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 Posted November 27th, 2005 at 10:57AM
The Issue of the Common Agricultural Policy
Abstract: The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy was created in a time when food supplies were not guaranteed, and the impact of the Second World War was still affecting the agricultural sector. Through the years, the CAP’s goals have changed – from providing steady supplies at reasonable prices, to providing quality, safe products, the production of which helps the rural communities in which more than half of the EU citizens live, work, and play. Many still believe that more structural, larger reforms to the CAP need to be made, but the path to these reforms is unclear.
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Posted November 23rd, 2005 at 7:53PM
The EU’s Future Role in the Middle East Peace Process:
Economic Aid to the Palestinian Authority
Abstract:
The European Union finds itself an eager mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. However, the ability of the EU to influence events politically is meager at best. EU structural problems, in addition to US as well as Israeli apprehension at EU involvement, results in a greatly lessened role than could otherwise be. The EU’s main avenue of influencing events in the peace process is through economic stimuli. EU financial aid to the Palestinian Authority is the most critical way in which the European community can exert influence. By providing adequate oversight, and tying aid with structural reforms, the EU is able to positively influence the PA.
View Here (PDF)
Posted November 16th, 2005 at 7:02PM
So, it’s big news by now, and many others have done a better job than I. The Republic of T for instance. Links to photos. It’s highly recommended that you look at them. See what’s being done with our tax dollars, eh?
Posted June 30th, 2005 at 11:10PM
The New Napalm in Iraq
Firebombing for human rights?
— By Barb Jacobs, Utne.com
June 30, 2005 Issue
First it was weapons of mass destruction. Then it was to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Now it’s to spread democracy. All arguments supporting the war in Iraq have some sort of humanitarian slant that, ironically, neglects the human cost of the war.
The Independent recently reported ($$) that, unknown to British officials, the United States has used Mark-77 (MK77) firebombs, a flaming napalm-like gel that sticks to its victims, in Iraq. The Iraq Analysis Group, which researches the effects of the war on Iraqis, told The Independent that the US “apparently lied to UK officials” about its use of “internationally reviled weapons that the UK refuses to use.”
Although the British acknowledgment of American use of MK77 has caused a stir in Parliament, the issue is not new. As pointed out by Information Clearing House, last fall another UK newspaper, the Mirror, reported American use of firebombs in Fallujah, saying, “Since the American assault on Fallujah there have been reports of ‘melted’ corpses, which appeared to have napalm injuries.”
On its website, the US State Department denies reports that napalm-like weapons were used in Fallujah, but confirms that “Mark-77 firebombs … were used against enemy positions in 2003,” and maintains that it has not used any illegal weapons in Iraq.
The Independent says the US has sidestepped the UN Convention on Certain Chemical Weapons, which banned the use of incendiary weapons against civilians, by claiming the firebombs were used only against military targets. Then again, the US didn’t really have to get around it, as it’s not a party to the convention anyway.
Also check out Incinerating Iraqis; the napalm cover up.
A public service announcement, folks.
Posted June 10th, 2005 at 2:50PM
For those following this whole Newsweek saga (I’m not one of them, thus why I’m so late commenting on it), Eric Alterman had a great column on the topic in June 20th’s The Nation. In it, he rejects ties between the Newsweek article about Koran flushings and rioting in Afghanistan, evidenced by quotes from Gen. Richard Meyers and Afghan Prez Hamid Karzai.
Alterman ends the piece on a note that rings particularly true.
The Bush Administration, in its campaign to eliminate democratic accountability, has consistently sought to undermine already faltering public confidence in the media, thereby further weakening the press’s ability to fulfill its essential role in our delicate system of checks and balances. The jihad against Newsweek, like that against Dan Rather and others, seizes upon honest media mistakes to discredit the very idea of neutral, reality-based reporting. The longer the mainstream media fail to awaken to this unhappy reality, the greater will be our collective impotence when they finally realize it’s time to fight back. For that reason–and despite its error–Newsweek’s fight is our fight too.
In the same issue, there is also an interesting piece (subscription req’d) by David Corn, talking about how stem cells could be a wedge issue for Democrats to exploit.
Meanwhile, the religious right–already furious that Republican senators had not nuked the judicial filibuster–accused antiabortion Republicans who advocate stem cell research of betraying the cause. Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council warned that his and other like-minded groups would no longer accord these Republicans 100 percent ratings. And the dust-up caused House majority leader Tom DeLay to return to Schiavo-style rhetoric. He called stem cell research–which uses cells extracted from leftover blastocysts (early embryos composed of 100 or so cells) stored in fertility clinics–”the dismemberment of living, distinct human beings.”
Dismemberment. mmm…. Tasty.
Posted June 1st, 2005 at 2:14PM
Amnesty International Report 2005
During 2004, the human rights of ordinary men, women and children were disregarded or grossly abused in every corner of the globe. Economic interests, political hypocrisy and socially orchestrated discrimination continued to fan the flames of conflict around the world. The “war on terror†appeared more effective in eroding international human rights principles than in countering international “terrorismâ€. The millions of women who suffered gender-based violence in the home, in the community or in war zones were largely ignored. The economic, social and cultural rights of marginalized communities were almost entirely neglected.
Pretty scathing stuff. Old news by now, but I wanted to be responsible and take note of it. Read the report here.
Also, a quick aside — a good, quick synopsis of recent news, courtesy of This Modern World.
Posted May 6th, 2005 at 7:55AM
U.S. Recruits a Rough Ally to Be a Jailer
By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
Published: May 1, 2005
Seven months before Sept. 11, 2001, the State Department issued a human rights report on Uzbekistan. It was a litany of horrors.
The police repeatedly tortured prisoners, State Department officials wrote, noting that the most common techniques were “beating, often with blunt weapons, and asphyxiation with a gas mask.” Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death, the groups reported. The February 2001 State Department report stated bluntly, “Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights.”
Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, however, the Bush administration turned to Uzbekistan as a partner in fighting global terrorism. The nation, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, granted the United States the use of a military base for fighting the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan. President Bush welcomed President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan to the White House, and the United States has given Uzbekistan more than $500 million for border control and other security measures.
Now there is growing evidence that the United States has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation, even as Uzbekistan’s treatment of its own prisoners continues to earn it admonishments from around the world, including from the State Department.
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You have to read the rest of this article. If you don’t have a New York Times login, try BugMeNot.com to get a temporary log-in.
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