Wisdom Quarterly: war crimes

Monday, October 24, 2011

The Peace to Come (video)

Pat Macpherson, Amber Dorrian (Wisdom Quarterly)

WARNING: Graphic images of police rioting and gratuitous use of the F word.

Before a lasting peace there may be a crack down on occupiers, dissidents, and anyone daring to complain about the unfair economic system we live under. But it is nothing new in a corporate welfare state where hypocrisy is the name of the game.

Wouldn't it be nice if capitalism actually worked and the magic of the marketplace solved everything? It doesn't even get a chance to. Libertarians think regulation is the problem. Liberals know that nothing works without some unbiased third party upholding the rules.

Government is supposed to be that party. But they have sold out the people to highest bidder. We know neither party is interested in changing anything. Both parties thrive on this system.

Give me Dennis Kucinich, give me Tzipi Livni (it's not as if she's any less qualified to run than the last two presidents and Israeli already exerts undue influence on our electoral process), give me Maxine Waters, give me Ron Paul, give me Jesse Ventura, I think most of us might settle for Palin-protege Joe the Plumber at this point.

For whosoever becomes the face of The Machine (without actually wielding any decision-making power but simply reading the teleprompter), our question is the same: "Do they owe us a living?"

Netanyahu bullies eager US Congress
RevolutionNews.US

CODEPINK activist Rae Abileah was arrested at the George Washington Univ. Hospital in D.C. after heckling the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The 28-year-old Jewish American woman was allegedly tackled by members of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during Netanyahu's speech to Congress after she yelled, "STOP ISRAELI WAR CRIMES!" Abileah was taken to the George Washington University Hospital, where she was being treating for neck and shoulder injuries. Speaking from her hospital bed, she said she was in "great pain" but that it was nothing "compared to the pain and suffering that Palestinians go through on a regular basis." More

Bradley Manning still held for exposing US war crimes and illegal government secrecy

WikiLeaks says "blockade" threatens its existence
(Reuters) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks during a news conference at London's Frontline Club Oct. 24, 2011 and calls out an illegal blockade by capitalist forces shutting down free speech.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Buddhist Sri Lanka charged with war crimes

Sri Lanka defends charges of alleged war crime

Amid mounting pressure from the western nations on Sri Lanka to investigate alleged war crime during the ethnic conflict, the government today said that that the politically motivated campaign to undermine the sovereignty of the country will fail as its friends would stand by it. Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris underlined that Sri Lanka had not been internationally isolated in the back drop of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's expert panel report which accused Colombo of war crimes and called for a probe. More

Indefensible state crimes
Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

While the sacred isle of Sri Lanka off the southern tip of India is not officially Buddhist, the majority of its Sinhalese population and most of its government officials are Buddhists. This majority waged a sustained campaign against rebel Hindu-Tamil forces attempting to secede. Keeping the relatively small island united was an admirable goal.

But there are twists and turns. The Buddhist president double-crossed his own people by secretly funding terrorist Tamil Tigers. The actions of at least one official kept the war going; Tamils eventually repaid the double cross by assassinating him. And Asia's longest running civil war continued for decades longer than it might have otherwise.

There can be little doubt that the dominant power, the Sri Lankan military and clandestine services, committed war crimes as much as it pains Sinhalese citizens to admit as much.

However, we cannot take sides with war criminals -- particularly state-sponsored actors -- simply because they espouse Buddhist values or aspirations. The civilian Tamil minority (shown here protesting in the US and UK) was wronged. This continued even after the cessation of hostilities when they were sent to detention camps and stripped of dignity and land. Unless countries and religions take the high road when they hold power, how can they ask others to take that road when they themselves are powerless?

Of course, Tamil Tigers committed atrocities of their own as a rebel force, and this cannot be justified.

But in light of their subordinated status in Sri Lankan society and the discrimination they face as a racial and religious minority, Tamil behavior is more understandable than the government counter measures taken against them. There are comparable situations in Palestine/Israel and the rest of the world versus such superpowers as the USA, England, USSR, China, and Rome.

How will anyone defend abuses by legitimate powers? At least China officially renounced Buddhism in favor of communism before engaging in a campaigns of atrocities against the citizens/subjects it claimed -- Tibetan, Taiwanese, Uighurs, and other ethnic (non-Han Chinese) minorities.