Myanmar’s opposition leader is spending her 64th birthday in Yangon’s Insein prison as supporters across the world continue to call for her release.

Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial for violating her house arrest after an American man swam to her lakeside residence.

A court decision is expected on Friday on her appeal to allow two previously barred witnesses to testify in her trial.

Confined for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, the Nobel laureate’s birthday on Friday is being marked around the world by campaigners seeking an end to decades of military rule in Myanmar.

But the day has taken on added significance this year amid international outrage over her trial, which is widely expected to end with a guilty verdict.

In Yangon, members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) will gather at the party’s dilapidated headquarters to release doves and call for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners and a meaningful transition to democracy.

Protests are also planned outside Myanmar’s embassies in major capitals around the world.

An online campaign, www.64forsuu.org, drew thousands of messages of support, including good wishes from world leaders and celebrities.

She says the trial, set to resume on June 26, is politically motivated to exclude her from next year’s elections promised by the military government as a step towards democracy but derided by critics as a sham to entrench military rule.

In London, Ivan Lewis, the British foreign office minister, said Aung San Suu Kyi was being tried on “ridiculous and bogus trumped-up charges”.

He said the European Union would consider further sanctions against Myanmar after the end of her trial.

Myanmar’s high court agreed this week to hear arguments from Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers to reinstate two banned defence witnesses.

But even if the ban is overturned, it is not likely to have any impact.

Mark Canning, Britain’s ambassador to Myanmar, told Reuters that there was no doubt she would be found guilty and that she would probably be sentenced to a further period of house arrest, rather than prison.

Shameful political scams continue.  Where is International pressure?  Where is the concern for ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Democracy’?  No oil, no play, especially if China has the say!

An international conference in Strasbourg devoted to the 20th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought ended today with the awarding of the prize to Chinese political activist Hu Jia.

Hu is jailed in Beijing and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, gave a video address from Beijing — where she is under house arrest — in accepting the award.

One idea discussed at the conference was the creation of a Sakharov Prize Laureates’ Club, which would allow past winners to exchange ideas and experiences.

Previous winners of the Sakharov Prize include former South African President Nelson Mandela and Belarusian opposition leader Alyaksandr Milinkevich.

Sakharov Prize has real impact, say previous winners

Celebrating 20 years of the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, 16 previous laureates gathered in Strasbourg to share their views on global human rights, and the importance of the Sakharov Prize.

Sakharov human rights prize awarded to China’s Hu Jia

The award of the 2008 Sakharov prize for human rights to jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia took place at midday Wednesday. In his absence his wife gave an emotional and moving video message from under house arrest in Beijing to MEPs today. Zeng Jinyan spoke about her husband’s poor health and his continued fight for human rights. A symbolic empty chair was in the middle of the Chamber for Hu Jia.

EU honors Chinese dissident Hu Jia in absentia

Beijing bars visits to jailed recipient of EU rights award

CHINA HAS criticised the European Parliament for awarding its prestigious Sakharov human rights prize to jailed dissident Hu Jia.

Hu’s wife Zeng Jinyan said yesterday she had been informed by Chinese authorities that he would not be allowed family visits this month. This, she said, was punishment for being honoured by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

When Hu was announced as this year’s winner in October, Beijing decried the move as “a gross interference in China’s domestic affairs”. Relations between the EU and China have since deteriorated further.

“Such a wrong act will not change China’s resolution to go its own way. We have explained our position many times, and I believe that the European Parliament is very clear about China’s stance,” Liu added.

China had warned that giving the Sakharov prize to Hu could damage Sino-European ties.

Past recipients of the prize have been the following:

• 1988: Nelson Mandela (South Africa) and Anatoly Marchenko (Soviet Union; posthumously)
• 1989: Alexander Dubček (Czechoslovakia)
• 1990: Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar)
• 1991: Adem Demaçi (SFR Yugoslavia)
• 1992: Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Argentina)
• 1993: Oslobođenje (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• 1994: Taslima Nasrin (Bangladesh)
• 1995: Leyla Zana (Turkey)
• 1996: Wei Jingsheng (China)
• 1997: Salima Ghezali (Algeria)
• 1998: Ibrahim Rugova (FR Yugoslavia)
• 1999: Xanana Gusmão (East Timor)
• 2000: ¡Basta Ya! (Spain)
• 2001: Nurit Peled-Elhanan (Israel), Izzat Ghazzawi (Palestine), Zacarias Kamwenho (Angola)
• 2002: Oswaldo Payá (Cuba)
• 2003: United Nations
• 2004: Belarusian Association of Journalists
• 2005: Ladies in White (Cuba), Reporters Without Borders and Hauwa Ibrahim (Nigeria; ex-aequo)
• 2006: Alaksandar Milinkievič (Belarus)
• 2007: Salih Mahmoud Osman (Sudan)
• 2008: Hu Jia (China)

Zeng Jinyan: Courage is not enough

In a moving message to the European Parliament who awarded her husband, Hu Jia, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Zeng Jinyan also paid tribute to other activists who try to improve freedom of expression in China. “If the truth be told, sometimes one’s courage is not enough. Sometimes the price to be paid is very, very high.”

