Genocide Ambiguities in the World Court Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Posted by Lars Almquist in Global Interest, International Politics.add a comment
This weekend marked a very unique ruling by the World Court regarding the conflict during the precious decade in the Balkan region, particularly in the former Yugoslavian region of Bosnia. One can read the New York Times Article here.
Though there may be some peace and possibly some semblance of reconciliation that may emerge from the recent ruling finally saing that the crimes of Srebrenica were, in fact, genocide. As if the systematic extermination of 8,000 Muslim men by Bosnian Serb troops in a UN ’safe zone’ with little to no resistance and protection by the UN could be called anything else.
During the war in Bosnia, from 1992 to 1995, the United Nations declared Srebrenica a haven and promised to protect it. But in July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overwhelmed 370 lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers, seized control of the enclave and killed almost every Bosnian Muslim man and boy captured there.
That massacre led to the ruling Monday, which also stressed that other large-scale killings and abuse of Bosnian Muslims had taken place with the financial and military support of Serbia during the 1990s war that broke up Yugoslavia.
However the ruling now raises huge, and I do mean huge issues in regard to how the world prosecutes purveyors of genocide, both within and without of said government’s borders. As the crimes were labeled as genocide, and as Serbia was accused and chastised for both funding and equipping those who committed the heinous massacres 12 years ago, Serbia itself was acquitted of the indictment of genocide against its Bosnian neighbors due to a ‘lack of evidence’ of direct intent of genocide, etc.
So, if governments can equip and finance the ethnic cleansing, extermination, and even genocide, in whole or in part, of its unwanted citizens in any of its territories or neighboring regions, and then not be held morally responsible for the deaths of entire populations, what is to hold rulers back from purging their nations of their unwanted populations?
The court said that other offenses committed against Bosnians might amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but that it had no jurisdiction over those issues. It did not list specific killings or the number of victims. International organizations say more than 100,000 people died between 1992 and 1995, two-thirds of them Bosnian Muslims.
What does this mean for Darfur, Sudan? In a possibly an ironic twist of fate this week, two individuals have officially been named as possible war criminals by the International Criminal Court, which may seek to prosecute them for their genocidal actions in the western regions of the Sudan.
But what basis will there be for holding a government accountable for the actions of those it supports after this week? Will the ICC have better punitive jurisdiction over Sudan than the WC did over Serbia? Will al-Bashir and his government get away with war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide by funding and equipping ragtag militias, the janjaweed, and other anti-Darfurian forces, but without actually firing a shot themselves? Will we ever get to a point where we can try crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing under the realities of ’sins of omission’ rather than active sins of commission?
And for those who don’t have faith in the UN, ICC, WC or any other international governing body or institution, how does one get away with the current threats against Iran for its equipping and funding of insurgents in Iraq, but won’t press for the same punitive restrictions against Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe, or any other nation that oppresses its citizens by hiring mercenaries to do its dirty work of cleansing the country and the lands of its neighbors of their ‘undesirables’? Does the US or the UN have the moral authority to confront Iran at this point in time when neither entity can ensure justice to Bosnia, Darfur, Liberia, and other regions around the globe?
Quoting Miroslav Volf in his wonderful work Exclusion and Embrace, “When innocent blood cries out before heaven, is not a prophetic rage called for?” Amos would have much to say about the crimes of nations against their citizens and those of their neighbors.
3 This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Damascus,
even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath].
Because she threshed Gilead
with sledges having iron teeth,
4 I will send fire on the house of Hazael
that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.5 I will break down the gate of Damascus;
I will destroy the king who is in [b] the Valley of Aven [c]
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,”
says the LORD.6 This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Gaza,
even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath].
Because she took captive whole communities
and sold them to Edom,7 I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
that will consume her fortresses.9 This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Tyre,
even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath].
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,
disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,10 I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
that will consume her fortresses.”11 This is what the LORD says:
“For three sins of Edom,
even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath].
