tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66595314609369025962024-03-05T06:29:46.112-05:00Elected Swineherd"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side." - Orson Scott CardElected Swineherdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17877175966852945625noreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-27913202377914356582009-03-20T13:07:00.007-04:002009-03-20T13:44:17.106-04:00Violent Video Redux...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIXI3t2M9PsS1SX_W2PDv1n-SLJLo2JzvCWZjA1uKohffUjesc05odG1ovfpeT4l2BeZK4Ihyphenhyphen0VHphFlxP3WjBCHjVvQbC7OPfjITG8bKnMKtmpnxXmDdf-v-obLEC9brifkUoKpRxN3V/s1600-h/Far+Cry.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315325510970697730" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIXI3t2M9PsS1SX_W2PDv1n-SLJLo2JzvCWZjA1uKohffUjesc05odG1ovfpeT4l2BeZK4Ihyphenhyphen0VHphFlxP3WjBCHjVvQbC7OPfjITG8bKnMKtmpnxXmDdf-v-obLEC9brifkUoKpRxN3V/s200/Far+Cry.jpg" border="0" /></a> An earlier post by yours truly chided well-meaning but misinformed American (ah, but I repeat myself) parents who allowed their children to play violent video games as long as they followed the "laws of war."<br /><br />Now, <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,614558,00.html">a German retail giant has gone a laudable step further, as this article in Der Spiegel explains</a>. Following a high-school killing spree that left 15 people dead, it was discovered that the shooter had spent the previous night virtual opponents in much the same manner that he would slaughter his classmates a few hours later. Galeria Kaufhof has now pulled all copies of such first-person shooters from its shelves and vowed not to distribute ultra-violent games.<br /><br />The German government is also considering banning these types of games outright; said Joachim Hermann, the Bavarian interior minister "<em>We must finally muster the courage to ban the most brutal games... It's not a question of media and artistic freedom anymore</em>."<br /><br />Bravo, Herr Hermann! Anyone who doubts the farsightedness of this policy should definitely read<a href="http://www.killology.org/on_combat_ch7.htm"> Chapter 7 of Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman's book "On Combat"</a>, some highlights of which include:<br /><em><br /><blockquote><p><em>Through violent programming on television and in movies, and through interactive point-and-shoot video games, modern nations are indiscriminately introducing to their children the same weapons technology that major armies and law enforcement agencies around the world use to “turn off” the midbrain “safety catch” that Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall discovered in World War II. In terms of combat evolution, this indiscriminate use of combat conditioning techniques on children is the moral equivalent of giving an assault weapon to every child in every industrialized nation in the world.</em></em></p></blockquote><br />It remains to be seen if Germany will succeed in making Galeria Kaufhof's corporate policy of sacrificing the profitable sale of an addictive and dangerous "virtual substance" to increase public safety a national policy, or if it will succumb to the pressures to prostitute the public welfare to those who would rather make bloody lucre from the wholesale export of virtual violence as "good, clean fun" for <em>der kinder, </em>while hiding behind the myth that companies and citizens have an inherent "freedom of expression" and "artistic license" that transcends the common good.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Cleitus the Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08881172050606497640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-82123851368222708682009-03-12T07:05:00.002-04:002009-03-12T07:13:05.614-04:00Misrule of LawI can't think of anything dumber than <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/03/12/world/AP-ML-Iraq.html?_r=1&hp">the sentencing of Muntadhar al-Zeidi to three years in Iraq prison for throwing a shoe at President Bush during an unannounced visit to the country</a>. Not that the punishment isn't justified - though the defense argues shoe-throwing is an exercise of free speech, I think it's fair to consider it an assault on a foreign leader. But that's not the point. This will only exacerbate al-Zeidi's role as a focal point for anti-occupation sentiment, and increase instability in Iraq. The court could have made its point while slapping him on the wrist and punishing him with the time he's already served.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-52171596140102072742009-02-25T23:51:00.010-05:002009-02-26T20:39:50.649-05:0013-Year Old Vows to Honor Geneva Convention in World War Two<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm97zK1D-5wer2zEqHQxVyXksuRrdQrIYNa14337HX2Ek4aPqm07sR6hmQpcp5oKWjtjW1i0b2hDS0Si5sO3SpsB2T-68i4o1zd8Yg8f7aoC6QyyhUw-MNOAAqu1S71Koy0_Qnj8bDKlmM/s1600-h/COD.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306975934852160274" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 142px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm97zK1D-5wer2zEqHQxVyXksuRrdQrIYNa14337HX2Ek4aPqm07sR6hmQpcp5oKWjtjW1i0b2hDS0Si5sO3SpsB2T-68i4o1zd8Yg8f7aoC6QyyhUw-MNOAAqu1S71Koy0_Qnj8bDKlmM/s200/COD.jpg" border="0" /></a> Despite the minor fact that the majority of the Geneva Conventions did not exist in World War II, a <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/22/parent-of-gamer-asks.html">chubby 13-year-old</a> has convinced his parents to allow him to play "Call of Duty" on the conditions that he honors the guidance contained in the 1949 agreements.<br /><br /><div><div><div>This kid's parents think they're being responsible; in fact, they're merely showcasing their ignorance. It's quite impossible to break any <a href="http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/genevaconventions">Geneva Conventions</a> in the game; characters have no chance to torture, execute prisoners, or launch attacks against civilian populations, although they get to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YDwlwr1b24">witness those acts in graphic cinematic sequences</a>. </div><br /><div>The scoundrel's only possible chance to tread a fine line is to fire a finishing shot into an already mortally wounded opponent; and this would probably be justified by the fact that many of those opponents will planning to make a "last stand" attack where they draw a pistol and blaze away until they run out of ammunition, or until they get shot again.