You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘International Affairs’ category.
This article from Al Jazeera is yet another exemplar of how societies, if they wish to have freedom and human rights as key features, must steer away from theocracy and toward rational, secular rule.
Religion: Persecuting and possibly executing human rights activists.
Shiva Nazar-Ahari charged with “warring against God” and having links to opposition groups as trial opens in Tehran.
A court in Tehran, the Iranian capital, has tried a female human rights activist and journalist on charges including “warring against God,” which has the potential punishment of death.
Shiva Nazar-Ahari, 26, went on trial on Saturday “on charges of Moharebeh [warring against God], conspiring and gathering to commit a crime, propaganda against the regime and harming public order,” Mohammad Sharif, her lawyer, said.
How lovely; and sadly, unsurprising as the corrosive effects of religion are clearly on display for the world to see. Where religion is a dominant force we can simply toss away rational thought and belief in reality. You can be put to death for creating war on fictive characters that most likely do not exist.
Consider, if god is omnipotent, does he really need to be defended by mere mortals? I would think that if he existed he could deal quite succinctly with anyone that brought war to his house. However, in context of a human based and perpetuated theocracy that will actually kill people who dare to question its bullshite beliefs the reasons are evident. Persecuting people for calling the deluded on their fatuous nonsense becomes a useful method for dealing with dissent and rational objections to state endorsed mythology.
“But the story here is not about a trial or seeking to get to the bottom of a crime. It is about trying to created a narrative that the authorities would like to portrary about justifying the continued clampdown that we are seeing in this country.
A sham trial that is propping up a vapid theocracy, nothing new here. Expect more to come soon as Tehran roots out more people who dare to make war on imaginary beings.
*Update: The situation is not improving.
Media lens is currently calling another Independent reporter on their uncritical treatment of Tony Blair and his sentiments toward the Palestinians. Go to the Media Lens website for the entire deconstruction.
A snippet from John Pilger caught my attention, I will repost it here:
In similar vein, Macintyre made a cryptic reference in his article to the “tragically abortive peace talks at Camp David in 2000”. This “tragic” episode is “Israel’s most important contemporary myth”, John Pilger writes. The myth states that Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians the return of “90 per cent” of the Occupied Territories and that Yasser Arafat turned him down. Arafat’s alleged rejection of this “unprecedented act of generosity”, to quote the myth once again, became the launch pad for renewed abuse of the Palestinians, including the building of an apartheid wall.
Pilger writes of the peace talks in 2000:
“There was no ’90 per cent’ offer. At Camp David, Barak promised a token military withdrawal from no more than 12 per cent of the Occupied Territories. He also made it clear that Israel had no intention of giving back any part of Greater Jerusalem, which covers some of the best Palestinian land and is the administrative and cultural heart of Palestine. Most of the illegal settlements, which controlled 42 per cent of the West Bank and Gaza, would stay, leaving the Palestinians with fragments of their original homeland, or 15 per cent of pre-Israel Palestine.” (John Pilger, Freedom Next Time, Bantam Press, London, 2006, pp. 107-108)
“In practice,” wrote Barak’s chief negotiator at Camp David, Shlomo Ben-Ami, before taking up his negotiator’s role, “the Oslo agreements were founded on a neo-colonialist basis, on a life of dependence of one on the other forever.” (Quoted, Pilger, ibid.)
It is nice to see we are giving the Palestinians a fair shake with our obvious generosity.
The infidels are swarming in the middle east. Measures must be taken to combat this outbreak of critical thought and rationality. Fortunately brothers (any sisters present get out now, double shame if you’re not barefoot and burqa’d) action is being taken.
“CAIRO – Egypt’s most prominent democracy advocate accused President Hosni Mubarak’s government Saturday of posting Facebook photos of his daughter in swimsuits and at events where alcohol was served in an attempt to discredit him.
Keep your eyes on this 'atheist'!
Mohammed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former U.N. nuclear chief, was quoted in the independent Al-Dustour newspaper as saying the government is “waging a campaign of sheer lies” by using the photos to portray him and his family as nonbelievers — a politically damaging accusation in an increasingly conservative Muslim country.
We have the infidels, women in public with bathing suits and even a greater sin, dare I say it? Alcohol. Warm up your stoning arms people.
“The more than 30 photos were posted under the title: “Secrets of 
the ElBaradei family.” Some show his daughter in swimsuits at the beach and sitting at events in front of what appeared to be bottles of alcohol. Drinking is forbidden in Islam and conservative Muslims would generally consider a woman appearing publicly in a bathing suit to be immodest.”
