this post will expose you to some harrowing images that you may not be able to forget. Please use caution in following the links. The Garamba National Park , Congo -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980 and also having the dubious privilege of being on the World Heritage Sites in Danger since 1996 -- is home to the endangered northern white rhino (which may have gone extinct in the park), along with other animals, and refugees and armed rebels . The park's 4,920 km² is patrolled by park rangers who are losing a battle to preserve the park in the midst of heavy fighting between Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and forces from Uganda, the Congo and South Sudan. The leaders of the LRA are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court -- but not for the disaster they're making of Garamba National Park. There aren't courts set up to try and execute bastards such as Joseph Kony , who cu...

I've posted about this before ... the Somalian pirates are opportunists -- driven by economic necessity, pure criminality and, some desire to seek justice from the nations in the world that's been raping their coastline for years. The Huffington Post has an article on the stealing of fish and the dumping of nuclear waste along the Somalian coastline. Now, the nations of the world have a new source of terror to fight against, and navies are racing to the scene from many nations, including the US, the Europeans and the Chinese. Sometimes, there is no justice in this fucking world.

This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein’s grandfather King Abdullah, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In the article, King Abdullah disputes the mistaken view that Arab opposition to Zionism (and later the state of Israel) is because of longstanding religious or ethnic hatred. He notes that Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, and that Jews have historically suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe. Pointing to the tragedy of the holocaust that Jews suffered during World War II, the monarch asks why America and Europe are refusing to accept more than a token handful of Jewish immigrants and refugees. It is unfair, he argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the crimes of Europe. King Abdullah also asks how Jews can claim a historic right to Palestine, when Arabs have been the overwhelming majority there for nearly 1300 uninterrupted years? The essay e...

The blood of Sheikh Nizar Rayyan and the blood of other martyrs will never be wasted and the enemy will pay a heavy price for the crimes it has committed. -- Hamas official That was the response from Hamas after Israel targeted one Hamas' leaders. A 1 tonne bomb was dropped on the four storey apartment building where he lived, killing Rayyan, two of his wives and four of his children. Of course, this will continue to get worse before it gets better. Israel doesn't want peace, and the Palestinian leadership doesn't care about their people.

I'm no longer going to allow Israel to play the holocaust card. Time and again, Israelis, Jews, and those not want to be accused of being holocaust deniers, have held their tongue, while Israel plays the bully in Palestine. I'm sure if the world turned a blindeye, Israel would wipe the Palestinians off the face of the planet. The latest violence that has erupted in the Palestine is yet another example of Israel showing just how far they can go, thumb their nose at the world, because the Americans will always be there to back them up. That's go to end. If the world accepts this violence from Israel, we accept it from every other military force in the world. This level of offensive action against the Palestinians -- because let's face it, it's definitely not just targeting Hamas -- is totally uncalled for; and it's the type of violence that is seen from every two-bit dictatorship around the world. Israel can claim they're a first world democracy, but ...

I'm not sure what to do with this one . Old Afghan warlords being bribed with viagra to cooperate with US troops. Isn't that like selling the sexual services of (probably) young Afghan women (probably girls) to get a leg up on the war on terrorism?

Oh, will we never learn? Apparently, the US military wants to arm Afghan tribes so them can take on the Taliban in areas of the country, where few dare to send troops. WTF? Haven't we learned anything from our past excursions in the developing countries? Arming people who are your friends today to fight a proxy war will only end in disaster. It has never ended good. The Taliban was armed by the US to fight the Russians -- look how that turned out? Saddam Hussein was armed by the US to fight Iran -- and that created another mess. Look at what's happening with Israel -- armed to the teeth, it seems less interested in peace as it routinely encroach on Palestinian lands. Sigh. At least Canada isn't going along with this one.

The problem of landmines in Africa is horrifying in its numbers, as it is deadly effects. The numbers are astounding. There are probably close to 45 million landmines scattered across the continent, left over from various conflicts – much of the mines having been manufactured, sold or given to various pet projects by the developed world to fight their proxy wars. To make Africa a safer place, heavy investment is needed and lots of time. Traditionally, dogs have been used to sniff out mines so they can be properly disposed of. But dogs take a long time to train, are costly to maintain and there are only so many dogs that can be handled. Enter a new and unique solution to this problem: rats. Not just any rats however – HeroRATS ! HeroRATS is project by APOPO , that train rats to sniff out landmines (as well as certain diseases and as to aid search and rescue workers). Other ways of detecting landmines are expensive and rely on foreign expertise for development, maintenance and e...