Has the policy of the United States of America changed substantially in Latin America? Judging by Washington's close friend and ally, Alvaro Uribe of Columbia, no, it has not. Murder of opposition activists, disappearances, threats and of course torture are the modus operandi in fashion in Columbia, where the USA has built up a considerable military presence. So much for the USA's "humane" foreign policy.
This is not good reading for those who are trying to digest their breakfasts, indeed it is not for people with weak stomachs or those who are easily impressionable. Attacks with acid in the eyes, burnings, horrific disfigurations are glaring tell-tale signs that Columbia is a horror state ruled by a monster, a pariah of Latin America, of the international community and a colossus of injustice, where all roads lead to Uribe, Washington's ally and friend.
These cases, and many more, can be read in the book "Death is not Dumb", a compilation drawn up by the National Trade Union School of the CUT (Trades Union Congress) in Medellin, capital of the Province of Antioquia, where Uribe was Governor before becoming President.
According to the book, which documents aggressions, threats and attacks against the physical integrity of Trade Unionists, every three days a Trade Union activist was murdered, there was a total of 2.704 assassinations between 1986 and 2009, a further 237 murder attempts against Trade Unionists and 190 disappearances; 4,418 death threats and 1,611 forced "removals" where activists had to abandon their homes and workplace due to pressure. The book connects these murders with Uribe, the one who opened up Columbia's bases to the USA, the one whose past is intrinsically linked with paramilitary forces, death squadrons and narco-terrorism.
Uribe's policy of extermination
Guillermo Correa Montoya, one of the authors of the work, claims that in Columbia there has been a systematic, structured, selective and continued program of violence by the Uribe Government against the Trade Union movement, calling it Uribe's "policy of extermination".
During Uribe's mandate in Medellin, it is claimed, 503 Trade Union activists were murdered, 37.9% of the total number of aggressions being perpetrated during the time he was Governor. The Columbian Committee of Jurists, which co-authored the book, states that there is a high degree of impunity among the murderers and criminals who carry out these attacks, because 98.3% of the murder cases are yet to be solved while the rate rises to 100% in the cases of disappearance, torture and home invasions.
In Columbia, tens of thousands of people have been murdered by the AUC (Autodefesas Unidas de Colombia), a fascist paramilitary organization which has admitted responsibility for 30,470 deaths in recent years. AUC is closely connected with large corporations with connections to Uribe, such as Chiquita (the banana monopoly). Chiquita also financed the extermination groups which worked under the façade of CONVIVIR, a group sponsored by Uribe himself (CONVIVIR were Cooperatives of Vigilance and Private Security used by the landowners supposedly to defend their latifundia against "terrorists" when the real terrorist attacks were perpetrated by these extermination groups).
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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Over 95 per cent of stories about Russia in the Western media are at least intrusive and at worst, fraught with insolence. Yesterday, it was absurd lies about the "DePutinization" of Russia, while the fact that Unified Russia (Government Party) enjoys well over three times the popularity of the entire opposition combined went untold. The flavour of the moment today is "pundits" predicting Russia's marginalization in the world when exactly the opposite is happening.
Flying round the Internet on Tuesday is yet another of those stories which arise from after-dinner speeches. After-dinner speeches differ from post-lunch speeches due to the fact that the alcohol consumed during the day has accumulated and therefore the degree of idiocy is that much higher. People are paid good money to deliver such speeches and, as those of us who have engaged in public speaking know only too well, it is not necessarily a good speech that produces the goods, but rather "what the public wants to hear".
After all, they paid for it, and they did not pay simply to slurp a bowl of luke-warm, clam chowder, munch on yet another bit-sized chunk of chewy but politically-correct chicken, swallow the eternal sorbet before the most interesting yet unfathomable course of the repast is served - some gooey dessert with a girly-sounding name, before wondering whether the brandies come free with the meal or have to be bought at the bar.
So if the truth is boring, to hell with the truth.
I remember watching several rows of red-cheeked glistening bald heads nodding in delight as some "expert" stated in Middle England during the mid-1980s: "Mikhail Gorbachev will not change anything because he has come from inside the ranks. He will maintain the same course or even go back". They are paid to say something, so it may as well produce an adrenalin rush, at least to keep the front three rows of the audience from nodding off and snorting as they try to stay on their chairs.
