UK – Page 21 – Citizen Reporter

Look Deeper Beslan

As the first days of September are upon us, I’ve been remembering this time last year, during the Beslan hostage crisis. Last night I watched a documentary on BBC1 which consisted primarily of interviews with children who survived, images from the seige, and english subtitles. To say that it was a sad documentary would be an understatement, it was terrible… the stories I mean.

You have to picture it, 10 year old Russian children with these very serious and depressed eyes, telling about what happened:

“After one of the explosions, I was in a pile of rubble, and I could hear children under me… the couldn’t breathe.. they were being crushed.. we all tried to reach out hands out so that someone might grab us and pull us out..”

“I was sitting on my mothers lap, we were desperate for water, and then suddenly there was an explosion, and my mother was gone.”

Of course it was a terrible thing that happenned, you don’t need me to write that. But one thing that is not talked about, that bothers me about the Beslan seige, is that the media never talks about how the terrorists became terrorists. Meaning – there is no discussion of Chechnya and what the Russian government and military has done to the region and its people. As usual the seige is excessively simplified: evil terrorists just want to destroy schools and children.

Obviously these children were innocent. Obviously schools should never be used as pawns in armed conflict. But it is also ridiculous to act like these terrorists came out of nowhere and mother Russia is a peaceloving nation. My point – Grieve and remember the terrible thing that happened one year ago in Beslan. BUT — also recognize and condemn the terrible things that have been done by the Russian military in Chechnya.

Taking Credit

Spin Spin Spin. It’s always about how they spin the news to make themselves look good. I’m not only talking about governments, I’m talking about all kinds of groups. And unfortunately, spin can be very dangerous, especially when it rewrites history and distorts facts.

The most recent example of this, what is going on right now in Gaza. The Israeli gov. is finally doing what they promised years ago, to leave the area in full control of the Palestinian authority. But sure enough, there’s a spin game to go with it.

Hamas and other militant groups, who have long preached that armed resistance will achieve a palestinian state, are taking these events and giving themselves credit. They give one of those unprovable statements that the Israeli withdrawal is a result of their very effective actions over the years. Of course they can say that, because it’s basically impossible to prove as even if it were true, the government would never admit such a thing.

But then you’ve got the Israeli government that claims this is their benevolent and strategic move. They say it’s necessary for security, and with the usual dose of disrespect, they refer to the Palestinian Authority as irresponsible children saying things like “you must prove you are capable of stopping terrorism… or else.”

Spin Spin Spin. Neither side wants to look weak. And the truth is… both sides are led by violent and weak politicians.

On the brighter side — Michael Moore is working on something related to Health Care in the US — I do hope it’s better than F-911 which was poor-in my opinion- in comparison with his past films.

Hypocracy and Radiation

Back in Amsterdam. Back to floating around the canals with good friends. And back to soaking in the world affairs and getting highly annoyed with events as they unfold.

I haven’t said much about the Iran nuclear issue, because I find it all so annoying and repetative. It starts to seem like every other day the UN makes a statement, the EU makes a statement, the Iranian gov. makes a statement. Repeat this process everyday for months. Of course, this is much better than, say, blowing each other up and killing people. So I’m not advocating some insane warmonger invasion.

But to put it quite simply, and I know these issues are never simple, I just think its silly for nations who have nuclear programs and who actively research new nuclear weapons (the US is working on Manhattan project II since before Clinton)…. its ironic for such nations to dictate to other nations if they can and can not research and build nuclear programs. Its makes very little sense to me, the whole concept that nations who currently have them are responsible, while nations who are trying to get nuclear technology are somehow NOT capable of handling them responsibly.

Now lets take another step back – I’m an avid anti-nuclear person. I hate the weapons, one of the worst mistakes in world history was developing them, and I despise the energy, which produces waste that is undisposable and lethal. But all that aside, looking at the world as-is, I can’t really get gung-go about this whole theory that Iran is somehow unfit to persue their nuclear program because Europe or the US, who did just that years ago, say they know what is best for these nations.