</div><br /><div>Still, gory and realistic though this game is, it's hardly an educational training ground for learning the nuances of International Humanitarian Law. What it really represents is an opportunity for out-of-shape American youth to exercise their bloodlust without endangering themselves.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br>If young Evan Spencer really wants to learn something about war, there's plenty of hot-spots in the world where another teenage meat-puppet could make themselves useful as a bullet sponge. </div><br /><div>What do you think, Dear Readers? Is ol' Cleitus being too hard on today's callow youth? Is it in fact, the reverse - not that we have too many gratuitously violent games and movies here, but not enough over there? Would Chechens and Russians, Azeris and Armenians, Serbs and Kosovars, Israelis and Palestinians be less likely to fight if they could just sit down around an X-Box and kill electronic simulcrums of each other?</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Cleitus the Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08881172050606497640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-86871476021047025922009-02-13T16:17:00.002-05:002009-02-13T16:28:00.156-05:00Once more into the breach...Kudos to my distinguished colleague Diodotus for having largely shouldered the burden of running this humble discussion for the last several months.<br /><br />I further applaud the resolution to spend less time writing, and more time in action; as James, brother of Jesus wrote in 49 AD, "Faith without action is as dead as a body without a soul."<br /><br />However, wicked pagan that I am, I shall for my part follow the advice of the Japanese sage Miyamoto Musashi's instead, and since he preached that the way of the warrior is the two-fold art of pen and sword, I shall apply myself a little more to the former, and a little less to the latter, in order to make up for what one can only hope is the temporary absence of the esteemed Diodotus.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Cleitus the Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08881172050606497640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-56966700040177381622009-01-31T21:51:00.002-05:002009-01-31T21:55:31.187-05:00Diodotus is Largely on Hiatus.In case you hadn't noticed. Might as well make it official. <br /><br />This is due to a number of factors, including family, tenure pressures, and generally being spread too thin. But the final straw was Obama's election and inauguration speech, which inspired me to do less pontificating and more service for the nation. While this blog has been entertaining and intellectually useful for me, I can't help but think the amount of energy I put into it over the last year couldn't be more productively spent in a way that would yield more concrete dividends for my community, my country and the planet. <br /><br />So while I may occasionally post random musings, and will probably pop in with Friday Star Trek blogging from time to time, I'm going to let my co-bloggers Cleitus the Black and Empedocles run the ship for awhile. I look forward to reading and continuing to comment on their posts. <br /><br />Cheers.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-24054689279819487712008-12-30T01:08:00.003-05:002008-12-30T01:13:59.282-05:00Let Me Get This StraightNumber of Israeli deaths due to rocket attacks from Gaza <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/29/israel-gaza-military-strategy">in the past eight years: 19</a>.<br /><br />Number of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/30/gaza.israel.airstrikes/">Palestinian deaths due to retaliatory fire from Israel in the past 36 hours: 375.</a><br /><br />Hmm. Of course what really matters is the percentage of each that are civilian, versus military, targets. <br /><br />What should Obama do about this mess when he takes office?<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-42546210028952197282008-12-19T11:33:00.002-05:002008-12-19T11:35:51.390-05:00Sign of the Times<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfqrMHEzXghB4Zh_IelXAex32QNInCegn9b8q-9QyGEC17JtU21J2fa6ohulXrgnVD4i0iynz7ydEKZDa51LYL0VAPsbPudg0OTfvhD-mLXDF5hSWz8mZEQpSFFAYpVQNmmfdzGQ2Udg/s1600-h/screen-capture-46.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYfqrMHEzXghB4Zh_IelXAex32QNInCegn9b8q-9QyGEC17JtU21J2fa6ohulXrgnVD4i0iynz7ydEKZDa51LYL0VAPsbPudg0OTfvhD-mLXDF5hSWz8mZEQpSFFAYpVQNmmfdzGQ2Udg/s400/screen-capture-46.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281540384672111890" /></a>HT to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7789447.stm">BBC's "Day In Pictures"</a>:<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-12232974172979164292008-12-15T22:25:00.006-05:002008-12-15T22:56:10.085-05:00Trouble in Niger<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qu_q-ArjrTyDPi2mY7Q9GJR0X7zFpP6DEM8O_-QByEy2R4ZpQmN1URLFXkg4RsSJzUMOHEpSaFWTpBUC_nupumOk7gusWljYRzgZ_jiJFugvWbEWrgy9uVITw94pe3Et01J4MbC1GyQ/s1600-h/screen-capture-45.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qu_q-ArjrTyDPi2mY7Q9GJR0X7zFpP6DEM8O_-QByEy2R4ZpQmN1URLFXkg4RsSJzUMOHEpSaFWTpBUC_nupumOk7gusWljYRzgZ_jiJFugvWbEWrgy9uVITw94pe3Et01J4MbC1GyQ/s320/screen-capture-45.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280229015696352178" /></a>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/africa/15niger.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=niger&st=cse&scp=2">New York Times has a long report on the drive for uranium in Niger</a>, which is threatening to create a conflict between Tuareg nomads who live on but presumably do not own the land wherein the ore is to be found, and the government, which presumably would prefer to profit from mining contracts at their expense:<blockquote>"A battle is unfolding on the stark mountains and scalloped dunes of northern Niger between a band of Tuareg nomads, who claim the riches beneath their homeland are being taken by a government that gives them little in return, and an army that calls the fighters drug traffickers and bandits.... Uranium could infuse Niger with enough cash to catapult it out of the kind of poverty that causes one in five Niger children to die before turning 5.