Such is the case with today's western media. Saying that Russia is affirming itself as it sorts itself out, saying that Russians are happy, is not exactly the sort of thing that people want to hear. Hey, too many jobs depend on gloom and doom stories, so if there has not been a Russian airliner crash for a year or two (let's forget Boeings are American), if there has not been a burst dam (by the law of averages, Russia having more large-scale constructions than anyone else, sooner or later something is going to give way to wear and tear), then it is the type of story published last week in Nezavisimaya Gazeta (March 5) which took 4 days to hit the Net.
In this yet another after-dinner speech type story, the author Sergei Kulikov quotes ominously from a speech "Within the next five, perhaps ten years, Russia with its resources will not be needed". (Wow! Will Albania come up with an alternative for all oil and gas by 2015?) and goes on to predict gloomily (to the sheer delight of the readers, bald pates no doubt a-glistening as they chortle over the fourth Port n Dubonnet) "Russia risks being marginalized in the world economy" (so get your skates on, start interfering now and do what you can to make things difficult is the implication?).. And where was this speech delivered? At the Association of European Businesses.
Sorry to be disappointing, but Russia is resurgent
After the Soviet Union dissolved (it did not "collapse" because its voluntary dissolution was catered for in its Constitution) a period of time elapsed in which the 15 States tried different experiments with varying degrees of success until things settled down again. One thing is clear: if the West intended to meddle, divide and take control of Russia's resources, it failed miserably.
If Russophobic and revisionist regimes were installed in the three Baltic States and in Georgia, so what? Russia never needed these political micro-organisms for anything anyway and as far as revisionism is concerned, the Balts could start with studying their collaborationist contribution during the Great Patriotic War and counting the number of concentration and extermination camps they installed in their territory.
Today, Russia enjoys wholesome and ever-closer economic ties with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Georgia has been neutered and ostracized after its act of mass murder and Ukraine has a sensible and level-headed President as the last remnants of the Orange Revolution are flushed down the drain. The epicentre of the Caucasus conflicts, Chechnya, had its free and fair referendum in which over 95% of the people declared their will to remain inside the Russian Federation. There is really no arguing with that, is there?
Moscow has regained its influence in each and every region of Russia and Russia's resources are firmly in the hands of Russians, to whom they belong, where they should be.
...and Russians are happy
A recent poll conducted by the insurance company Rosgosstrakh reveals that about 80 per cent of Russians are happy and satisfied with their living standards. A poll among Russian citizens in 138 cities shows that the average satisfaction rate is 78 per cent and that the figures depicting the minimum satisfaction rates exceed 50 per cent.
In conclusion, there are two sets of realities: the real facts and figures pertaining to a successful Russia with excellent international ratings and vast social and economic growth rates - and the after-dinner speech drunken haze of cigar smoke, brandy fumes and what can only be digestive gases, according to the stench from the filth we see and read in the western media.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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Much is made in the western press about a demonstration in Kaliningrad and something increasingly referred to as a "DePutinization" of Russia, yet nothing whatsoever is reported about the fact that Russian opinion polls, conducted openly and without an iota of manipulation, point towards massive popularity rates for the Government.
The Western media has a problem, a big problem: now that the Cold War has ended, there is no "them" to justify the "us" so they have been detailed to create one. Africa is a dark place where extreme weather conditions coupled with decades of mismanagement and a legacy of colonialism and imperialism have created situations of extreme poverty.
Therefore it is relegated to the status of "sick man of the world" and the only news that comes out of it is negative, but Africa is not powerful enough to be considered as a foe. Asia? Too far away. Latin America? Idem and anyway it was Uncle Sam's back garden. In the case of the Soviet Union, this same media had a wonderful adversary: strong, powerful, standing on the other side of the Iron Curtain and right on Europe's doorstep!
But what happened when the Union dissolved (voluntarily, as catered for under its own Constitution)? Easy! They just perpetuated the myth, even though the story did not exist. Hence the absurd references to Putin as "dictator" (he was democratically elected as President, not once but twice, with a huge margin of popularity, more than Presidents Bush and Obama together). Hence the sheer ignorance displayed in these propaganda outlets (let's call a spade, a spade) when referring to the Government party, United Russia, as anything other than the party the Russian people have chosen and the party which a vast majority still supports.