To deny a person’s freedom of thought is to deny what can be considered one’s most basic freedom; to think for one’s self.

While freedom of thought is said to be one of the fundamental principles of most democracies, the attempted suppression of freedom of thought is a prominent characteristic of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes.

This prize is a brave statement that illustrates the conflict between ideals and reality.  Those selected are chosen for their relentles struggle against supressed living conditions.  Most of the chosen live at odds with their governments and in harmony with their peers.  Whether the nominees are really brave or just crazy, they stand for something most of us want.  Freedom to think for ourselves.  Freedom to be unique.  Freedom to breathe  thoughts to our children without censoring their meaning.

Control of humanity belongs to law agreed upon for the good of civilization, not to profit individual leaders.  Leaders not chosen by their people must enforce their will through terror and supression.  When leaders become too intrusive, individuals can protest.  This can be dangerous.   The Iraqi journalist who expressed his distaste for a leader by throwing his shoes was indeed a brave soul.  Without knowing what his ultimate preferences are, his expression was meaningful.  Hu Jia risks it all to be a brave heart for the restricted lives that live in China.

Chinese hack into White House network

ByDemetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Published: November 6 2008 19:13 | Last updated: November 7 2008 00:24

Chinese hackers have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions, and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior US official told the FT.

The cyber attackers managed to penetrate the White House system for brief periods that allowed them to steal information before US government experts each time patched the system.

Chinese hackers: No site is safe

• Chinese hackers claim to have broken into Pentagon’s system
• The hackers met with CNN on an island near a Chinese naval hub
• Hackers say Beijing secretly pays them at times, something the government denies
• Official: “The Chinese government does not do such a thing”

One hacker says he is a former computer operator in the People’s Liberation Army; another is a marketing graduate; and Xiao Chen says he is a self-taught programmer.

“First, you must know about the Web site you want to attack. You must know what program it is written with,” says Xiao Chen. “There is a saying, ‘Know about both yourself and the enemy, and you will be invincible.’”

White House hit multiple times by Chinese hackers

Hackers breach White House computers

Barack Obama meeting new economic team to discuss financial crisis

… in a stark sign of international issues to come for Mr Obama, it was reported that his campaign computer systems – as well as those of John McCain, his former Republican rival – had been the “victims of a sophisticated cyber attack”, in which a “serious amount of files” were stolen.

Newsweek magazine said that an FBI investigation had been launched into the summer attack, which they suspected had been the work of a “foreign entity” determined to gather policy information, which could have proved useful in negotiations with the future president. “Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese,” the magazine said.

Hackers hit both Presidential candidates this year

Cyber-attacks On The Presidential Campaign

Obama’s and McCain’s computers were the victims of some carefully planned cyber-attacks carried on by an unknown “foreign entity,” according to the explanation given by the FBI and the Secret Service.

“You have a problem way bigger than what you understand,” explained one of the agents talking to Obama’s team. “You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.” He also added that a similar situation was reported in McCain’s camp.

Candidates’ systems were probed for policy plans

Hacking for political reasons has emerged in recent years as a companion to traditional espionage. In 2007, Chinese government officials were accused of hacking government sites in the US, France, Germany and the UK.

Tagged: China, cyber attacks, cyber hazards, espionage, global economy, Global Security, internet, Presidential Candidates ]]> http://truthhugger.com/2008/11/07/sino-cyber-wars-continue-to-threaten-our-security/feed/ 0 BossKitty arthacker1cnn http://truthhugger.com/2008/10/26/dalai-lama-has-given-up/ http://truthhugger.com/2008/10/26/dalai-lama-has-given-up/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:27:38 +0000 bosskitty http://truthhugger.wordpress.com/?p=2006 ]]> The Dalai Lama Throws in the Towel

It is always hard to tell what is for show and what is real in the long, drawn out tragedy of Sino-Tibet relations but the Dalai Lama’s announcement that he has had enough (see here) and is giving up on talks with China is an important moment, even if it is partially symbolic. It has also lead to renewed speculation about whether he might be retiring or about to step down. Normally, you only leave that job when you die, but he has in the past threatened to set up an election or other novel means to find a successor, a clear attempt to avoid a repetition of what happened to the Panchen Lama, the second ranking monk in Tibet’s hierarchy.

Dalai Lama Says He Has Given Up on China Talks

DHARMSALA, India — The Dalai Lama said Saturday he has given up on efforts to convince Beijing to allow greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule.

The Tibetan spiritual leader said he would now ask the Tibetan people to decide how to take the dialogue forward.

China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of leading a campaign to split Tibet from the rest of the country. The Dalai Lama has denied the allegations, saying he is only seeking greater autonomy for the Himalayan region to protect its unique Buddhist culture _ a policy he calls the “middle way.”

“I have been sincerely pursuing the middle way approach in dealing with China for a long time now but there hasn’t been any positive response from the Chinese side,” he said in Tibetan at a public function Saturday in Dharmsala, the north Indian town that is home to Tibet’s government-in-exile.

“As far as I’m concerned I have given up,” he said in an unusually blunt statement.