<br /><br />Or it could end in a calamitous war that leaves Niger more destitute than ever. Mineral wealth has fueled conflict across Africa for decades, a series of bloody, smash-and-grab rebellions that shattered nations. The misery wrought has left many Africans to conclude that mineral wealth is a curse.<br /><br />In February 2007, a group of armed Tuaregs mounted an audacious attack on a military base in the Air Mountains. A new insurgency was born. They called themselves the Niger Movement for Justice and unfurled a set of demands: that corruption be curbed and the wealth generated by each region benefit its people. <br /><br />To fight the rebellion, the government has effectively isolated the north, devastating its economy. International human rights investigators have also documented serious misdeeds on both sides. The rebels use antivehicle land mines that have killed soldiers and civilians, while the army has been accused of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and looting of livestock. In all, hundreds of people have been killed, and thousands have been pushed from their land.</blockquote>I have some reactions to this aticle. One: this is an important wakeup call, and I'm glad to see Lydia Polgreen reporting on this now, before the situation turns into a bloodbath. Two: observers will note the paralells between the unfolding situation and the origins of the conflict over the Darfur region of Sudan. The grievances and mobilization strategies are identical; the 2004 war and its related atrocities were also sparked by attacks on military bases that provoked a disproportionate response; and now that the Niger government has attack helicopter it is anyone guess whether they will limit their response to hitting "bandits" or go wholesale against villages. Current signs aren't promising, and surely this is a situation where there is an opportunity for some preventive action. (Empedocles? What might work?)<br /><br />Third, I will note a slight mischaracterization in the article when the use of anti-tank landmines against military personnel is labeled a "misdeed" in the same paragraph as extrajudicial killings. While the latter is clearly a violation of human rights law as well as Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would apply in this situation, the former is nothing of the sort. Only anti-personnel landmines are prohibited under the Ottawa Convention, and not being signatorites the Tuareg wouldn't be bound by that anyway. Anti-vehicle mines must only be used so as not to target civilians directly; it's simply collateral damage of they are caught in the crossfire. Since Polgreen's article is otherwise designed, it seems, to provoke sympathy for the rebels, I must assume that this is not intended to suggest moral relativism but rather either a misguided attempt to appear objective, or otherwise a simple error.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-38759516384036937892008-12-01T01:00:00.002-05:002008-12-01T21:06:31.359-05:00Reconsidering Nuclear PolicyWriting in the <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_11096117">Salt Lake Tribune today, two arms consultants ask some pointed questions</a>: <blockquote>For decades, nuclear weapons were thought to make us safer by deterring the first strike by another nation. Today we need to re-evaluate the roles and dangers of nuclear weapons in the world. Let's ask ourselves: Does it help the United States to have nuclear weapons? Would the whole world be safer if no one and no nation had even one of these weapons?</blockquote>Well, isn't the follow up question: safer from what? Safer from nuclear holocaust, perhaps. Safer from conventional war with all its bloodiness? Hard to know, since the decline in inter-state war coincided not only with the nuclear era but also with the establishment of the UN Charter regime.<br /><br />At any rate, strategies to escape from MAD are back on the foreign policy agenda. Writing in <span style="font-style:italic;">Foreign Affairs</span> this issue,<a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20081001faessay87606/ivo-daalder-jan-lodal/nuclear-policy-and-the-next-administration.html"> Ivo Daadler and Jan Lodal make a case for disarmament</a>. Or so they say: <blockquote>"The next President will have the opportunity to make the elimination of all nuclear weapons the organizing principle of US nuclear policy."</blockquote>But actually the authors' proposals do not take the US very far in that direction. One - a better nuclear-control regime - makes sense but really is an extension of the non-proliferation treaty, not a pledge to disarm. Another - a pledge to use nuclear weapons only to deter attacks against allies - would only formalize US adherence to existing nuclear norms, while presumably keeping weapons on a hair-trigger alert and maintaining a policy based on a threat to commit a grossly unethical act - the incineration of foreign civilians as revenge for a similar attack against an ally. A reduction of US arsenals to a "mere" 1,000 weapons would be lovely, but how is that even close to approaching a world of "zero"? And if the US can't be expected to take this goal seriously, then how is Daadler and Lodal's proposal that that the US convince its allies of the "logic of zero" anything other than a recipe for hypocrisy? <br /> <br />The truth is, of course, that any steps toward disarmament will have to be baby steps. Even disarmament advocates like those writing for the Salt Lake Tribune can't seem to do any better than this modest proposal: increasing the amount of time required to make a nuclear launch decision. <blockquote>More time would then be available to double check for possible computer malfunctions. We can also take physical steps to increase the time it takes for a weapon to be launched. For example, today's modern Minuteman missiles can be "safed" in their silos, much as the older Minuteman missiles were safed in late 1991 at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.</blockquote>What would it take for the US to simply disavow the use of nuclear weapons as inherently unethical and take the lead in nuclear disarmament?