In the recent opinion poll carried out by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the second most popular party was revealed: The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), led by Gennady Ziuganov. The voter approval rate? 7 (seven) per cent. In third place the LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party) of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, with 5% and in fourth place, A Just Russia (Spravedlivaya Rossiya, SR) led by Sergey Mironov, with 4%.
And Unified Russia, the party of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin? First, with an overwhelming majority, with a voter approval rate over seven times higher than the second-placed Communist Party, with 54%.
Now where is that statistic in the western media, and where, by the way, is the darling of the western press, Gary Kasparov? In a word, and in answer to both questions, nowhere.
Therefore the media can make what it wants of demonstrations and protests (the ones which are legalised properly according to the law are authorized, the ones which are deliberately organized illegally to stir up trouble receive the same treatment as similar demonstrations everywhere else).
Certainly people protest. They have a lot to protest about. Those old enough to remember can only compare the system before and after (full employment, free housing, free public services, free or very cheap public utilities, excellent education system, leisure time, indexed pensions, versus unemployment, the drama it is to buy a house, the drama of keeping a job, rising prices and all the other utter marvels inherent in the market economy). But this is not the fault of the Government, this is not the fault of Unified Russia.
It is the fault of the global economic and financial system which lurches from boom to bust, which crashes from one disaster to the next and which carries in its wake firms, jobs and livelihoods. If Russia were a dictatorship as they say, the protests would not exist.
It would be interesting to see some truthful reporting in western media circles, and not hype, hysteria and histrionics. The protests and demonstrations are about economics, not politics and if Unified Russia had not run the country so skilfully, things would be far worse than they are.
That is why Unified Russia has an approval rate well over three times higher than the 3 leading opposition parties put together. So when the Russophobic Western media speaks about the "Opposition" as a powerful force inside Russia, why don't they ask the people how they intend to vote?
Kind of makes a mockery of the utter drivel they write, does it not?
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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Monday March 8 is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, a national holiday in Russia (since 1965) to commemorate the remarkable achievements of women in guaranteeing victories for human rights despite continued constraints. International Women's Day serves as a focal point for us to document the present and future challenges facing women and to pool resources to implement women's rights on a global scale. Amazing it is that such a Day should still be necessary.
"The beating was getting more and more severe. In the beginning it was confined to the house. Gradually he stopped caring. He slapped me in front of others and continued to threaten me. Every time he beat me it was as if he was trying to test my endurance, to see how much I could take". (1)
History of International Women's Day
International Women's Day started in the United States of America, launched by a declaration of the Socialist Party of America on February 28th, 1909 using as a basis the need to guarantee women's rights in an increasingly industrialized society and was taken up by the international community at the first International Women's Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1910. The horrific and inhumane conditions at the New York Triangle Shirtwaist factory which caused the deaths of 140 garment workers (mostly women) in 1911 provided an added impetus at a time when women were pressing for the right to vote and demonstrations in Russia prior to the 1917 Revolution were the first signs of women's emancipation in that country, culminating in the declaration by Lenin of a Women's Day on March 8th; in 1965 it was declared a public holiday by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
"Emotional abuse is worse. You can become insane when you are constantly humiliated and told that you are worthless, you are nothing" (2)
Why March 8th?
Women had been demonstrating for their rights since pre-Classical times (e.g. the sexual strike called by Lysistrata in Ancient Greece, the March on Versailles by Parisian woman calling for "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" in the 1790s). Copenhagen had chosen 19th March for the celebration of an International Women's Day but in 1913, Russian women chose the last Sunday in February (following the Declaration by the Socialist Party of America in 1909) as the date for their International Women's Day to call for peace on the eve of the First World War. As Springtime and local customs to give the first flowers to women combined, the end of Febuary/beginning of March began to be the time of year observed by the feminist movements, until in 1917, Russian women called a strike on the last Sunday of February to protest against the War (23d February) in the Julian Calendar; 8th March in the Gregorian.