“The issue of Tibet is not the issue of the Dalai Lama alone. It is the issue of 6 million Tibetans. I have asked the Tibetan government-in-exile, as a true democracy in exile, to decide in consultation with the Tibetan people the future course of action,” the Dalai Lama said.

Most Tibetans have supported the Dalai Lama’s push for autonomy for the region. The Tibetan Youth Congress is the only major activist group that is advocating full independence for Tibet.

Dalai Lama says he is loosing faith on talks with China

I have followed and written about the Dalai Lama’s efforts to mend relations with China.  This ending is sad but inevitable.  He will have to bow out gracefully, hand over the reins to the more ambitious, and often volatile, Tibetan Youth Conference.  Unfortunately, China will have the option to declare Tibet a rogue provence and it’s activists ‘terrorists’, like they did for other regions within their own country. See my articles leading up to this event.

Dalai Lama’s ‘Middle Way’ has failed – An Interview

If The Dalai Lama Resigns Will Things Get Worse?

Political And Religious Mind Control - OpEd

Can The Olympics Open Up China?

China Reeducates Tibetan Monks To Denounce The Dalai

Tibet, China and the West Still Don’t Understand Each Other

Dalai Lama Reaches Out For Mediation

The Dalai Lama We Don’t Know

China and Tibet History Revealed

Tibet: Conscience Of The World

Tibet In Chaos – China Faces Olympic Boycott

Tibet Factor: Confrontation With Tyranny

Dalai Lama May Forgo Death Before Reincarnation

Tibetans Have Had Enough – Advocate Violent Protests

China cancels US military contact

China has cancelled military and diplomatic exchanges with the US in protest at a $6.5bn deal to supply Taiwan with arms, US officials say.

A number of senior level visits and military-to-military exchanges due before November would not go ahead, the US defence department said.

The sales include advanced interceptor missiles, Apache helicopters and submarine-launched missiles.

China regards Taiwan as its territory and opposes US military support.

Q: The US is using terrorism to engulf Russia, India and China. It is not keen on cooperation in this field. Hence it is imperative for these three countries to develop cooperation in this field.

R: I don’t think the US is using terrorism as an instrument of manipulation to counter Russia, China and India. There are other instruments of manipulation available like IMF, WTO, and World Bank.

Q: Is Russia looking for any strategic partners? Does India play role here?

R: In the wake of NATO expansion, Russia does see the need for strategic cooperation. However, it is uncertain about whom it can cooperate with. It has listed India and China as its strategic partners. But the triangle is a badly conceived idea. The three together cannot face the threat from the US. The three countries have very little convergence of interests.  Further, they have signed separate bilateral agreements with the West to gain some concessions. Besides, there are contentious issues between India and China which would hinder effective cooperation.

Q: We use the term ‘threat’ in different contexts. What is Russia’s threat perception?

R: Russia’s threat perception is inherited from the Cold War. The Democrats in Russia view US as a force threatening its territorial integrity and thus endangering democracy and the future of its political development. The Communists view NATO expansion as a major threat. They also perceive the US as hindering the Russian State from its revival to extract resources from the region. However, the current levels of threat perception do not extend to a nuclear attack.

BossKitty has seen this coming for over a year and written these OpEds:

America has been the epitome of self-justified consumerism for decades. America must accept that their place on the consumer, self-consumed tree of life is dropping a few branches. China and India are clambering for the top branch. The Sino-Russian alliance is reshuffling world economics. India is its own boom town. The emergence of ‘middle class’ in these countries is toppling the middle class in America. Why? Americans have become soft and impractical. Americans are consumer robots that are mesmerized by ‘image over substance’. That is exactly where America’s marketing geniuses have brought us. Some Americans are waking up to a world known by their grand parents and great grand parents. Frugal is no longer a ‘quaint concept’. Gas prices and their effect on food and necessities is the slap in the face we need to come out of the hypnosis we have been enjoying. … America has been hitting the snooze alarm too long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those not paying attention, the baby steps of a serious economic and political alliance within this huge region (Asia and SouthEast Asia) is unfolding. The keystone here is Russia. With the Sino-Russian Treaty that followed the 911 attacks, Russia and China sought to strengthen their geo-political positions out of concern for US reactions. They saw the US opportunity to expand its “sphere of influence” for security reasons. They were correct. This was the impetus for Trans-Siberia Pipeline which includes the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Pipeline. Enter the opportunity to embrace the Iranian economy and promote the IPI pipeline. Russia encourages Ahmadinejad to step up the diplomacy within the region. The Sino-Russia-Iranian empire will naturally include India, Pakistan and dip into the entire South East Asia region. We are looking at an economic alliance that will rival the EU and anything the US may do to unite the Western Hemisphere.

The next President of the United States will have to deal with a very powerful economic force. The rhetoric of attacking Iran because we are “pretty sure” they want nuclear weapons because they hate Israel, threatens more than just Iran. The majority of the world population is not going to allow these threats to materialize without response. Much of this world is hungry and fears for its own future. The US has alienated many of these cultures. The hand of Ahmadinejad offers hope for sustenance in a shifting global economy.