SubCommandante

SubCommandate Marcos Wanna know why this blog is called the communique? I think I’ve never talked about it, much like I don’t spend much time explaining the bicycle part. But I just noticed a news item that inspired me to mention this.

For me, the name Communique, though quite common for lots of messages prepared for a mass audience, actually came from the Zapatista movement. In the late nineties I was studying journalism and politics and soaking in the news as it came out of Chiapas Mexico about the hooded indigineous rebels who sought to lead a bottom-up revolution. Later, my favorite book about it was First World HAHAHA. Here I read about the group and its activities to empower women and the disenfranchised. I also read that they released “communiqués” and when it came time to name the blog, that word came to mind.

So after leaving the public eye in 2000, and retreating back to their chiapas territory, the Subcommandante is back! And he’s touring the country, speaking about the corruption and hypocracy of the right and left in Mexico. And as you might expect – I’m glad to hear it!

Seeing Green

Since king what’s his face of Saudi Arabia just died, Portuguese artsy-fartsy television aired a documentary about the history of Saudi Arabia, and my initial reaction is …goddam! How is it that Americans (including myself) are put through school without ever hearing about this nation that is so completely attached to and influencial on the US!

Saudis Everywhere Among the crazy things I learned from this documentary, the first Saudi king, back in the early 1900’s, actually struck a deal with one of the most extreme and powerful group of nomads ever, who believed in the strict enforcement of what they called the Mulsim religion. But here’s the catch — after the king and the nomads gained control of the entire state, with the blessing of the religious authorities, the King turned on the nomads and slaughtered many of them. Those who survived swore revenge and have periodically carried out attacks (bombs, etc) against the Saudi state well over the last 50 years. And they want to talk about Alqeada, try looking into a lil history and it becomes clear that everything we’re seeing is a repeat of the last 100 years.

The other thing I noted was the presence and the manipulation of the US government on the Saudi Kings. They’ve kept em rich, drunk, and armed since the nation was first founded. and those kings have, in turn, subjugated the entire country, squandered national wealth, and helped to create many generations of terrorists. And man is it alarming to see the amount of times the different american presidents have betrayed the Saudi government when it comes to Palestine! Talk about two currupt kingdoms in bed together… this documentary was an eye opener to a situation we already knew was bullshit.

Mostly unrelated – I think it’s a conspiracy that all the headlines about this plane crash read “Airbus Crash” instead of the flight number or the name of the airline! Seriously. think about it. Ok now stop and go watch TV.

ps — happy birthday busblog.

Still Watching Horror

I would love to try and yell about John Bolton becoming nominated undemocratically as UN embassador to the US, but why bother, it goes with the overarching theme in washington. Who needs accountability and qualifications, we got the good ol’ boys.

So lots of exposure to Portuguese news on television actually means lots and lots of international news. Maybe more than in Holland, and thats usually a pretty good amount. And I have to repeat the frustration and rediculousness of the situation in DARFUR. Sudan in general; is on the verge of civil war, genocide… let’s just say MASS DEATH, that could be stopped and we are all sitting around watching. Yes, even first world me sitting in a McDonalds parking lot on my powerbook using their expensive wi-fi.

But its not enough to say something should be done. I’d like to suggest and discuss what action would be best to take. Ill get more into it in the coming days. But to begin with, I send in the blue helmets – on a peacekeeping mandate. None of this crazy shoot first ask questions later strategy, but heavily equipped and supported military personel accompanied by NGO workers. Just go in and stand between the parties in conflict. Despite the risks, despite the unclear situation, despite all of that — put trained and professional international forces on the ground, to show beyond a shadow of a doubt, that what happens in Sudan DOES matter and we CAN act when the situation calls for it.

Now what I havent thought out yet, and Ill work on, is what do to from there.