"My husband slaps me, has sex with me against my will and I have to conform" (3)
Continuing the impetus
After having been considered "too stupid to have the right to vote", over the last century, women stood up for their rights and won victories, culminating in the right to vote and in gaining equal rights across a wide spectrum of professional activities.
"I take a blanket and I spend the night with my children out in the cold because he is hitting me too much and I have to take the kids to stop him hitting them too" (4)
However, so much more needs to be done and it is a telling statement that after 100 years, we are still faced by glaring and shocking statistics regarding women, such as:
Women own one per cent of the world's property, earn 10% of the world's income, yet perform 66% of the work, produce 50% of the food;
Women have to work longer hours than men to receive the same income;
Women are concentrated in insecure jobs in the informal sector and are far more vulnerable to unemployment;
Unacceptable statistics
How can we state that we have reached a collective state of civilization when we are confronted by statistics such as these?
A WHO study conducted in ten countries discovered that between 15 and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence perpetrated by a husband or partner;
For the 15-44 age group, violence causes more victims among women than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war;
Up to 40% of women in some countries stated that their first sexual encounter was not consensual;
There are 5,000 honour killings worldwide per year;
20% of women worldwide experience sexual abuse as children;
In South Africa, one women is killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner; in India 22 women are murdered each day in dowry-related incidents, often burnt alive;
80% of the world's victims of human trafficking are women;
100 to 140 million girls have been the victims of Female Genital Mutilation, 3 million girls per year are subjected to this horrific act of intrusion;
There are 60 million girls per year forced into marriage as child brides;
Worldwide, 25% of pregnant women are subjected to physical or sexual abuse (including being punched or kicked in the abdomen);
40 to 50% of women in the EU have experiences sexual harassment at work;
83% of girls in the USA experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools (5)
Conclusion
If we state that women's rights have been reached and ignore the facts presented above (but a minuscule sample of the horrific register of sexist abuse) then we are admitting that we live in an unjust, feeble and impotent global society which in over one hundred years of concerted efforts to set women's rights on an equal footing with those of men has still not managed to create universal and global structures.
While one of the biological functions of the woman is to carry the child through pregnancy (if
she so wishes), how can we say that we have reached any pinnacle of success if the right to employment is in many cases subjected to the precept that the woman will not have children and when hardly any societies worldwide have created the financial mechanisms for women to have full professional lives while performing their chosen roles as wives and mothers, quite apart from guaranteeing their right to inviolability of their physical integrity?
(1) UNO: Thai University Graduate
(2) UNO: Woman interviewed in Serbia/Montenegro
(3) UNO: Woman interviewed in Bangladesh
(4) UNO: Woman interviewed in Peru
(5) American Association of University Women. 2001. Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing, and Sexual Harassment in School.
Lisa KARPOVA
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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The Russian national soccer team is as from yesterday officially in a post-Guss Hiddink trauma syndrome, although it might not know it yet. If Hiddink didn't do it, who can? Who can make this group of players perform like those boys who ate the grass in the Summer of 2008, or who can make the perfect balance between the Russia of EURO-2008 and post-Maribor 2009? A name appears... two actually...
Guus Hiddink took Russia to a pinnacle the team had not reached for many years, gaining third place in the UEFA 2008 after stunning performances, principally against Holland. Everything led us to believe that the team would build on this success and go further.
The FIFA 2010 campaign was good, very good but with one stone in the shoe: Germany in the group. But for a dose of bad luck in both games against Germany, Russia would today be making travel plans for South Africa. Under Hiddink, Russia finished second in the qualifying group for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa behind Germany, with 22 points - the best second place, and enough to win several other groups outright. Everything seemed set for a victorious outcome in the play-off over two legs with Slovenia.
Instead, a poor lacklustre and tired performance in both legs of the play-off (2-1 in Moscow and 0-1 in Maribor) spelt the end of this generation and a full stop in Hiddink's aspirations in Russia. The team was a shadow of itself just one year previously. Slovenia qualified for South Africa on away goals. Russia will watch the finals on TV.
He leaves declaring that "Do svidanya" means not "Goodbye" but "Until I see you again", meaning that the possibility of a come-back is open and departs for Turkey, where he will take up the challenge of coaching the national team in August.