America must choose its next president carefully. The arrogance that America’s way is the ONLY way will be its doom if the rhetoric and posturing continues. We must not forget that the Third World is much larger and more desperate than the First World.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It appears that Russia and China are only compatible when it comes to protecting their interests with Iran. However, mixed signals about this odd couple warrant closer scrutiny. Both countries are definite about opposing western interference in places where they have material interest. This administration has done too much to push these giant countries together. Their differences are shrinking as the US becomes a bigger thorn in their security.

The more America behaves as a proprietary empire, countries will view us as a common menace.  Those countries will put aside their differences to unite in a protective coalition of their own.  As we see happening right now, China and Russia will stand to protect their investments and economic stability. America is creating enemies bigger than we are.  Arrogance is not sustainable.  Paybacks are hell …

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While we were sleeping and having dreams about Middle East Empires, Russia is pissed off. It holds hands with China and agrees that the US is out of control, they decide to ‘buddy up’. North Korea, in the meanwhile, is getting closer to what it wanted all along, RESPECT. Their name is being scratched off the ‘evil nation’ list and Kim will get his favorite booze … The good ole Cold War days, James Bond and I Spy, are returning to a country near you. What a relief this will be. Let those double agents knock each other off in clandestine scenarios instead of trashing whole countries. Oh yeah, Cold War is more doable than what we have now. Watch Putin’s successor very closely, hope he remembers “mutually assured destruction” (the MAD rule) that kept everyone alive and on their guard.

Putin no longer tries to reason with the spoiled bullies running this country. Moscow and Beijing are building a coalition that out-numbers anything the West could ever imagine. While the US sells arms to anyone with a ‘fistful of dollars’, the East is purchasing advanced weapons technology from anywhere they find it. This A-Bomb-A-Nation has squandered its resources on a loosing proposition to corner a market on fossil energy.

The other side of the world is watching the US waste away … when they’re ready, they will pull the plug and sell billions of US Treasury notes to hamstring our economy. Anyone guess at the long term motive? China and Russia see a delicious opportunity, and Eastern businesses are notorious entrepreneurs. What a prize we would be … are we too weary to see the big picture? Are we blind? Do we even care? Political overload and despondency over a Middle East quagmire have created so much infighting that our attention deficit leaves the US vulnerable. Judeo-Christian-Islamic militant extremists are wasting away defensive resources to the point that anyone could just walk in and declare the US as the western province of a greater empire. Oh yes, there would be a lot of blood, most of it ours. Yes, the unthinkable could happen out of desperate frustration. Like a jealous lover who cries ‘if I can’t have you, then no one can’ just as he shoots the very one they love. Problem is that everyone has nukes …

US Attention Deficit Focuses On Wrong Threat, Downplays Sino-Russian Empire 21-Aug-07

Russian bombers launch missiles over Arctic 03-Sep-07

China deals blow to Western efforts to punish Iran 17-Nov-07

From an interview with Scott Horton, who taught Saakashvili at Columbia University, and then hired him to work at his law firm and Paul Saunders, executive director of the Nixon Center, a foreign policy think-tank that has hosted several appearances by Saakashvili. Saunders served in the Bush Administration from 2003 – 2005 as Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs.:

… the immediate issue is how he (Saakashvili ) was stupid enough to get into a war with Russia given the fact that Russia was looking to send a message – particularly after the Kosovo incident where – the Bush continuation of the Clinton policy of breaking Kosovo away from Serbia.

However, Saunders added as to Team Bush:

“The administration absolutely was telling him not to provoke the Russians and to resolve the dispute peacefully. The problem is that Mr. Saakashvili was also getting a number of other mixed messages from the administration. The administration was making it very clear that they were willing to take on the European opposition to bring Georgia into NATO. There was considerable support for the Georgian military, a variety of other steps.

“And then, just a month ago, you had Secretary Rice in Tbilisi standing next to Saakashvili saying, in response to a question from him, ‘Mr. President, we always fight for our friends.’

“And it’s clear that she had something else in mind. She was talking about the dispute with our allies over joining NATO. But this very open-ended statement on her part, I think, cannot but have created some opportunities for misunderstanding, let me put it that way.”

At that point Horton added:

“Well, I want to go back to the question about American — the American voice here. I think he’s absolutely right. America wasn’t speaking with a single, clear voice.

“We had lower-level State Department officials giving a correct message, but it was confused and it was overridden by a louder voice from Washington that came particularly from the neocon community. I think we see tragic consequences from that.”

I also thought it was interesting that Senator McCain by the end of the week was emphasizing that: (i) he did not want to start a new Cold War; (ii) that it was not clear who started what; but (ii) Russia had gone over the top.

US credibility is important for everyone so no mixed messages. While Rice should be canned – indeed Bush is leaving in 5 months – 43 should finally act like a world leader.

While this is risky in suggesting that 43 does this because he could screw it up 0- the track record sucks – it is also time to do more which is to assure stability by reinvoking the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine taking it selectively global coupled with a reminder to Russia that it borders a lot of countries – including the US – and boundaries have to be respected. However, the actual execution of this should be left to Secretary of Defense Bob Gates not Condi Rice.