<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-4497593687957703262008-12-01T00:46:00.009-05:002008-12-01T01:02:08.972-05:00Belated Friday Star Trek Blogging (Yeah, Well, It Was A Holiday...): "The Wrath of Bush"President Bush is doing what a lame duck can: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/washington/30labor.html?bl&ex=1228280400&en=2450f6cf5c5bac73&ei=5087%0A">try to complete rule-making processes at federal agencies that would lock in conservative policies on labor, environmental and health standards</a>: <blockquote>"With the economy tumbling and American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush has promised to cooperate with Mr. Obama to make the transition 'as smooth as possible.' But that has not stopped his administration from trying, in its final days, to cement in place a diverse array of new regulations.<br /><br />The Labor Department proposal is one of about 20 highly contentious rules the Bush administration is planning to issue in its final weeks. One rule would make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas. Another would reduce the role of federal wildlife scientists in deciding whether dams, highways and other projects pose a threat to endangered species. <br /><br />A new president can unilaterally reverse executive orders issued by his predecessors, as Mr. Bush and President Bill Clinton did in selected cases. But it is much more difficult for a new president to revoke or alter final regulations put in place by a predecessor. A new administration must solicit public comment and supply 'a reasoned analysis' for such changes, as if it were issuing a new rule, the Supreme Court has said."</blockquote>You know what all this makes me think of? <br /><br />This fan trailer, "The Wrath of Kirk":<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-u7m7BiX1JI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-u7m7BiX1JI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-53832751616830321592008-11-26T13:45:00.007-05:002008-11-27T16:55:54.546-05:00Justice is (badly) Served<span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">Salim Ahmed Hamdan has been returned to his native Yemen, ostensibly to serve the final months of the sentence he received from the military commission that convicted him of providing material support to Al Queda, but cleared him of the more serious charges of conspiracy. The majority of his 5 and a half year sentence was served at Guantanamo prior to his trial and conviction. What can one make of this? A few thoughts come to mind.</span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">First, that US justice, even in its most adulterated form, can succeed. A man can be found guilty, or not; serve his allotted sentence, and go free. Second, that this can only happen when the accused are put to trial; sadly, Hamdan is one of only 11 detainees to get even this sort of trial; over 500 more have never received this opportunity. Lastly, it makes one pause to wonder; if a man is found innocent, years after his incarceration, how will the U.S., this supposed bastion of freedom and democracy, restore that most precious commodity that it has wrongly stolen from them - time.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Cleitus the Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08881172050606497640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-21131217067765647712008-11-25T10:20:00.014-05:002008-11-27T00:54:43.661-05:00Corpse-Counting<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxFZmrV1PN-EEIzmFwVvA7RqtKdAyWlkmc8k15cRTi1ytOIvBdd4zyBbIq4FRjHCZ2YJn72R94AGdyGye46N8vAko6DjPaiOkjKzc2jHHsikHs3SkR7qYOIHeAYOYvf1EBKjvsU2dzFQ/s1600-h/tokaca.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxFZmrV1PN-EEIzmFwVvA7RqtKdAyWlkmc8k15cRTi1ytOIvBdd4zyBbIq4FRjHCZ2YJn72R94AGdyGye46N8vAko6DjPaiOkjKzc2jHHsikHs3SkR7qYOIHeAYOYvf1EBKjvsU2dzFQ/s320/tokaca.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272621455857683074" /></a>Radio Free Europe has <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/Bosnian_Researcher_Counts_The_Dead_And_Faces_Threats_For_His_Objectivity/1350799.html">a valuable case study on the politics behind counting war casualties</a>. The article details the work of Mirsad Tokaca, a contro-versial Bosnian figure whose careful studies put the casualty figures of the war over Bosnia-Herzegovina at about 97,000, less than half of the official government tally of 200,000. Moreover, while most commentators act as if the 200,000 represents noncombatant dead among Bosniaks, the ethnic group against whom it is widely accepted that genocide took place, the database concludes that of the war's direct victims, almost 40,000 were civilians and 57,500 were military victims. Of the civilian victims, some 33,000 were Bosniaks, 4,100 were Serbs, and 2,200 were Croats.<br /><br />Tokaca's work has taken place under the auspices of a non-governmental organization, the <a href="http://www.idc.org.ba/aboutus.html">Research and Documentation Center</a>, whose key report "<a href="http://www.idc.org.ba/project/populationlosses.html">Human Losses in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1991-1995</a>" is also known as the "Bosnian Book of the Dead." The 200,000 estimate (beware of round numbers) was promulgated by government officials during the war and reiterated by the global media and Western scholars. By contrast:<blockquote>"Tokaca's database is the only one in existence that offers the war dead sorted by name, place, and circumstances of death. Civilians, soldiers, women and children, of Serbs, Croats, and Bosnian Muslims alike. The list contains 14 separate streams of information, free of ethnic prejudice, and based on facts, not estimates. <br /><br />Patrick Ball, director of the Human Rights Program at the U.S.-based Benetech Initiative, has said the "richness and depth of this database is astonishing." Ball, who has worked with nine truth commissions around the world, said the RDC database "could have a significant impact on how the history of the Bosnian war is understood."</blockquote>But many in Bosnia are not happy with his findings:<blockquote>"Smail Cekic is one of Tokaca's critics. The head of the Sarajevo-based Institute for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law, Cekic questions Tokaca's research methods and accuses him of "fogging the essence and size of the genocide" of Bosniaks. He also says Tokaca "covers up" the depth of what he calls the "demographic disaster" committed against the regional populations, believing that Tokaca should include in his statistics those members of society who would have been born to those who were killed.