His sins? Accused of not spending enough time in Russia and of relying too heavily on the nucleus of players who had done him proud in UEFA 2008, Guus Hiddink did not need to prove himself before he came to Russia. His success as a coach is enviable: With PSV Eindhoven, he won the Dutch First Division Championship six times, (1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89 2002/03, 2004/05 and 2005/06), the UEFA Champions League in 1987/88 and the Dutch Cup three times (1987/88, 1988/89 and 1989/90). To this he added the World Clubs Title with Real Madrid in 1998 and the English FA Cup with Chelsea in 2008/9.
As a national team coach, he took Holland and South Korea to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, respectively, in 1998 and 2002 and in 2006, guaranteed Australia their first presence in a World Cup final stage in 32 years.
After Hiddink who is next? The internal figure may be Kurban Berdyev who took FC Rubin Kazan to two successive championships in the Russian Premier League. Certain limited experience in Europe was a positive but the international career is limited. The external one may be the British Roy Hodgson. His pedigree is enviable: In club football, he has managed Viking FK, Malmo FF, Internazionale, Blackburn Rovers, Grasshoppers, FC Copenhagem, Udinese and is currently at Fulham FC. As national team manager, he took Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup Finals and the Euro 1996 Finals.
Having worked in UEFA and FIFA technical groups and being multi-lingual, Roy Hodgson has international experience which may prove irresistible to Russia.
Time will tell. But now that Hiddink has closed the door, who else?
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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President Hugo Chavez is right. There is a sinister and underhanded, hidden and deceitful side to Washington's diplomacy and the document we are about to reveal proves it. Who is in charge of the White House, President Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton and the arms and AIPAC lobbies? After reading this, there can be little doubt.
Eva Golinger* discovered this document, "Department of the Air Force, Military Construction Program Fiscal Year 2010" drawn up in May of 2009, sent by the Pentagon to the US House of Congress. This is the document denounced by President Hugo Chavez at the UNASUL meeting on August 28, 2009 in Bariloche, regarding the US base at Palanquero, Columbia and proves the veracity of the philosophy General Mobility of the US Air Force in Latin America.
President Alvaro Uribe and Secretary of State Hillary "War Zone" Clinton are liars, according to this document. He, and the US State Department, stated on October 30 2009 on the occasion of the signing of the military agreement between Washington and Bogota, that the document concerned only operations within the territory of Columbia (with a view to fighting drugs trafficking and "terrorism").
The document mentions "world class space superiority". On Page 217 of the document ** regarding the base at Palanquero it states clearly: "Mission or Major Functions: This Cooperative Security Location (CSL) enhances the U. S. Global Defense Posture (GDP) Strategy which directs development of a comprehensive and integrated presence and basing strategy aligned with the principles of developing relations with partner nations. Palanquero provides an opportunity for conducting full spectrum operations throughout South America including CN (Counter Narcotics) missions. It also supports mobility missions by providing access to the entire continent, except the Cape Horn region, if fuel is available, and over half of the continent if unrefueled".
Full Spectrum Dominance is a US military concept involving joint military structure control over all battlespace elements in a region (land, air, sea, space). It is a strategic doctrine espoused by the USA in recent years with regard to preparing to control any situation with a wide range of military options.
Page 218 speaks about operations not in Columbia, but in the "sub-region" and I quote: "Location (CSL) at Palanquero best supports the COCOM's Theater Posture Strategy and demonstrates our commitment to this relationship. Development of this CSL provides a unique opportunity for full spectrum operations in a critical sub region of our hemisphere where security and stability is under constant threat from narcotics funded terrorist insurgencies, anti-US governments, endemic poverty and recurring natural disasters".
The document goes on to mention "theatre operations", "operational aircraft" and then justifies the location of Palanquero because of its location and the fact that it "minimizes the US military profile" and refers to "regional access and presence".
"Palanquero is unquestionably the best site for investing in infrastructure development within Columbia. Its central location is within reach of Andean Ridge counter narco-terrorist operations areas; the superb runway and existing airfield facilities will reduce construction costs; its isolation maximizes Operational Security (OPSEC) and Force Protection and minimizes the U.S. military profile. The intent is to leverage existing
infrastructure to the maximum extent possible, improve the U.S. ability to respond
rapidly to crisis, and assure regional access and presence at minimum cost".