… the US has been a “front line” state with Russia since 1867. The US has had a front line border with Russia in the form of Alaska, which was purchased from Russia in 1867.

Missile Defense: Washington and Poland just moved the World closer to War by F. William Engdahl  The signing on August 14 of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Poland to deploy on Polish soil US ‘interceptor missiles’ is the most dangerous move towards nuclear war the world has seen since the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis.

Wag the Dog: How to Conceal Massive Economic Collapse by Ellen Brown  “War is show business, that’s why we’re here.” – “Wag the Dog” (1997 film) … the Plunge Protection Team had come to the rescue. Formally known as the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, the PPT was once concealed and its very existence denied as if it were a matter of strict national security. But the PPT has now come out of the closet. What was once a legally questionable “manipulator” of markets has become a sanctioned stabilizer and protector of markets.

“Naval Blockade” or All Out War Against Iran? by Michel Chossudovsky Shortly after this article was released on August 13, US military sources as well as Stratfor (a Strategic Studies Think Tank) stated that the various press reports (UPI, Middle East Times, Kuwait Times, Debka) regarding the naval deployment to the Middle East were incorrect.

According to the press reports (see UPI, August 11, 2008), the war ships involved in the “Operation Brimstone” war games off the US North Atlantic coast, had set sail for the Middle East. This information is apparently incorrect, according to the US Navy and Stratfor.

It is worth noting that the Kuwaiti government had activated emergency procedures based on the information pertaining to a major naval deployment in the Persian Gulf.

War in the Caucasus: Towards a Broader Russia-US Military Confrontation? by Michel Chossudovsky During the night of August 7, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Georgia’s president Saakashvili ordered an all-out military attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. … The importance and timing of this military operation must be carefully analyzed. It has far-reaching implications.

Georgia is an outpost of US and NATO forces, on the immediate border of the Russian Federation and within proximity of the Middle East Central Asian war theater. South Ossetia is also at the crossroads of strategic oil and gas pipeline routes. Moscow has accused NATO of “encouraging Georgia”. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underscored the destabilizing impacts of “foreign” military aid to Georgia:

“It all confirms our numerous warnings addressed to the international community that it is necessary to pay attention to massive arms purchasing by Georgia during several years. Now we see how these arms and Georgian special troops who had been trained by foreign specialists are used,” he said.(Moscow accuses NATO of having “encouraged Georgia” to attack South Ossetia, Russia Today, August 9, 2008)  Contrary to what was conveyed by Western media reports, the attacks were anticipated by Moscow. The attacks were timed to coincide with the opening of the Olympics, largely with a view to avoiding frontpage media coverage of the Georgian military operation.
A process of escalation and confrontation between Russia and America is unfolding, reminiscent of the Cold War era.

Are we dealing with an act of provocation, with a view to triggering a broader conflict?  Supported by media propaganda, the Western military alliance is intent on using this incident to confront Russia, as evidenced by recent NATO statements.

Putin’s Winning Hand

So much for predictions.  What I saw last year was a trend that mimicked history, again and again.  I saw America speeding toward the great pothole in the road and felt helpless to stop it.  The best I could do was start preparing for my own survival.  The famous GWOT  (Global War On Terror), lit the fuse to destroy any credibility the United States had left.  By forming alliances that appear to reinforce Bush’s aggressions in other areas,  Bush has made impossible commitments.  This flaw has not gone unnoticed by the Sino-Russian and Indo-Russian alliances.  Even before 9/11, these Asian alliances were positioning themselves to meet the anticipated US policy change.  Blatant aggression to promote economic superiority.  By preaching Democracy while behaving Imperialistically, protective alliances formed against the US.  Western media conveniently reports only those portions of a story that promote the public US position on their allies misbehavior.  The US and NATO have exacerbated misbehavior problems, as witnessed in Georgia-Osstia, by promising to protect president Saakashvili from Russia …  The US is guilty of ignoring history.  The US is guilty of disinformation on the scale of Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR.  The rest of the world has witnessed too much US misbehavior to support US policies, unless coerced.

Obviously, Putin is an excellent Chess Player,  while Bush still looses at Checkers … Unfortunately, these games cost a lot of lives and reek much distruction.  Oil is the “great Satan”  and we are beholden to it’s clutches. We are all M.A.D.

]]> http://truthhugger.com/2008/08/17/we-saw-this-coming-american-falls-into-its-own-trap/feed/ 2 BossKitty Nagasaki http://truthhugger.com/2008/06/23/who-are-the-uyghur-and-why-are-they-in-guantanamo/ http://truthhugger.com/2008/06/23/who-are-the-uyghur-and-why-are-they-in-guantanamo/#comments Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:07:21 +0000 bosskitty http://truthhugger.wordpress.com/?p=297 ]]> US Guantanamo trials ‘to proceed’

(“You can receive millions of dollars for helping the Anti-Taliban Force catch Al-Qaida and Taliban murderers. This enough money to take care of your family, your village, your tribe for the rest of your life. Pay for livestock and doctors and school books and housing for all of your people”)

When China offered a bounty for capturing, killing or detaining the Uyghur (pronounced “Weeer”), the US Military obliged. Conveniently, they categorized the Uyghur as terrorists, because China says so … China has more influence than our own legal system. How many readers have ever heard about these people? The Uyghur are treated as bad or worse than Tibetans. Its a religious thing, Uyghur are Muslims. China has a greedy ally who will do anything for money … of course, we’re rounding up terrorists, too. Unethical behavior seldom makes media headlines, unless someone blows the whistle very loud and long, like for Tillman.