</blockquote> I'm with Tokaca. I suspect that much of the backlash against his analysis is due to the notion that a finding of "only" 30,000+ civilian dead would undermine claims that Bosnian Muslims suffered a genocide, but the concept of genocide is based on intent, not scale. Moreover, seems to me that 30,000 dead is plenty to justify outrage. While the argument that his database is weighted toward deaths is valid, <a href="http://www.idc.org.ba/project/populationlosses1.html">the same organization is indeed investigating "indirect victims" separately, another pathbreaking exercise.</a> Either way, it's important to base such claims on accurate data, and incredibly difficult - politically and logistically to find that data in conflict and post-conflict zones. The courage it has taken for him to stand up for unbiased reporting in that society is an inspiration.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-78005500606915279112008-11-20T12:57:00.003-05:002008-11-20T13:07:23.011-05:00What Every Professional Journalist Needs to Know About War CrimesAs I perused the web this morning I was delighted to come across <a href="http://www.spj.org/gc-history.asp">a resource on the laws of war at the Society of Professional Journalists' website.</a> In describing some of the historical antecedents of the existing laws of war, they make an important and correct observation: <blockquote>"There is no one 'Geneva Convention.' Like any other body of law, the laws of war have been assembled piecemeal, and are, in fact, still under construction."</blockquote>Important point, since so many commentators refer to "the Geneva Convention," but there are actually four; and since the laws of war are not limited to the Geneva rules but include the Hague Conventions and various other treaties and rules from customary law.<br /><br />An important source of international humanitarian law, however, seems to have been overlooked by the SPJ: the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court. The website reads: <blockquote>"It is impossible to produce a complete and up-to-date list of war crimes. Even today, weapon systems such as land mines are being debated at the highest levels of international policy."</blockquote>That's not true, and nor does one sentence follow from the other. In fact, a complete and (at that time up-to-date) list of war crimes appears in <a href="http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/about/officialjournal/Rome_Statute_English.pdf">Article 8 of the Rome Statute, the multilateral treaty establishing the International Criminal Court</a>. While there are other lists, the Rome Statute is authoritative in the sense of being the product of a multilateral discussion involving most UN member states. <br /><br />Whether additional things should be added to that list and what else might qualify under an item on the list, are different questions and, perhaps, <a href="http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=review">await the first ICC Review Conference next year.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-8630467619428360132008-11-18T19:54:00.004-05:002008-11-27T00:59:50.341-05:00Pirates (Again)<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5172770.ece">Pirates have captured a supertanker with a cargo worth $100 mil.</a> Kenneth Anderson has an interesting appraisal of the legal dynamics of the situation at <a href="http://www.opiniojuris.org">Opinio Juris</a>. A minor, but interesting observation, among many others:<blockquote>There are obviously many serious international law questions here. But I would also flag in advance that we law of wars lawyers need to bear in mind - I include myself emphatically in this admonition - that we have focused almost entirely on the law of land warfare, and that the law of armed conflict on the seas is its own distinct body of law and doctrine. Big mistake to assume that, as a legal matter, it is the same.</blockquote>Read all of it <a href="http://opiniojuris.org/2008/11/17/here-there-bee-more-pirates-and-might-the-obama-administration-take-them-out/">here.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-69883930970972512752008-11-14T11:41:00.005-05:002008-11-14T11:55:48.614-05:00Where is the Outrage?Here is a perfectly dreadful story I missed last week in the heat of the US election: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7708169.stm">a 13-year Somali girl who was raped by three men was stoned to death for "adultery" in front of a crowd of 1000 onlookers.</a><br /><br />At <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amitai-etzioni/a-question-for-those-who_b_143606.html">Huffington Post today, Amitai Etzioni is asking why there is not more focused outrage at these types of events</a>:<blockquote>Public voices that are often raised (frequently for very good reasons!) to criticize many of the policies of the Bush Administration (and Israeli policies in dealing with the Palestinians), are mum about atrocities committed by extremist Muslims. I wonder why we do not hear a peep from these voices when a 13 year old girl is stoned to death for the "sin" of having been raped, as just happened in Somalia. There are good people who are concerned about the pain inflicted on those executed in the United States during the last minutes of their lives by the chemicals they are injected with--a valid concern--but why are these same voices strangely mum when they learn about the particularly prolonged, painful, agonizing death of a child? <br /><br />Nor did I hear from feminists about the special insult that emanates from blaming the victim of rape for having committed a sin. Or, from anybody about the Taliban who behead their countrymen on buses in Afghanistan --countrymen on their way to visit family or start a new job-- to show that they are in control and not the Karzai government, or to make some other such point.<br /><br />I am told that public intellectuals refrain from criticizing these Somali and Taliban barbarians (I can practically see some of my colleagues raising their eyebrows as high as they go for my use of such a "harsh" word) because they believe that these killers cannot be reached. "Why waste one's breath?" I hear the otherwise silent public intellectuals whispering. In contrast, they say, condemning Americans (and Israelis) may yield some good results.