New Media » human rights

A Little Self-Interest In Afghanistan Is Not A Bad Thing

jnarvey — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:32:16 +0000

I’ve often attempted to remind readers of the importance of holding the line in Afghanistan for progressive reasons and firm principles: support for the universality of human rights, defense of women and children targeted by the thugs in the Taliban, support for democracy, the institutions of modernity and a better life for people who deserve something more than tyranny.

I’ve noted that this mission is something both in the finer tradition of Canadian interventions on behalf of freedom abroad. It is also a shining example of a United Nations-supported mission that has brought together the brave soldiers, aid workers and resources of dozens of nations in the fight against fascism and darkness.

On this note, the signs coming from Canadian politicians like Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff as well as a growing number of Conservative politicians and commentators about a renewed role for Canada in Afghanistan are very encouraging. Their brave words calling for a public debate on this important issue ought to be heeded by the Prime Minister, and quickly.

But the confirmation of perhaps $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits in Afghanistan changes the equation for some people. With reptilian logic, they will point to a conspiracy of international neo-cons and their shadowy corporate masters being the real reason for international intervention — as though 9/11 never happened and Afghanistan had never served as a safe haven for some of the worst examples of thuggery and terror that this planet has to offer.

As any rational thinking person would, I dismiss these conspiracists out of hand. But their cynical response does certainly beg the question: what precisely is wrong about foreign mining companies making a decent profit and employing thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of Afghans in good, high-paying jobs that don’t involve the heroin trade or freelance work for the insurgency? And if keeping the insurgency down permanently and avoiding a return of terror bases to Afghanistan also provides some insurance that our trade routes and economies will not be sabotaged into recession, resulting in more financial hardship for both Wall Street and Main Street, what’s wrong with that, either?

I explore these questions further in my latest Mark Op Ed, Self-Interest in Afghanistan:

Ever since the Taliban got turfed out of office by American daisy cutters from above and horseback-riding Northern Alliance fighters on the ground, Al Qaeda hasn’t been able to use Afghanistan as a base to attack our cities.

Critics will point out that the bad guys are still using places like Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the odd apartment in Denver, Colorado.

But that isn’t an argument against finishing the job in Afghanistan. On the contrary, it’s an argument for building on our successes and taking down the rest of the terrorist enclaves in failed states, as well as those in middle-of-nowhere, USA.

Other critics will say that the cost of keeping the boys in the black turbans on the run just isn’t worth it. Way more people die from car accidents than terrorist bombs. Besides, if we stay out of their countries, won’t they just leave us alone?

Again, let’s look at it from the perspective of our pocketbook. We’ve just come through a bitch of an economic meltdown. Many of us are still hurting pretty bad. So how do you think it’s going to affect the world economy if the Taliban wins in Afghanistan and an endless stream of “martyrs” the world over are emboldened to carry out even more brazen terror attacks than they do now?

Waking Up to the Challenge of Post-2011 in Afghanistan The Canadian nation endured an awful, endless sleep occasionally punctuated...
What Afghanistan Isn’t God damn you Walter! You fuckin’ asshole! Everything’s a fuckin’...
The Best Way to Taliban-Proof Afghanistan. Stay Involved Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee co-founder and professional human rights advocate Lauryn...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Justice Delayed. Justice Denied

jnarvey — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 06:15:53 +0000

Too little and far, far too late for the victims of this tragedy:

Twenty-five years after the Bhopal gas tragedy killed over 20,000 people, a local court in Bhopal convicted former Union Carbide of India Limited (UCIL) chairman Keshub Mahindra and seven others in the case, awarding each of them two years in prison.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy was an industrial catastrophe that occurred at a pesticide plant owned and operated by the American chemical company Union Carbide in Bhopal.

On the night between December 2-3, 1984, the plant released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins, resulting in the exposure of over 500,000 people.

There Will Be Justice Canadian journalist Michelle Lang and the Canadian Forces soldiers who...
The Afghan Scandal Ottawa Doesn’t Want You to Know About The Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee has released a report urging Canada...
Another Example of Canadian Justice Sentencing is supposed to provide a deterrent — except when...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s Over

jnarvey — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:21:00 +0000

“They show up wearing the kaffiyeh and shouting, and they just want to say Israel is bad, war crimes, apartheid, that is all. But that doesn’t make you pro-Palestine,” the brave Palestinian journalist and Jerusalem Post correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh told me. “That doesn’t make you pro-peace. Instead of organizing Israel Apartheid Week, they should be helping with human rights under Hamas, women’s rights under Hamas. A free press.”