SALON In 2001 a group of 18 Uighurs, an ethnic minority from Xinjiang province in western China, was living together in a camp in Afghanistan when the coalition bombing started. They claim that they fled to the Afghan mountains, were led across the border to Pakistan by some other travelers, and were sold to the United States for bounty money. Five other Uighurs also ended up in Guantánamo, possibly sold to the United States as well.

Most of these men have been cleared for release since 2003, yet remain in Guantánamo because they can’t return to China, and neither the United States nor any other country has been willing to take them in. While five of the Uighurs were resettled in Albania in 2005, 16 others remain housed in one of the most draconian facilities in Guantánamo, reportedly because they threw feces and urine at prison guards following a dispute about the Koran in May 2007. But instead of receiving a 30- or 90-day punishment, as is common in U.S. prisons for disruptive behavior, the Uighurs were moved into one of the highest-security, most restrictive parts of the facility — indefinitely.

The Tibetans you’ve never heard of

America’s prison for terrorists often held the wrong men

China: Religious Repression of Uighur Muslims

Architecture of Xinjiang Suppression Detailed

“The worldwide campaign against terrorism has given Beijing the perfect excuse to crack down harder than ever in Xinjiang,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “Other Chinese enjoy a growing freedom to worship, but the Uighurs, like the Tibetans, find that their religion is being used as a tool of control.”

China ‘crushing Muslim Uighurs’

China has been accused by two US-based human rights groups of conducting a “crushing campaign of religious repression” against Muslim Uighurs.

China Confirms Protests by Uighur Muslims

SHANGHAI — Chinese officials said Wednesday that they were grappling with ethnic unrest on a second front, in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims protested Chinese rule last month even as Tibetans rioted in the southwest.

FindLaw By JOANNE MARINER, human rights attorney

Uighurs in Albania Most Americans have never heard of the Uighurs and wouldn’t be able to find Albania on a map. And if the Uighurs are obscure, then Uighurs in Albania are obscurity squared: an alien people in a faraway place.

But there are now five Uighurs in Albania, and how they ended up there deserves attention. It’s a story of superpower politics, ethnic oppression, and the limits of the law. It highlights a problem that the United States has brought on itself: what to do with the hundreds of detainees who are currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, some of whom cannot be returned home.

China to Afghanistan to Cuba

The Uighurs are Turkic Muslims from the Xinjiang region in far western China. A group of them were in Afghanistan when war began in 2001 and were captured in the wake of the fighting, some by Pakistani bounty hunters. Twenty-two Uighurs were sent to Guantanamo, along with other detainees deemed the “worst of the worst.”

By late 2003, having interviewed them extensively, U.S. officials concluded that most of the Uighur detainees were not a threat. Five of them, in fact, were found not to be “enemy combatants” at all, while ten more were deemed to be low-risk enough to merit release.

But while bringing the Uighurs to Cuba was easy, getting them off the island was not. They could not be sent to China, their country of citizenship, for fear of persecution. As part of the “fight against three evils” — terrorism, religious extremism and separatism – the Chinese government has cracked down hard against its Uighur minority. Accusing them of plotting bombings and other sabotage, the Chinese government has incarcerated Uighur dissidents with little proof of actual involvement in violent acts.

Under international law, the only country that is clearly obliged to accept a person’s entry is that person’s country of citizenship. So while the U.S. could not return the Uighurs to China, it could not require any other country to take them either.

Instead, the U.S. had to wheedle: to appeal to other countries’ humanitarian inclinations. But this is an age of unwanted refugees and, more importantly, of growing Chinese power. Few countries are willing to risk alienating Beijing by granting asylum to the Uighurs as a group . Although the U.S. approached a whole host of countries — Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and others – none agreed to accept them.

Uighurs in Court

At the same time as the U.S. government was trying to negotiate the Uighurs’ resettlement, a case brought by two of the Uighurs was making its way through the federal courts. At issue in the case was whether the U.S. could hold the Uighurs indefinitely even after it found that they pose no threat to national security.

On the merits of their claim, District Judge James Robertson ruled unequivocally in favor of the Uighurs. “The detention of these petitioners has by now become indefinite,” said Robertson in an opinion issued in December 2005. “This indefinite imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay is unlawful.”

At a hearing prior to his ruling, Judge Robertson had suggested that he might order the Uighurs released temporarily into the United States. But his final ruling found, instead, that he lacked the legal authority to remedy the Uighurs’ plight. “The question,” he wrote, “is whether the law gives me the power to do what I believe justice requires. The answer, I believe, is no.”