The scandal. It is shocking. Truly shocking.
“ElBaradei has drawn the government’s anger with a campaign he started early this year boldly calling for electoral reform and constitutional amendments that would allow a credible candidate to challenge the ruling party in next year’s presidential election.
Respected internationally and untouched by the corruption tainting much of Egypt’s regime, ElBaradei brought together a coalition of young activists and opposition groups to push for change.”
Yes! We shall smear this activist for opposing our regime. There may be a few rotten apples in the barrel of the Egyptian government, overall we are a transparent, open democracy.
“The Facebook site also says his daughter is married to a Christian and shows an image of what it purports is her real profile from the social networking site listing her religious status as agnostic.
The Facebook site also accuses ElBaradei himself of being an atheist and of seeking to deceive Egyptians by touring mosques and being photographed praying.”
The forces of freedom in action.
We saved the best for last a double hit! ElBaradei’s daughter is married to a Christian and ElBaradei himself is an atheist!
Checkmate brothers! We have ferreted out this unbeliever in our midst, he claims he wants responsible government by the people, but we have exposed him. He wants to take our gods away and we all know the sinful immorality that will follow once that happens.
Never fear though brothers we shall keep reason safely at arms length! Allah Ackbar!
Speaking of how not to win a war, this in from Afghanistan.
“Hundreds of villagers have blocked a highway in eastern Afghanistan to protest a night raid by Nato and Afghan soldiers that left two people dead. A statement from the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said two “Taliban insurgents” were killed in the raid in a district near Jalalabad. But villagers said the men were civilians; their protest temporarily closed the highway connecting Jalalabad to Pakistan on Wednesday.”
Two possible insurgents dead, an entire village up in arms protesting to the murder, according to them, of two innocent people. If this is what the people of Afghanistan associate with the US/NATO effort there, then indeed this war, just like Iraq, is lost.
“The protest mirrored a similar demonstration last week, when Nato and Afghan forces raided a house in Wardak province. Neighbours claimed the night raid killed three civilians, and hundreds of them took to the streets to protest the following afternoon.
Afghans have staged a number of similar protests in recent months: Villagers near Jalalabad burned tyres in May after a night raid killed at least nine people, and hundreds protested after Nato troops opened fire on a bus in Kandahar in April.”
The legacy being written, as with every other occupation of Afghanistan, is in the blood of innocents. They will rise once again and push out the occupying armies from their land.
“A United Nations report released last week found that raids by Nato troops killed 41 civilians in the first half of 2010.
Night raids have been a particular point of friction between Nato and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. Karzai demanded an end to all night raids in February.”
The puppet Karzai can demand all he wants. His protests fall on mostly deaf ears, after all it is only his country and people that are being destroyed.
No accountability, No Problem!
Iraq is a free for all. Although a glimpse of accountability has been reported.
“The private security contractor previously known as Blackwater, has agreed to pay $42m in fines for hundreds of violations of US export rules, according to the New York Times.”
Not particularly surprising given the ethical free fall that has characterized the mercenary forces hired by the US government in Iraq.
“The violations included illegal weapons exports to Afghanistan, making unauthorized proposals to train troops in southern Sudan, and providing sniper training for police in Taiwan, the newspaper said on Friday”
Whoops! But is anyone going to jail for this? Or course not. The status quo will be maintained after a fine is payed.
“The New York Times reported that by reaching the agreement with the US state department to pay the fines, the company avoids criminal charges over the violations of US export control regulations.”
Export control violations. I suppose this is a limping stride toward justice.
‘Paying the fines will allow Xe to continue to compete for government contracts, the New York Times said. US export rules mandate government approval for the export of certain types of US military technology or knowledge. But Xe “began to seek training contracts from foreign governments and other foreign organisations without adhering closely to American regulations”, the newspaper reported.
War is a profitable business.
It “also shipped automatic weapons and other military equipment for use by its personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan in violation of export controls, and in some cases sought to hide its actions”, the New York Times said.
Again, rather unsurprising given the lack of oversight and murky chain of command that mercenaries follow. I mean, they are not bound by military regulations or even the Geneva Conventions. They are there to ‘get’er done’. And usually by any means necessary.
Wrist thoroughly slapped, Blackwater Ex, can continue on its merry way, making the world safe for democracy and freedom.
Update: I’m not sure about RT, but they do get more voices on the air that represent dissident opinion. Their piece on the US ‘Withdrawal” in Iraq.
It is hazy and smoky outside and I feel a bit under the weather, so I post another Chomsky interview, this time on from Russian Television topics include the Afghanistan War, Obama and the American Economy.
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…