Because he pursued his brother with a sword
and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually
and his fury flamed unchecked,
Do we have eyes to perceive and ears to understand?
Will we stand by and find ourselves complicit as agents of ’sins of omission’ over which we have the power to prevent, but choose not to? Where will we stand while our neighbors, made in the image of God, are ‘threshed with implements of iron’ and ‘pursued with the sword’?
How will we respond?
Finally An Inspiring Candidate! Saturday, February 10, 2007
Posted by Lars Almquist in Obama, Saving Democracy.add a comment
If you didn’t wake up early to watch one of the most inspiring speeches of our generation, have no fear, you can find Barack Obama’s declaration of Candidacy for the Presidency right here.
Regardless of what side of the aisle you find yourself, Obama’s speech marks a radical shift in the way politics are approached, engaged in, and applied by both the general public and those on Capitol Hill. We’re now at the cusp of entering a politics of we, instead of a politics of ‘us against them’, of ‘us against Muslims’ ‘us against immigrants’ or ‘us against the dissenters at home who evidently don’t know what price freedom comes at’. It’s time for a new politics, our politics. A polity and political system shaped by needs of us: healthcare needs, compassionate immigration responses and reforms, needs to combat poverty instead of cutting social services from the federal budget to fund a contractor-dominated war and ‘rebuilding’ effort, and fighting to provide for the needs of inner cities and rural towns alike. If this is your kind of politics, go here and create your own profile (available soon), and begin the online grassroots advocacy to put Barack Obama in office come January 20th, 2009. Taking back America begins today. And we as everyday citizens can begin right now.
And you can find some excerpts below:
For the last six years we’ve been told that our mounting debts don’t matter, we’ve been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we’ve been told that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we’ve been told that our crises are somebody else’s fault. We’re distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.
And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what’s filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who’ve turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we’re here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It’s time to turn the page.
We’ve made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.
But Washington has a long way to go. And it won’t be easy. That’s why we’ll have to set priorities. We’ll have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility – for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation.
Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let’s make college more affordable, and let’s invest in scientific research, and let’s lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.
And as our economy changes, let’s be the generation that ensures our nation’s workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let’s protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let’s make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let’s allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country’s middle-class again.
Let’s be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let’s do this.
Let’s be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let’s be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president’s first term.
Let’s be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Let’s be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here.
Most of all, let’s be the generation that never forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists with everything we’ve got. Politics doesn’t have to divide us on this anymore - we can work together to keep our country safe. I’ve worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and destroy some of the world’s deadliest, unguarded weapons. We can work together to track terrorists down with a stronger military, we can tighten the net around their finances, and we can improve our intelligence capabilities. But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.
Obama for President Friday, February 9, 2007
Posted by Lars Almquist in Obama, Saving Democracy.add a comment
…At Least Bush Is Consistent Monday, February 5, 2007
Posted by Lars Almquist in National Interest, The Administration.1 comment so far
…With his screwing of the needy to benefit his war machine and the contractors who profit from the aforementioned quagmires.
I thought Mr. Bush’s submission of a $2.77 trillion Budget last year was shocking…..
As of today, Mr. Bush’s recently submitted Budget is a proposed $2.9 trillion…
Take that, fiscal conservatives….and poor people….and people who need prescription drugs, and……
At least Bush is consistent about his priorities:
“My formula for a balanced budget reflects the priorities of our country at this moment in its history, protecting the homeland and fighting terrorism, keeping the economy strong with low taxes and keeping spending under control,” Mr Bush said in a statement.
Consistent in his ideology, anyway. How does he plan to keep spending under control by boosting support for two concurrent wars we are not winning in both Iraq and Afghanistan? And how does he have the cajones to threaten Iran and Syria in the first place, let alone to do so while feeding the American people, whose wool scarves he somehow hopes will again find themselves wrapped over said public’s eyes, a Budget M.O. about ‘keeping spending under control’.
He will try, at least, to do so through the vehicle of cutting spending going to the poor, something any good conservative, Bible-believing leader would do, right?