</blockquote>I think there is another reason for this. Horrible as these events are, many liberals in the West are more comfortable criticizing members of our own communities than casting stones at others. How effective can we be at spreading feminist or humanitarian ideals when we fall so short of such standards as a nation ourselves? Too, some may argue that "democratic" governments who claim to champion women's equality have a greater responsibility for living up to these ideals. This explains why organizations like<a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118686020/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0">Amnesty International regularly disproportionately singles out the US in its country reporting</a>, for example. <br /><br />I'm not saying this is the correct view, only that this view may be part of the problem. To the extent that it's valid, I would turn Etzioni's question around and ask why moderate Muslims are not speaking out against this sorts of atrocities taking place in their name. <a href="http://www.irshadmanji.com/">Of course, some are.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-5305906726713232732008-11-11T13:42:00.006-05:002008-11-11T13:54:30.451-05:00Srebrenica Victims Angry At Acquittals<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGooFF66suhJKECH07cGTYdn2PNE__s8jubdX3kEWrMjRLNr1B7_y7FlrvFWbWgTzYA2QqXAz0OQqftQKMUcHUT3tm5oEbdPFejp4CxwX5Bu9ES9U3eOAZwBxgvYkpFnOZRCD3olfRXw/s1600-h/screen-capture-39.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGooFF66suhJKECH07cGTYdn2PNE__s8jubdX3kEWrMjRLNr1B7_y7FlrvFWbWgTzYA2QqXAz0OQqftQKMUcHUT3tm5oEbdPFejp4CxwX5Bu9ES9U3eOAZwBxgvYkpFnOZRCD3olfRXw/s320/screen-capture-39.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267472486692961394" /></a>This week, <a href="http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/autocodes/countries/bosnia-and-herzegovina/srebrenica-massacre-bosnian-serb-convicted-$1248244.htm">Bosnia's top war crimes court convicted Mladen Blagojevic </a>for inhumane treatment of prisoners, but acquitted three others accused of participating in the Srebrenica massacre for lack of evidence. The acquittals have <a href="http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=61054">drawn ire from victims' groups</a>: <blockquote>"“This is a disgrace. While we are looking at mass graves all day long, verdicts like this are made. I'm very unsatisfied with the Bosnian courts,” Sabra Kolenovic, a member of the Mothers of Srebrenica group, told IWPR."</blockquote>However they may feel, this is a triumph for Bosnian rule of law. These verdicts came not from the international tribunal in the Hague, but from Bosnia's national courts. When Bosnia's government took over war crimes trials of not-so-big-fish accused of crimes during the war, there were questions as to whether a post-war government could provide genuine justice over men accused of participating in atrocity. <br /><br />The courts' refusal to consider the defendants guilty until proven innocent, despite the emotional needs of and political pressure by those who lost loved ones, is both consistent with international standards of due process, and likely to contribute to the courts' legitimacy over time.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-58126363224718724992008-11-11T00:49:00.003-05:002008-11-11T00:53:18.331-05:00Not-So-SecretSo today we hear that "<a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/02/25/1203788243839.html">assassination fears surround Obama</a>" but don't worry, because the Secret Service is on the job, and Obama even has a codename: "Renegade." <br /><br />Hmm. The Secret Service goes to the trouble of giving him a codename, then makes it public. I buy that.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-239896867399194562008-11-10T08:35:00.005-05:002008-11-10T08:50:07.727-05:00Turning Back the ClockThe <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/">Center for Constitutional Rights</a> has initiated a campaign, “<a href="http://ccrjustice.org/100days">100 Days to Restore the Constitution</a>.” Chief among its goals: <blockquote>"Ending Torture, Rendition, and Illegal Detention; Protecting Dissent; Abolishing Preventive Detention; Limiting State Secrets Privilege; Restoring the War Powers Act; Stopping Warrantless Wiretapping; Rolling Back Executive Power.</blockquote> Among its specific policy proposals for the new administration to achieve these goals, outlined in <a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/CCR_100Days_Brochure.pdf">this brochure.</a><br /><blockquote>Close Guantanamo and either try people in US federal courts or resettle them safely in a country where they do not risk persecution or torture.<br /><br />Work to repeal the PATRIOT act and prevent the emergence of any additional similar legislation.<br /><br />Pledge to veto any legislation creating preventive detention or national security courts as alternatives to the existing criminal justice system.<br /><br />Work with Congress to pass legislation making it clear military contractors are accountable for their abuses.<br /><br />Withdraw from Iraq and end the occupation.<br /><br />Pledge to end all secret surveillance programs not reviewed by either the courts of Congressional committees.<br /><br />Recognize and respect international law and join the International Criminal Court.</blockquote>Two things of note: <br /><br />1) Some of these proposals are written in the language of deed, some in the language of word. I'm not sure what it means for the CCR to propose that Obama "withdraw from Iraq" but only "pledge" to end surveillance programs. <br /><br />2) Useful to distinguish the truly novel proposals here, like joining the ICC, from the same things Obama has already pledged to do on the campaign trail, such as reverse any of Bush's policies he deems unconstitutional.<br /><br />Thoughts?<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-91218647247596807462008-11-06T22:28:00.003-05:002008-11-06T22:33:50.285-05:00President Obama: Stop Civilian Casulaties in Afghanistan<a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20081105_ap_afghanpresidentdemandsobamaendciviliandeaths.html">So says President Hamid Karzai. </a><br /><br />A fine idea. Of course, the US isn't in the business of killing civilians directly; <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-06-voa24.cfm">it only "accidentally" hits wedding parties and other civilian gatherings on a regular basis.