"Palanquero supports the mobility mission by providing access to the entire South
American continent with the exception of the Cape Horn region if fuel is available,
and over half of the continent unrefueled".
In the same section we have a reference to the need to perform upgrades to Palanquero because "If these upgrades are not accomplished, it will severely limit the ability of USSOUTHCOM to support the U.S. Global Defense Posture (GDP)
Strategy which directs development of a comprehensive and integrated presence and
basing strategy aligned with the principles of developing relationships with
partner nations, ensuring mutual benefits between US and partner nations, limited
restrictions on U.S. freedom of action by partner nations and appropriate sharing
of costs".
Is the State Department running the USA? It sure doesn't seem to be President Obama.
*Federal Promotor from New York, living in Caracas since 2005. 
**http://www.centrodealerta.org/documentos_desclasificados/original_in_english_air_for.pdf
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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What is the difference between the current and previous US Administrations? The Bush regime was abrasive, bullying, chauvinistic and divisive, wantonly destroying bridges as it rode roughshod over an international community that did not act with a unified voice; the Obama approach is more agreeable, benevolent, cultured and dynamic. What a difference.
Two different generations, two different styles from one and the same people, the same country. While the Bush regime was perhaps the epitome of arrogance, belligerence and callousness, spelling out the ABC of the very worst the conspiracy theorists could level at Washington, Barack Obama, especially, and not necessarily the "regime" lurking in the shadows around him, is a breath of fresh air, representing instead the fundamental precepts of democracy, namely debate, dialogue and discussion.
His promise to listen has as yet produced little or nothing as regards foreign policy. The horrific and inhumane trade embargo continues to place a stranglehold around the heroic people of Cuba, just because the island decided to throw off the yolk of imperialism and constitute an alternative system. Hillary Clinton's request for Brazil to use its influence to act on the Islamic Republic of Iran may have fallen on deaf ears. The USA favours pressure, Brasilia favours dialogue and the United States' close relationship with the Uribe regime in Chile, complete with his background of para-militarism and narco-terrorism, is antagonistic to the collective psyche of the Continent.
However, there can be no doubt that the will for collaboration and cooperation is out there in the international community, and the fact that the US Secretary of State is speaking to Washington's international partners and not formulating a unilateralist policy behind closed doors is a very welcome change.
And this change has been noticed in Russia where a recent poll reveals that for the first time since the Georgia conflict, the number of Russians who declare that they like the USA has surpassed 50 per cent. The opinion poll, carried out by the Levada Center, reveals that while the figure was just 31% in November 2008 (shortly after the war in which Georgia declared a ceasefire, then violated it in a cowardly manner and slaughtered almost 2,000 Russian civilians in South Ossetia before being thrashed in a lightning campaign by the Russian Armed Forces) now 54 per cent of Russians declare they like the USA.
Those who stated they dislike the USA fell from 54% to 31% in the same period. What is the reason for this?
The death of unilateralism
The Obama team understood from very early on that the old abrasiveness and arrogance followed by Washington Administrations which were wholly insensitive to how people behaved and acted overseas would create far more enemies than friends.
The Russian Federation has for years been calling for a multilateralist approach which uses the UNSC as its forum for debate and decision-making as the dangers of the unilateralism followed by the previous administrations (Clinton's foreign policy disaster in the Balkans and the Bush catastrophe in Iraq) were revealed and the need for a new approach became apparent.
Obama's call for dialogue and his promise to listen is the presentation of an agreeable, pleasant modus operandi in which mutual respect for each others' cultures and the will to talk and learn together can become a fundamental precept of world diplomacy for the coming century. While Moscow has insisted that this be the cornerstone of diplomacy for decades, only with the commitment of Washington will it be possible.
With Obama, yes, we can.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
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With friends like Osama Bin Laden among the Bosnians, why should Radovan Karadzic need enemies? As the defence enters the last day of two, we see the utter injustice of the International Criminal Court, a NATO instrument of kidnapping, illegal detention and laundering of NATO war crimes. If it were a serious legal institution, Bush and his cronies would be languishing in a cell. As it is, it has again violated its own Constitution and the case is void.
Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader during the Bosnian war, entered the first of his two-day defence today in front of the ICC at The Hague. Denying two counts of genocide and nine others (murder, extermination, persecution, forced deportation and seizing hostages), he declares that he will "defend that nation of ours" which followed a "just and holy cause". After all, Radovan Karadzic was fighting international terrorism. And who was on the other side? The one the CIA referred to as UBL, himself: Osama Bin Laden.
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NASA scientist Richard Gross claims that the massive 8.8. magnitude Chile earthquake on February 27 may have shifted the Earth's axis by as much as 8 cm (3 inches) which would be enough to shorten the length of day. According to NASA website, using a computerised model modeling the earth's rotation, Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, estimated that the figure axis upon which the Earth's mass is balanced could have been shifted by the Chile quake, the fifth largest in history, by 2.7 milliarcseconds, equivalent to 8 cm or 3 inches. This occurred because a portion of the earth's core collapsed swiftly and massively, altering the planet's equilibrium.
view more >>Doesn't it feel great to slam the door behind you as you walk out, stick up the middle finger using the palm of the left hand on the upper right forearm for extra leverage and blow a giant raspberry? That is exactly how it feels as Russia leaves Vancouver after disappointing Games with a question, was the Canadian ice hockey team on drugs?
The middle finger goes to the shockingly dangerous organization of the Games which cost the life of a Georgian luger right at the outset on day 1 (Nodar Kumaritashvili lost his life because the track was unfit, and indeed the corner where he crashed was elevated the following day) and the giant raspberry goes to the appalling, abominable and biased judging of events which cost Russia medal after medal.
The middle finger and the giant raspberry go to the Canadian ice hockey team. Were they on drugs the day they beat Russia so overwhelmingly? These days, and since the USSR's 8-1 thrashing of Canada in the early 80s, Canada-Russia ice hockey games are always very closely fought events and there has not been such a monumental difference between the two sides. Very strange, the more so since the same Team Canada (whatever the hell that stupid expression is supposed to mean) put in an extremely lacklustre performance against lowly Slovakia and was lucky to reach Sunday's final. And for anyone who is about to be shocked by the question, one supposes it is OK to make cheap and gratuitous references to Russians and doping, but when the ball rolls back home it hurts. Right?
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In the United States of America, there are some 7,000 racial hate incidents a year. In the Russian Federation, in 2009, there were 71 such incidents with foreigners, down from 110 in 2008. Yet why is the international press full of stories about racial hate crimes in Russia and silent about everywhere else?
As usual, Russia is the victim of a slagging campaign by those who wish to gain a reputation by making derogatory comments in the "bought 'n' biased" western media, which likes to sell cosy packages of half-truths to its readers and viewers. In this case, the topic once again is racial hate crime.
Brazil's President Lula has just started his fourth trip to Cuba, in an atmosphere of friendship and good humour, expressing solidarity between two States and two peoples living happily with two different economic systems. Why would it be impossible for a President of the United States of America to shake hands with Fidel Castro and sign a treaty of cooperation and friendship?
President Obama was elected on a ticket of change, claiming "Yes, we can". Then why don't you? What, for instance, has changed in the US policy towards Cuba since President Obama took office? Precious little. True, family visits are less restrictive. True, it is easier to send remittances from the United States to Cuba. True, it is now easier to deliver humanitarian aid. However, this does not mean that all restrictions on travel to Cuba have been lifted and this does not mean that the inhumane trade embargo has been lifted.
In fact, there has been no substantial difference in the United States' policy towards Cuba for several decades. Therefore it comes as no surprise whatsoever that President Lula of Brazil can exchange frank and open smiles and embraces with the Secretary-General of the Cuban Communist Party, Fidel Castro, and the President of the Republic of Cuba, Raul Castro, on his fourth visit to the island during his Presidency, whereas as President, Barack Obama will not travel there once.
