| |
|
4. oktober 2005
|
|
Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe has angered people by defending his disastrous land distribution policy at a UN conference on food safety in Africa.
Speaking before 170 representatives from 47 African countries, the President of Zimbabwe blamed African food shortages on droughts and “weak food safety control systems”. He also accused the West of dumping genetically modified crops on the developing world.
But he defended his policy of confiscating about 5,000 white-owned farms, which many blame for the collapse of his country’s agricultural sector.
Mr Mugabe said: “Zimbabwe’s much-vilified land reform programme is our response to the challenge of empowering more of our people, and therefore creating a wider base of farmers in the country. In our fight for freedom and independence one of the pillars of the struggle was land grievance — land, land, land, which means food, food, food to the people.”
Although Zimbabwe once exported food, about four million people now rely on food aid to survive
What on earth is the UN doing giving Robert Mugabe a platform for his insane propaganda by hosting a UN conference on food safety in his capital? What is next? A conference on press freedom in North Korea?
PS: The press statement from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) about the conference it organises with the World Health Organization (WHO) is remarkably low-key on exactly where the "first-ever Regional Food Safety Conference for Africa" is being hosted. Only the last paragraph tells us it is indeed in Harare, Zimbabwe.
11:12:07 PM 
|
|
Seixon is fisking Human Rights Watch and Andrew Sullivan over torture claims. You should read all of it, but this excerpt, quoting from HRW's report, is something that seriously harms its credibility.
Captain Fishback, bring us some more on Afghanistan's role in this:
In Afghanistan we were attached to Special Forces and saw OGA. We never interacted with them but they would stress guys. We learned how to do it. We saw it when we would guard an interrogation.
"Stress" guys, vague and good, just what we need. Kind of like what Sergeant A said:
In Afghanistan we were attached to Special Forces and saw OGA. We never interacted with them but they would stress guys. We learned how to do it. We saw it when we would guard an interrogation.
Wait a minute. Did Sergeant A and Captain Fishback say the exact same three sentences in succession? Surely just an innocent "typo" by Human Rights Watch, perhaps someone a bit trigger-happy with Ctrl+V?
Indeed. Sergeant A and Officer C is quoted in the report using exactly the same words. This requires a very good explanation!
There is a lot of evidence showing that the HRW is tendentious, to put it mildly, in its eagerness to pin abuse claims to top political and military leaders.
9:53:41 PM
|
|
We need a bit of lighter reading here now, don't we? I don't normally post jokes here, this one was just too good to pass up:
A chicken and an egg are lying in bed.
The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face.
The egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over and says "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question now, didn't we."
Via email.
7:54:21 PM
|
|
I don't have a subscription to the WSJ, so I would have missed Sadanand Dhume's op-ed on Indonesian Islamism if it wasn't for Athena providing some good excerpts.
Today, political Islam in Indonesia is stronger than ever. The speaker of Parliament belongs to the Justice and Prosperity Party, a cadre-based group with ideological roots in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. College students gather in campus mosques to study the writings of the Egyptian Islamist Sayyid Qutb or enroll in Hizbut Tahrir, a group banned in many countries for its call to reunite Muslims under a Caliphate. True, only a tiny percentage of Indonesian Muslims espouse violence, but that has been enough to make the seven years since Suharto among the bloodiest in the country's history. Terrorist attacks make world headlines, but much more goes on under the international radar. The legacy of the civil war in Maluku has segregated the island of Ambon on religious lines. Much the same is true of Central Sulawesi. Across Java, Christians complain of church burnings and intimidation.
Indonesia will never be able to stop terrorism just by going after those who actually blow up people. Movements that fuel the flames of terrorism by sharing its ideological objectives must also be confronted head-on.
PS: You'll probably remember that Sayyid Qutb is the author of the Islamofascist Bible "Milestones," an important inspiration for Egyptian Islamic Jihad as well as Osama Bin Laden.
7:38:37 PM
|
|
Pakistani security forces have arrested Taliban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi, one of the highest profile captures in a long time.
"Our security forces captured him today, and he is in our custody," said Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao.
Mr Hakimi has spoken regularly on behalf of the Taleban, who US-led forces drove from power in Afghanistan after the 11 September, 2001 attacks.
Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said he was detained in Balochistan province.
Exactly what position Hakimi had in the Taliban is unclear, but he has been for some time behaving as the official spokesman of the extremist movement, and frequent press statements about the alleged activities of the Taliban (or lack thereof, as during the Afghan election) have been attributed to him.
At a time when the Taliban's military capabilities are limited, media liason may well be the group's most potent weapon. The capture of Hakimi may thus be very important.
7:27:59 PM
|
|
Few things are more traumatic for a blogger than a dead internet connection. Luckily it came back up now, so blogging will commence in a few hours.
5:43:17 PM
|
|
|
© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.11.2005; 21:06:10.
|
|
|