</a> And while this is perfectly lawful, it is also perfectly horrid, not to mention counterproductive. <br /><br />Sarah Holewnski, Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.civicworldwide.org">Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict</a>, argues that <a href="http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/an-out-of-the-b.html">Obama should appoint a high-level Pentagon official to protect civilians in conflict zones where US forces are deployed</a>:<blockquote>"The Pentagon is a sprawling bureaucracy, but with all that manpower, there is no one place, no one person specifically paying attention to civilian casualties. Leadership from the top on this very contentious issue is absolutely necessary, lest U.S. forces continue to make more enemies than friends. The Pentagon position would assess the potential human cost of war before any shots are fired, make sure proven techniques to avoid civilians are in place and constantly improved, maintain proper investigative and statistical data on civilian harm in combat zones, and ensure prompt compensation to any civilians unintentionally harmed by U.S. combat operations."</blockquote>Another fine idea. What say ye, Mr. President-Elect?<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-49048761008777193162008-11-04T22:48:00.005-05:002008-11-04T23:09:42.253-05:00Clearly, We Have Entered the New Century.First of all, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/election.president/index.html">Americans elected their first African-American president tonight.</a><br /><br />Second, this election appears to be emblematic of a sea change in American political culture; and <a href="http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3765087,00.html">many argue this will be a turning point in America's relationship with the rest of the world.</a><br /><br />Third, <span style="font-weight:bold;">we can now have commentary delivered to us via hologram:<br /></span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/irGBz5HUpWM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/irGBz5HUpWM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.drudge.com/news/114587/video-cnn-interviews-reporter-via-hologram">Hat tip to Drudge.</a><br /><br />What do you know?<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-13492927337791656822008-11-02T15:01:00.009-05:002008-11-02T15:47:03.186-05:00Rules for Psychotropic War?Foreign Policy reports sardonically on the DOD's research into cognitive enhancers for warfare in this article, <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/users/login.php?story_id=4501">entitled "This is Your Brain on War."</a><blockquote>Could pills one day replace bullets in an army’s arsenal? It might sound like science fiction, but thanks to new advances in pharmaceuticals and neuroscience, the next generation of conflict may indeed move from the battlefield to the brain. That’s according to a recent report commissioned by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency to map the future of cognitive warfare.</blockquote>Yep, the old "It Might Sound Like Science Fiction but..." we seem to be hearing that about most new weapons in the US arsenal: nonlethals, autonomous weapons, and now psychotropic drugs or cybernetic technology designed to give militaries an edge.<blockquote>Combat in years to come, according to the report, will be dramatically influenced by breakthroughs in neuroscience that can be adapted for defense purposes. These developments might involve improving a soldier’s ability to process information with chemicals that alter brain chemistry or computer hardware that interfaces directly with the brain... The U.S. military is also interested in applications that impair its enemies’ performance. These could range from neural-imaging technologies that tell interrogators when a prisoner is lying, to aerosols that destroy an adversary’s will to fight or drugs that alter their moods, even increasing their trust as they are attacked.</blockquote>Should we be troubled? And if so how much? Citizens associated with <a href="http://mindjustice.org/">MindJustice.org</a> say yes. Yet international rules governing such weapons have yet to be written. One set of precautionary principles are already on the books however: <a href="http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5PXET2">Article 36 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions </a>reads: <blockquote>"In the study, development, acquisition or adoption of a new weapon, means or method of warfare, a High Contracting Party is under an obligation to determine whether its employment would, in some or all circumstances, be prohibited by this Protocol or by any other rule of international law applicable to the High Contracting Party."</blockquote>In other words, governments should consider whether new weapons meet basic war law standards before developing them. The key questions to ask are whether the weapons can be controlled and used discriminately and whether they are humane or would instead cause unnecessary suffering or superfluous injury. The US has not ratified AP 1 and so is not technically required to review new weapons thus, but historically has done so nonetheless. Perhaps instead of trying to get these weapons banned in advance, activists should put the burden of proof on the government to make the case that they are consistent with the rules of war.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-82055215860914938212008-11-01T16:40:00.008-04:002008-11-10T10:39:26.611-05:00Friday Star Trek Blogging<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAetorGDGcGcplfSMjzPgrzLGbkCRZbXEeJS08wyr-HBNEhFCroDn-4wgXiDMeW9eXjbNqeH5tS-gMenr1plMkNMi7dRBq1XvZdawZusiNFYGsmaGU0C08Pb0QdEqfzE758SQ1MEm2k04/s1600-h/screen-capture-30.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 155px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAetorGDGcGcplfSMjzPgrzLGbkCRZbXEeJS08wyr-HBNEhFCroDn-4wgXiDMeW9eXjbNqeH5tS-gMenr1plMkNMi7dRBq1XvZdawZusiNFYGsmaGU0C08Pb0QdEqfzE758SQ1MEm2k04/s400/screen-capture-30.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263792380149193826" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/TrekkiesforObama">It seems that Obama has captured the Trekkie vote.</a> A Google search turned up no similar group for McCain.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-57771568175639441182008-10-27T15:54:00.008-04:002008-10-27T21:13:56.567-04:00Breaking Rules in SyriaIn another public trouncing of established international law, U.S. military helicoptors staged an attack yesterday 8 kilometers inside Syria. According to the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/26/witnesses-us-helicopters-attack-syrian-village/">Washington Post</a>:<br /><br />"Sunday's attack was on the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction, firing on the workers inside, shortly before sundown."<br /><br />The target of the strike was Abu Ghadiya, described as "one of the most prominent foreign fighter facilitators in the region" by an anonymous official who added "He is believed to have been killed." Details were added by Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Moallem in <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/27/syria.iraq/?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo">this video </a>posted on CNN's website; according to his reports, the helicopters landed at the farm in broad daylight; soldiers disembarked and killed civilian construction workers, the farm guard and his family, four children, and even a hapless nearby fisherman.<br /><br />This action will surely complicate the already hairy negotiations over a longer US precense in Iraq after the UN mandate expires in two months. And although Western papers are overwhelmingly including the word "rare" in their description of the attack (just try Googling "Rare Attack on Syria" to see what I mean), we have to view this event within a larger context. First of all, although US strikes into Syria may be "rare" (right now), strikes across Pakistani borders were getting increasinly un-rare until a large enough public backlash occurred several months ago. Secondly, the neccesity for breaking international rules to protect national interests reflects a broad trend in contemporary conflict - state actors pitted against non-state actors.<br /><br />I like Lionel Beehner blog-topic of earlier this year (check it out at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lionel-beehner/the-case-for-nonviolence_b_82485.html">Huffington Post</a>) in which he makes the case for <em>non-violence</em> in these new wars against terrorists, criminal networks, and separatist groups.<br /><br />"The steady erosion of sovereign borders and growing threat of non-state actors like al-Qaeda suggest that these kinds of cross-border incursions will grow ever more frequent. Moreover, because states fear tipping local sympathies toward the side of the non-state actor--and losing the public relations battle, as it were--these kinds of "hot pursuit" missions will not be sustained, heavy-handed attacks with massive casualties but rather short in-and-out raids or air strikes. The targets will not be large population centers but terrorist camps or weapons caches, <em>mostly found along borders." </em><br /><br />Beehner writes that this kind of war strategy cannot work, because the deck is stacked against the state actor - raids aren't heavy-handed enough to suppress the threat, but they are heavy-handed enough to cause outrage. The outcome is a long, intractable conflict with public opinion turned against the state. The viable strategy is <em>nonviolent,</em> says Beehner: long term development through improving social, economic, and political conditions - and relationship building on the ground.<br /><br />It seems to me that this "radical" strategy gives the added benefit of protecting and strengthening normative rules instead of undermining them. And the rules it protects are pro-social ones that underpin stable democratic regimes: human rights and non-violent conflict resolution. Hmm - how's that for "democratization"?<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Empedocleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13593740599541211195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-75072997846598362492008-10-26T22:52:00.002-04:002008-10-26T22:57:24.619-04:00Warriors of a Feather?<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102602179.html?hpid=topnews">Robert Kaiser’s WAPO discussion of Obama and McCain’s foreign policy similarities</a> contains a grain of truth. Kaiser points out that both want to increase the size of the military, and both envision using the armed forces for both “moral and strategic” reasons, and neither intends to end the war on terror.<br /><br />But the examples used to make this case for symmetry actually demonstrate deep differences. Not in what the candidates would do, perhaps, but in why they would do it. In just war theory this makes all the difference.<br /><br />Examples: Obama has cited Rwanda and Nazi Germany and promised to stem genocides where they occur during his watch. McCain pledges to “roll back rogue states” to spread democracy. These are completely different goals – spreading democracy is not the same as ending mass atrocity: in fact, the two goals typically work against one another. Moreover, while ending mass atrocity would constitute “just cause” under just war precepts, regime change to make other states look just like us would not. <br /><br />In short, there is a world of difference suggested here – just not, perhaps, what some on the political left might hope.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6659531460936902596.post-30664766527117877832008-10-21T21:10:00.004-04:002008-10-24T21:43:59.291-04:00Friday Star Trek Blogging<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MdSJFrhb-HM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MdSJFrhb-HM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en-us&q=sarah+palin+can%27t+pronounce+nuclear&btnG=Search">Sarah Palin can't pronounce nuclear. </a>There's been <a href="http://duckofminerva.blogspot.com/2008/10/nuk-ya-lar-two-step.html">a funny exchange at Duck of Minerva</a> and <a href="http://duckofminerva.blogspot.com/2008/10/measuring-linguistic-norms.html">some follow-ups</a> about <a href="http://duckofminerva.blogspot.com/2008/10/still-going-nucular.html">whether this should matter and why</a>. <br /><br />I say, if Chekov can pronounce "nuclear," then come on, people.<div class="blogger-post-footer">"If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side."</div>Diodotushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12537000051304968795noreply@blogger.com1