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Has anyone noticed how suddenly there is little or no news coming out of Iraq? Have the "insurgents" simply melted away, have they all been paid off? With the British and US troops cowering in massive military bases outside the main cities, is Iraq all right and rosy with law and order reigning in the cities while the invasion force looks on smiling?
In a word, no. New research conducted by Professor Michael Schwarz for Project Censored* indicates that the country has spiralled out of control, that violence has reached record proportions, that well over one million Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of the US-led invasion and that there are far more Iraqis pouring out of Iraq than there are returning, despite the cosy statements to the contrary.
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From time to time, a western newspaper gives space to Gary Kasparov, an Azeri who has a residence in New York and an apparent interest in stirring things up inside Russia. While it is understandable that he would prefer residence in the USA to Azerbaijan, his pretensions as regards Russia are curious, if not ominous. Who is pulling his strings?
Giving space to Gary Kasparov is paramount to plying an alcoholic geriatric town crier on the verge not only of senile dementia but also endemic unemployment, with his bottle of Ripple and sending him bawling into the night after telling him his wife has run off with the milkman and won't be coming back.
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Four more medals for Russia in the Vancouver Winter Olympics: one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze, bringing the tally to 13 and moving Russia up to fourth place ahead of Canada and just two medals shy of Norway. On Monday, after the Bronze medal won in the Women's Team Sprint Free by Irina Khazova and Natalia Korosteleva, it was the turn of Nikolai Morilov and Aleksei Petukhov to win another third place in the Men's Team Sprint in Cross-Country Skiing, an event won by Norway's Petter Northug and Oeystein Pettersen. Germany's Tim Tscharnke and Axel Teichmann won the Silver.
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In the United States of America, it has recently been concluded in a top-level report that lawyers who wrote covering memos authorizing torture did not violate legal ethics, an outrage which has prompted Human Rights Watch to call for a full inquiry into the abuse of detainees. The question also arises as to why the original charge of "professional misconduct" referred in the draft version of the Report was changed to "poor judgement".
Two words typed into an internet search engine will immediately lead the researcher to the British site Iraq Inquiry, an in-depth study of the behaviour of the British Government in Iraq to deem whether the United Kingdom acted illegally in going to war outside a UN mandate, a process in which Prime Ministers and Government Officials past and present are subjected to the same grilling as "ordinary citizens".
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A happier Sunday for the Russian Team at the Vancouver Winter Olympics after the inexplicable decision to award the silver medal to Evgeni Plushenko's flawless performance in the men's figure skating - the only skater to attempt the quadruple jump. Sunday saw Russia add a Gold, Silver and Bronze to the tally of medals, and on Monday another Bronze. The Gold medal came in the Men's Biathlon 15 km mass start, Evgeny Ustyogov winning the event ahead of France's Martin Fourcade (Silver) and Slovakia's Pavol Hurjat.
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Ukraine's new President, Viktor Yanukovich, is the center of attention among the observers of eastern Europe, who are trying to categorize him as being pro-Russia or pro-West. This approach smacks of Cold War undertones. Two questions: When are they going to let the Cold war drop and suppose Viktor Yanukovich does neither, or both?
Unfortunate as it may appear to many Western opinion makers who make a living out of taking pot-shots at Moscow and its Government, the Russian Federation is not the antithesis or the Nemesis of the European Union, Western Europe or the United States of America. Therefore any talk of Ukraine's newly-elected President Viktor Yanukovich swaying towards Moscow and away from Europe is as nonsensical as is the notion that if you are with Moscow, you are against the West.
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We all knew it weeks before the game started, with accusations about doping being levelled at Russian athletes, and we all saw it on day one of the games, with the death of a Georgian athlete on a corner which miraculously was elevated the following day. Vancouver is not fit to hold the Winter Olympics. Far from being a question of sour grapes, Russian commentators were already expressing their reservations as to the integrity of the Vancouver Lobby being able to host the Olympic Games weeks before the start. After all the IOC was starting to fire off in all directions before the first aircraft arrived.
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This afternoon, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Special Envoy President Bill Clinton launched a joint appeal for international donors not to forget Haiti, as the rebuilding and aid efforts enter their second month. While the media circus has moved on, the World Health Organization singles out Cuba for its fundamental contribution towards the healthcare and well-being of Haiti's citizens.
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