Sunday, October 03, 2004
An interesting compilation of international attitudes about U.S. policy under the Bush Administration: U.S. Policies Stir More Fear Than Confidence (news.yahoo.com/latimes, 10/03/04). There are some very unfortunate sentiments expressed resulting from the way in which the U.S. has chosen to use force.
The recent news about Iraq is a litany of horrors: Children massacred by Iraq bombs (bbc.co.uk, 09/30/04), reports that 34 kids were killed by a car bomb while pursuing sweets from U.S. soldiers, and that the U.S. killed a woman and child while engaging in house-bombings. In 'Scores die' in Samarra assault (bbc.co.uk, 10/01/04) the U.S. claims a precise estimate of 109 "insurgent" kills, while local hospitals report a high number of injuries, including to civilians.
On a different note, one correspondent notes that the use of force will not succeed in bringing order to Iraq on its own, and says that other efforts are afoot. Analysis: Battle for Iraq's future, by Jonathan Marcus (bbc.co.uk, 10/01/04) suggests that military campaigns which level cities and kill civilians won't create peaceful settings for elections, but that Allawi claims to be in negotiations with representatives from insurgent groups. If all the major Iraqi groups are represented in negotiations of the country's new constitution, peace may be achievable. Negotiations are a refreshing change from the force-only approach many of the parties in Iraq had taken.
On a different note, one correspondent notes that the use of force will not succeed in bringing order to Iraq on its own, and says that other efforts are afoot. Analysis: Battle for Iraq's future, by Jonathan Marcus (bbc.co.uk, 10/01/04) suggests that military campaigns which level cities and kill civilians won't create peaceful settings for elections, but that Allawi claims to be in negotiations with representatives from insurgent groups. If all the major Iraqi groups are represented in negotiations of the country's new constitution, peace may be achievable. Negotiations are a refreshing change from the force-only approach many of the parties in Iraq had taken.
Two Italian aid workers, who had been kidnapped in Iraq and were feared dead, were released and have created a controversy by insisting that resistance to puppet governments, such as Allawi's interim government in Iraq, is legitimate. Italy split over hostages' views (bbc.co.uk, 10/02/04) The two Simonas, Pari and Torretta, urged Italy to withdraw troops from Iraq, and condemned the kidnapping of civilians.
Their abductors gave them embroidered kaftans (British spelling) as gifts. The women feared they would be killed until they were freed, so I imagine the kaftans were quite unexpected. (understatement)
Their entire story has not been told, but should be interesting: one of the women was fluent in Arabic and had been doing aid work in Iraq for a long time, and so was likely able to communicate with their captors in a way that many other kidnap victims had not. The women were unaware of the unfortunate fates that hostages held by others in Iraq had recently suffered.
Their abductors gave them embroidered kaftans (British spelling) as gifts. The women feared they would be killed until they were freed, so I imagine the kaftans were quite unexpected. (understatement)
Their entire story has not been told, but should be interesting: one of the women was fluent in Arabic and had been doing aid work in Iraq for a long time, and so was likely able to communicate with their captors in a way that many other kidnap victims had not. The women were unaware of the unfortunate fates that hostages held by others in Iraq had recently suffered.