Winning in principle but losing in practice, the Uighurs filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. It was a long-shot effort, given that the case was still pending in the lower courts, and in April the Supreme Court declined to consider the appeal. The case was due to be heard by a federal appellate court last Monday, but, just days in advance of the hearing, the two plaintiffs (and three others) were released to Albania.

The Albanian Solution?

While five Uighurs have left, ten other Uighurs cleared for release remain at Guantanamo. And the Uighurs are not the only detainees who cannot return home. There are three others — a Russian, an Algerian and an Egyptian — who have been found not to be “enemy combatants” yet who remain incarcerated.

Indeed, nearly 30 percent of the detainees at Guantanamo – about 141 men — have been cleared to leave, but still remain. For many, the U.S. government knows that conditions are unsuitable at home. Dozens of detainees have filed motions seeking advance notice of any transfer, seeking to challenge their return on the ground that they might face torture.

So what are the options for detainees who cannot return home? There is the Albanian solution - find a country that, for humanitarian or other reasons, is willing to give them a safe haven. But that may not work in every case.

More from Joanne Mariner

WIKIPEDIA: The Uyghur (also spelled Uygur, Uighur, Uigur; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; simplified Chinese: 维吾尔; traditional Chinese: 維吾爾; pinyin: Wéiwú’ěr) are a Turkic people of Central Asia. Today Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial name East Turkistan or Uyghurstan).

There are Uyghur diasporic communities in Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Germany and Turkey and a smaller one in Taoyuan County of Hunan province in south-central China.^[3]

Historically the term “Uyghur” was applied to a group of Turkic-speaking tribes that lived in the Altay Mountains. Along with the Göktürks (Kokturks) the Uyghurs were one of the largest and most enduring Turkic peoples living in Central Asia.

In modern usage, “Uyghur” refers to settled Turkic urban-dwellers and farmers of Kashgaria and Jungaria who follow traditional Central Asian practices, as distinguished from nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia. The Bolsheviks reintroduced the term “Uyghur” to replace the previously used Turki. The Soviets first used “Uyghur” in 1921 during a meeting of Turkic leaders in Tashkent. This meeting established the Revolutionary Uyghur Union (Inqilawi Uyghur Itipaqi), a communist nationalist organization that opened underground sections in principal cities of Kashgaria and was active until 1926, when the Soviets recognized the Sinkiang Provincial Government and concluded trade agreements with it. Comintern’s structure included an Uyghur section. There is some evidence that Uyghur students and merchants living in Russia had already embraced the name prior to this date, drawing on Russian studies that claimed a linkage between the historical khanate and Xinjiang’s current inhabitants.

Today, Uyghurs live mainly in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, where they are the largest ethnic group, together with Han Chinese, Hui, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Russians. Thousands of Uyghurs also live in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. “Xinjiang”, meaning “New Frontier”, is the official Chinese name of the Autonomous Region.

Orkhon Uyghur

Uyghur history can be divided into four distinct phases: Pre-Imperial (300 CE-630 CE), Imperial (630-840 CE), Idiqut (840-1209 CE), and Mongol (1209-1600 CE), with perhaps a fifth modern phase running from the death of the Silk Road in 1600 CE until the present. Uyghur history is the story of an obscure nomadic tribe from the Altai Mountains rising to challenge the Chinese Empire and ultimately becoming the diplomatic arm of the Mongol invasion.

Like Tibetans in Tibet, Uighurs have historically been the predominant ethnic group in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. In both Tibet and Xinjiang, indigenous groups have chafed at the arrival of large numbers of Han Chinese, the country’s predominant ethnic group, who have migrated to western regions with strong government support.

Uighurs, like Tibetans, have complained that recent Han arrivals now dominate their local economies, even as the Han-run local governments insert themselves deeper into schools and religious practices to weed out cultural practices that officials fear might reinforce a separate ethnic or religious identity.

We, as Americans, have a lot to answer for. The Rule of Law that has made America an example for Democracy, has been made dirty by the Bush Administration. Cherry picking which laws suit him, and making up laws when none are available to meet his needs, this administration has dismantled America. Profit motive has gone far enough for the select few. There are too many disenfranchised as a result of Bush’s disgusting policies. The more he resurrects the 9/11 catastrophe as an excuse, the more I have doubts about the real origins of that day.

]]> http://truthhugger.com/2008/06/23/who-are-the-uyghur-and-why-are-they-in-guantanamo/feed/ 0 BossKitty none http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/14/burma-millions-vulnerable-and-china-earthquake-may-be-man-made/ http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/14/burma-millions-vulnerable-and-china-earthquake-may-be-man-made/#comments Thu, 15 May 2008 04:34:58 +0000 bosskitty http://truthhugger.wordpress.com/?p=266 ]]> UN raises Burma cyclone estimate

The UN has sharply increased its estimate of those severely affected by Burma’s cyclone to 2.5m people.

The figure was revised up from the 1.5m previously thought to be in need, following the storm 12 days ago.

Since Cyclone Nargis struck, hardly any foreign aid workers have been allowed into Burma to hand out relief supplies.

Latest Burmese official figures put the death toll at almost 38,500 with 27,838 more missing but the Red Cross warned as many as 128,000 could be dead.