From Terry Glavin in the Mark: No Israeli-Palestinian Reconciliation

Thanks to Backseat Blogger for this cartoon depicting the ruthless Israeli paintball assault on the Mavi Marvara Gaza flotilla:

Palestinian Voices. Silence or Incitement Are the Only Options Can Palestinians truly develop a free marketplace of ideas without...
Why Are the Israelis Blockading Gaza? The funny thing about nearly all of the coverage of...
We Are Just Peace Activists Carrying Humanitarian Aid for Gaza “But if you try to stop us, we will descend...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Amnesty Digs in Heels to Support Jihadist. Why?

jnarvey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:11:10 +0000

The saga of Amnesty International’s decision to stand by an extremist who characterizes the armed struggle type of jihad as “tourism” has gone from bad to worse. Gita Saghal, who was suspended from her position as head of Amnesty’s Gender Unit for criticizing this relationship in public, succinctly sums up the nefarious themes at work in a recent interview:

Amnesty has come out with a statement saying that Mozzam Begg defends something called defensive jihad. He believes in this concept and we do not believe, (that is Amnesty’s senior leadership) that it is antithetical to human rights. Now that is a most extraordinary statement which they have not made before they were forced to the media and to defend their position in the media…

Now it appears they feel his views are not antithetical to human rights and it seems that they do not understand anything about what defensive jihad means…

Is is extremely worrying if they think that ideologies that are promoting systematic violence and discrimination against women, against religious minorities…

This concept of jihad, according to Begg in an article he wrote, is an individual obligation on all Muslims. Now many Muslims would say that jihad is a spiritual obligation, it’s about an intellectual and spiritual struggle. Not everyone believes it’s about war. He specifically rejects that idea. He thinks that it is about war, and that it is an individual obligation and that people should go and fight.

What do you do when the leaders of an organization most associated with the protection of human rights decide to partner with someone whose agenda would lead to the systematic destruction of human rights? Revoking your membership with Amnesty International and canceling your monthly donations could be a start.

Gita Saghal on Amnesty and Mozzam Begg

H/T to Harry’s Place.

Amnesty International and Strange Bedfellows A whistleblower finally came forward (and was promptly sacked) for...
Amnesty International Has Lost Ability to Distinguish Right and Wrong Salman Rushdie on Amnesty’s poisonous relationship with Islamofascists: Amnesty International...
Maybe a Ban on Killing Human Beings Might Work Better? Related to the half-blind, foolish media coverage I was mentioning...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Iran’s War On Muslims Continues

jnarvey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:57:29 +0000

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s much-publicized concern about civilians in Afghanistan might carry more weight if his thuggish regime wasn’t about to execute 3000 of them:

An Afghan parliamentary delegation, that recently visited the Islamic Republic, has reported that over 3000 Afghans there are awaiting their execution…

Reporting back to the 249 member lower house of the bicameral parliament, Mr. Mujahid stated, “They (Officials of the Iranian Supreme Court) have provided us these figures that in 5630 Afghans are in Iranian prisons and from them more than 3000 of them have been sentenced to death on the basis of final verdicts of the Supreme Court.”

How much longer will we have to wait for a demonstration at a Canadian university against the “Islamic Republic’s war on Muslims”?

The Revolution to Overthrow Iran’s Santa Claus Letters to the President is a documentary showing the harsh...
Canadian Journalist On Trial in Tehran. Take Action Now Excerpts from director/producer of Hacking Democracy Simon Ardizzone’s urgent appeal...
Maybe a Ban on Killing Human Beings Might Work Better? Related to the half-blind, foolish media coverage I was mentioning...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Two Meanings of Never Again

jnarvey — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:04:23 +0000

As Darfur and Rwanda have undermined the international meaning of the phrase “Never Again”, does this expression still have relevance? To Israelis, it absolutely does, though the creed has a much more specific interpretation in this country and among the diaspora:

The phrase, “Never again”, can be taken to mean that we are united in opposing the genocide of any group or nation in a new Holocaust (though Darfurians rightly wonder at why the rest of the world chose not to live up to that creed). But for Jews, it has other meanings as well: never again will they put their security in the hands of those who could and often did make the choice to abandon them in their time of need. Even among those who spilled horrendous blood and treasure to defeat the Nazis, the Israelis wonder why these allies did not, for instance, bomb Auschwitz and destroy a camp where a few hundred prison workers were able to apply industrial methods to murder thousands of people per day.