Let’s ask Ezekiel and see what he thinks: (from Ezekiel 22)
23 Again the word of the LORD came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not been cleansed or rained on in the day of wrath.’ 25 There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they devour people, take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her. 26 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says’—when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.
30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
May we come to a day when the Prince, Prophets, Priests, and the People no longer actively commit injustice and shed blood, nor look away from it when our nation advances itself on the backs and through the blood of the marginalized….let alone when we seek to shed blood overseas while simultaneously compromising the basic health coverage and care for millions of Americans at home.
Yours, Mr. Bush, are not the priorities of a true American, but the priorities of dilettante approach to compassion, let alone peace.
A Back-Alley Encounter With Jesus Saturday, February 3, 2007
Posted by Lars Almquist in Jesus, Local Interest.1 comment so far
I had a conversation with Jesus this afternoon.
An encounter, really. I wish I had been a better conversationalist.
Jesus looks a little older that his GlamourShots photos I see in random buildings in this city.
He’s fairly disheveled, wears a blue baseball cap, and His hair and goatee are untrimmed and quite gray.
He wears workout gloves.
They add a very idiosyncratic nature to His handshake.
I internally noticed this anomoly, but said nothing.
Jesus then told me He goes by His street alias, Dwayne…or is it Duane?
He remarks about the beautiful day outside today as we meet.
I wonder if He’s secretly proud of His dad for doing such a good job today.
Jesus pushes a shopping cart full of clothes and recyclables down my alley.
Hence the gloves.
They’re good at multitasking:
-Preventing blisters from the hours stacked on top of each other that the cart must be pushed
-Simultaneously keeping the subsistence that Jesus digs from my 90-gallon garbage can from invading His pores.
He’s either a great planner, or simply knows how to adapt from negative experiences.
Then I got to wash His feet.
I can’t say it wasn’t awkward. For both of us.
As I pulled aluminum cans, glass bottles, and plastic containers from the can
Jesus pleaded with me to move aside so He could do it
Saying, “I’m used to it, please don’t.”
But perhaps it was His Dad telling me to keep going.
To give His Son’s back a rest from bending over and digging.
Albeit for a moment.
One very difficult-to-receive moment.
I understand Peter’s reaction now. My eyes were closed before.
Imagine pulling what I at best consider ‘redeemable trash’ from a bin
To give to and serve this son of man longing to simply find a way
To turn my refuse into His sustenance and subsistence.
I almost cried at the revelation.
The living parable I was granted to partake in barely an hour ago.
Jesus then asked me about my Super Bowl predictions.
He laughed when I said I hope both quarterbacks lose.
Jesus grew up in Chicago; thus He’s a Bears fan.
I invited Jesus over to watch the big game tomorrow.
I hope He comes.
He was skeptical at first.
I would be skeptical too, were I in His shoes.
Why is this white kid in a collared shirt doing this?
What does he want?
Is he really for me? Why?
But Jesus got over His apprehensions.
He said I’d see Him tomorrow.
I’ll root for Chicago with Him.
If you want to kick it with us, come on over.
Oceania Has Always Been at War with East Asia… Thursday, February 1, 2007
Posted by Lars Almquist in Fighting Tyranny, International Politics, Middle East Madness, W.add a comment
If only Orwell were still alive…
Was anybody else stunned beyond belief at the passing of the buck of responsibility to the Iraqis during both this speech and the State of the Union last week? That ‘our commitment isn’t open-ended’, that Prime minister Maliki is ‘on borrowed time’ according to Secretary Rice? That language that has been picked up by the Red Team and Blue Team alike in this nation, and it’s mind-blowing….like the dissent against the will of the people recently engaged in and encouraged by the self-appointed ‘Decider in Chief’ of this nation. I just pray that somehow the Blue Team representative that wins the luxury of honoring, not sidestepping, the American people and their voice in slightly less than two years doesn’t get stuck with this blunder-laden quagmire that is the war against Iraq….and potentially Iran….and Syria….and……..
Thanks Keith:
