Counteract Now: Where The Right Is Not Right

Monday, August 11, 2008

Iraq Demands US Timetable To WIthdraw

Iraq foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, has stated that the US must provide a clear time line to withdraw their troops from Iraq.

Does this mean that that the Iraqi government has given victory to the terrorists? Does this mean that the US has been humiliated?

Or does this mean that the US is finally going back to the control of the people of Iraq? Sure, the US will continue to have bases located in Iraq, but it has been clear for sometime now that the security and stability of the region is in the hands of the people of Iraq. The Shi'ite and Sunni regions cooperating to prevent Al Qaeda in the country killing their husbands and sons.

Let the Iraqi people have their country back.

- Beju -

Saturday, August 9, 2008

China, the Olympics and Human Rights

Human Rights Watch has released a summary of the ongoing human rights abuses that has dramatically increased in the lead up for the summer Olympic games.

China pledged when they won the games that they would improve their human rights record, but as Human Rights and other Non Government Organisations (NGOs) have stated, China has done anything but improve their human rights record.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch stated

The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have had seven years to deliver on their pledges that these games would further human rights. Instead, the Beijing Games have prompted a rollback in some of the most basic rights enshrined in China’s constitution and international law.

The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have wasted a historic opportunity to use the Beijing Games to make real progress on human rights in China. That failure has damaged the prospects for a legacy of enhanced media freedom, greater tolerance for dissent, and respect for the rule of law.

Human Rights Watch has stated some of the following ongoing abuses.

The silencing of Chinese citizens who express concerns about Olympics-related rights abuses through intimidation, imprisonment, and the use of house arrest.
For example, Ye Guozhu, a 53-year-old housing rights activist, remains in prison despite having completed his four-year prison sentence in July 2008. After attempting to organize protests against forced evictions related to the Beijing Olympics, Ye was convicted on December 18, 2004, on charges of “suspicion of disturbing social order.” Ye’s family has said they believe the government will hold him until after the games to prevent him from speaking freely.

Evictions and demolitions for Olympics-related infrastructure.
Hundreds of thousands of residents have been evicted and their homes demolished in the course of Beijing’s makeover. Ni Yulan, a 47-year-old lawyer who was disbarred and imprisoned for her work defending the rights of those forcibly evicted in Beijing and crippled by beatings she suffered in prison, is now awaiting trial on charges of “obstructing a public official” (Article 277 of the Criminal Law), which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. During the incident in question, Ni was resisting the demolition of her own home when she was hit on the head with a brick and dragged to the ground.

Hundreds of cases of harassment and restriction of foreign media from reporting freely, in violation of China’s Olympic pledge and temporary regulations in effect from January 2007 to October 2008.
The Chinese government continues to severely restrict the foreign media’s access to Tibet since violence flared in Lhasa in mid-March. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for the security of all foreign journalists in China, also continues to refuse to investigate death threats made against foreign correspondents in the wake of a state media-driven vilification campaign of “western media bias” following the Lhasa violence.

An intensifying crackdown on “undesirables” and removal from Beijing of migrant workers, beggars, sex workers, and petitioners (residents from the countryside seeking redress for abuses at the grassroots level), among others. Despite its insistence that these would be the “greenest” games in history, in July 2008, the Beijing municipal government ordered tens of thousands of migrant workers who work as garbage recyclers to leave the city ahead of the Olympics.

One World, One Dream. I think the Chinese government should change the Olympic motto to, The world is China, and believe that or face the consequences.

- Beju -

Internet Censorship To Protect The Youth

The Chinese Olympic Committee has stated that they have blocked websites covering issues such as those arguing for a free Tibet, the Tiananmen square massacre, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to protect the youth of China.

Wang Wei, the vice-president of organising committee BOCOG, said

We (BOCOG) promised free access except for a few websites that jeopardise our security and the healthy growth of our youth.

That's an assessment made by the authorities of which sites are good and which are not good for our youth. It's like what any other country does.

Yea... censorship is a great idea to control people. The hell with independent thought which may be against the superior leaders. And previous events which occurred which turned out to be bad for the superior country... well... they never happened.

As far as China is concerned, they have led a flawless existence and have done no wrong. Now... what's so wrong with that philosophy anyway?

- Beju -

Sunday, August 3, 2008

John McCain TV Appearances

For some time now, the TV advertisements created by the John McCain camp have proven to be full of inaccurate information and quotes taken out of context from Barack Obama.

One of the early TV advertisements created by John McCain against Senator Obama was the famous Dr. No ad were pretty much, every statement is incorrect. The statement that Barack Obama is against the electric car is hilarious coming from a Republican.

Here is the Dr. No TV Ad from John McCain

Barack Obama has finally started to hit back at Senator McCain and his inaccurate TV ad campaign with an ad of his own.

Ouch. And because I love kicking a Republican when they are down, here are some other mistakes from John McCain.

Back in May, John McCain stated he would follow Osama Bin Laden into the gates of hell in order to capture him, but then last week on Larry King Live, said he wouldnt invade Pakistan to get him.

Here John McCain refers to Czechoslovakia in the current context where Czechoslovakia has not existed as a country for 15 years.

And finally, the Republicans best ally, Fox News, completely drops the ball and instead of showing a clip criticising Barack Obama, show a clip criticising John McCain

Enjoy

- Beju -

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

No More Mandatory Detention in Australia

In some great news for the day, the Australian government has stated that they are going to abolish mandatory detention of asylum seekers trying to come into Australia from war torn countries.

It will now be up to the immigration department to prove that a person is of risk to the community such to then detain the person and remove their universal human right to freedom. The immigration department can also detain a person for lack of identity and for health reasons.

If a person has been detained, that person will have the right to legal council and have the ability to challenge their detention by an independent tribunal.

If the immigration department cannot prove that the person is of a risk to the community, then that person has the right to live in Australia. If a person has been proven to be a risk to the community, then that person will be deported back to their home land if it is safe for them to do so as soon as possible.

Amnesty International spokesman Graham Thom stated

Obviously what we're hearing is very good. Australia is the only country that has mandatorily detained anybody who has arrived without a document, and up until 2005 that included families with children...It's been an absolute sledgehammer approach

This is great news. Mandatory detention which was introduced by the former Howard government was an absolute evil piece of legislation which completely degraded Australia's reputation in the International community. Detainee's now have the right the legal council and the ability to challenge their detention which was not present under the former Howard regime. It is good to see that the current Rudd government is finally restoring Australia's reputation and being more of a compassionate nation which gives everyone a fair go. After all, isn't that the Australia way?

- Beju -

Iraq invasion was a 'f**king stupid idea'

From News.com.au

A FORMER Australian Army officer and adviser to US Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice has called the Iraq invasion a "f**king stupid" idea.

David Kilcullen left the army as a lieutenant colonel in 2005 and has since served as chief adviser to General David Petraeus, who heads the US forces in Iraq, working on the development of the successful troop surge.

Dr Kilcullen's new report Counterinsurgency: A Guide for Policy-Makers argues there are lessons governments could learn to overcome insurgencies, like those faced by US and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said the Iraq invasion was "f**king stupid" and similar mistakes could, and should, be avoided in the future, The Washington Independent reports.

"The biggest stupid idea was to invade Iraq in the first place," he told the Independent.

His new handbook says diplomacy, development aid and other specialties often sidelined in combat are needed to triumph against an insurgency.

Hehehe... it sure was.

However, if you asked the Bush administration if they had to relive the moment before going to war, would they still do it? I'm sure the answer would still be yes. There is too much money and strategic reasons for there to be a US presence in Iraq.

I'm sure the Bush administration would have liked to deploy more troops to the region initially instead of trying to save money. And I'm sure that they would have liked it if the military and contractors inside Iraq had shown some more respect to the people of Iraq and their culture so they could have won the Iraqi people's support.

But in the end of the day, the US will get what they wanted. It just will cost them a lot more than they expected over a longer period of time.

- Beju -