Update: The full article is also published in the Mark: Never Again?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Afghan Scandal Ottawa Doesn’t Want You to Know About

jnarvey — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:02:39 +0000

The Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee has released a report urging Canada to continue an active role in Afghanistan after the military mission ends next year. Committee co-founder Terry Glavin and Nasrine Gross, an Afghan-American writer at Kabul University, discuss the situation on the ground.

On Behalf of a Grateful Afghan People This is a letter from Ehsanullah Ehsan, director of the...
Body Counts and Desperation Tactics During the Vietnam war, American forces were obsessed with body...
Better Translation of Taliban Propaganda Requested It seems as though Pashto-English translation at the Associated Press...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Palestinian Voices. Silence or Incitement Are the Only Options

jnarvey — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:10:28 +0000

Can Palestinians truly develop a free marketplace of ideas without a political revolution? Will the Anti-Semitic media factories of incitement get put out of business anytime soon?

It’s not looking good on either score. From my latest Rediscovering Israel post, Palestinian Censorship, Self-Censorship and the Failure of Leadership:

If there is a solution, it may have to come from Palestinians themselves, given how awesomely counter-productive international efforts from Canada, Israel and the rest of the international community have been. Palestinian Affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh is mournful on this topic. “You are funding Palestinian television, radio stations and newspapers with millions of dollars so that they can incite people to kill Jews. If anyone watches Palestinian television for just five minutes, they’ll want to go out and stab Jews immediately. Palestinians have been fed a steady stream of this hate for years and your taxpayer dollars are funding it.”

Palestinian Cleric “Explains” the “Jewish Nature” on Palestinian Authority TV

Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Refugee Camp We learned this week that Canada is the first Western...
Size Doesn’t Matter. It’s All About the Angle The Size Doesn’t Matter campaign is a brilliant counter to...
Responding to Antisemitism. Are We Too Thin-Skinned? There’s a forum tonight in Vancouver called “Responding to Antisemitism:...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Amnesty International Has Lost Ability to Distinguish Right and Wrong

jnarvey — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:37:25 +0000

Salman Rushdie on Amnesty’s poisonous relationship with Islamofascists:

Amnesty International has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group Cageprisoners, and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. It has greatly compounded its error by suspending the redoubtable Gita Sahgal for the crime of going public with her concerns.

Read the complete statement here.

This is why I have recently ended my monthly donations to Amnesty’s organization. I will continue to write letters in support of political prisoners and human rights, but I will not fund an organization whose executive seems to have lost its way.

H/T to Harry’s Place

Amnesty International and Strange Bedfellows A whistleblower finally came forward (and was promptly sacked) for...
Where’s the Outcry Over Human Rights? A 16-cannon broadside against those who would use cultural relativism...
When a Dictator Isn’t a Dictator Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is accused of acting like...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Here is a Protest We Can All Get Behind

jnarvey — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:56:19 +0000

Does the Iranian regime finally understand for whom the bell tolls? Forget the “poverty Olympics” for a moment. Here’s a protest that really ought to get some attention:

“What binds this movement is the demand for free elections, free media and respect for civil rights,” Karroubi said in a statement last week.

The opposition leaders say Iran’s constitution guarantees civil rights that are being violated by the nation’s rulers. If the movement goes beyond those demands, it will be “stabbing in the dark,” Mousavi said in an interview on his own Web site last week in which he emphasized respect for the constitution.

Mousavi also demanded the release of all political prisoners. The courts responded by handing down death sentences against 10 protesters, after two men were hanged last month for their alleged involvement in street clashes. On Wednesday, several people were arrested, a top police commander said, adding to the hundreds who have been detained. Just in recent weeks, at least 12 journalists and dozens of activists have been taken into custody.

These brutalities are par for the course. Now the thugs are adding insult to injury. I expect if the government of Canada tried the next particular trick up the Ayatollah’s sleeves, I personally know some people who would take the next plane to Ottawa to torch the parliament building:

On the eve of the demonstration, the Iranian government said it would permanently suspend Google’s e-mail service in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Further Reading
Iran braces for 22 Bahman
Student Activist: People concerned about blatant regime brutality

The Revolution to Overthrow Iran’s Santa Claus Letters to the President is a documentary showing the harsh...
Homeless to Be Forced into Shelters in Vancouver. Oh, the Humanity Actually, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad idea....
Women’s Participation Critical to Defense of Democracy in Afghanistan Afghanistan is a desperate country. Corruption robs and demoralizes the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.