‘Food is not the problem. Right now, it’s clean water’

Red Cross: Up to 128,000 may have died in Myanmar

Monsoon predicted in Myanmar delta

Aid Trickling In to Myanmar

International disaster assistance experts are still having trouble securing visas, despite ongoing negotiations. There is great concern about the possibility of disease among the many, now homeless, survivors, but no outbreaks have been reported yet.

THE devastating natural disasters in Burma and China illustrate the difference between having a competent government and an incompetent one.

The Burmese military, unlike the Chinese, has done little to help its people, of whom more than 100,000 are already dead. The Burmese Government’s reluctance to allow foreign aid in will condemn many more tens of thousands to unnecessary deaths.

Optimistic analysts in Southeast Asia and in the West hope the appalling suffering in Burma may lead to the collapse of the military junta and its replacement by a government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

China quake toll close to 15,000

Nearly 15,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

More than 25,000 are still trapped in the rubble two days after the 7.9 quake struck, flattening homes, schools and entire villages and cutting roads.

Soldiers have begun to reach the isolated epicentre by helicopter and on foot, bringing much needed supplies.

The government has meanwhile downplayed fears about the stability of a dam. No damage has been reported to the massive Three Gorges Dam, also in Sichuan province, but there were concerns about dozens of smaller dams closer to the epicentre.

Troops sent to repair quake-hit Chinese dam

Some 2,000 Chinese troops were sent today to repair “extremely dangerous” cracks in a dam upstream of an earthquake-hit city where 500,000 people live.

Officials warned that Dujiangyan “would be swamped” if the Zipingpu reservoir were to breach the hydroelectric dam, five miles upstream of the south-western city.

Earlier, engineers released water from the reservoir to relieve pressure on the dam, after cracks appeared on its surface.

Speaking to Reuters, He Biao, the deputy Communist party chief of Aba prefecture, said: “If the danger intensified, it could affect some power stations downstream. This is an extremely dangerous situation.”

Yesterday authorities pointed out that the earthquake had not damaged the huge Three Gorges dam, which is still incomplete. The quake registered a magnitude of four in the dam area, which is 600 miles from the epicentre of the quake, where it registered 7.9.

The Three Gorges dam is designed to withstand earthquakes up to seven in magnitude. However, one of the many criticisms made of the dam was that its sheer size could trigger earthquakes.

China’s deadly quake: Is the Three Gorges dam to blame?

Though the deadly Wenchuan earthquake was the result of tectonic stresses, experts are concerned that the filling of the Three Gorges dam’s enormous reservoir may have induced or exacerbated the earthquake.

Engineers have already linked the massive weight of water behind the Three Gorges dam to increased seismic activity since its filling began in 2003.
“Whether reservoir-induced seismicity is behind this week’s earthquake should be urgently investigated before the Three Gorges reservoir is filled to its maximum height,” says Patricia Adams, executive director of Probe International, a Canadian group monitoring the Three Gorges dam since the 1980s.

The deadly month of Dis-May! Burma’s Junta makes matters worse by adding human greed to a costly natural disaster. This despicable ruling Junta is confiscating the ‘cream’ of humanitarian aid for their own use. They continue to impede foreign aid workers from participating and organizing effective relief efforts. All this band of hoodlums want is the goodies. To Hell with their people … It is time for pre-emptive intervention to save lives, prevent outbreaks of disease and assist in rebuilding infrastructure.

China is not ready to admit the Three Gorges Dam project could have led to the devastating earthquake. No one listened years ago when there were protests mounted on scientific evidence that because Three Gorges sits atop two great fault lines, there could be heavier seismic consequences.

Again, accountability and forward thinking appear to be mere irritants to today’s world governments. When the bottom line is money, power and image, consequences become someone else’s responsibility. Let the next generation worry about the consequences, “we live for today” … where have we heard that before? Oh yes, that old hippie song …

Let’s Live For Today by The Grass Roots, 1967

When I think of all the worries people seem to find
And how they’re in a hurry to complicate their minds
By chasing after money and dreams that can’t come true
I’m glad that we are different, we’ve better things to do
May others plan their future, I’m busy lovin’ you (1-2-3-4)
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
And don’t worry ’bout tomorrow, hey, hey, hey
Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today
Live for today
We were never meant to worry the way that people do
And I don’t need to hurry as long as I’m with you …

And the world suffers the consequences.

Burma continues to reject help

Burma’s military government has said it is still opposed to letting foreign aid workers in to help the many victims of Cyclone Nargis.

Vice-Admiral Soe Thein, of the military leadership, said Burma was grateful for the aid shipment from the United States which arrived on Monday.

But he said that so far there was no need for aid workers.

The US has said it hopes to send in two more transport aircraft carrying aid later on Tuesday.

… aid workers complain that much of the aid delivered over the past week has not reached those who need it, because the Burmese military insists on controlling most of the distribution – despite lacking the equipment and expertise to do it well.

… delivering supplies in the Irrawaddy Delta with dugout canoes, and say they are badly overstretched.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his “immense frustration” “We are at a critical point. Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly, we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today’s current crisis.”

With little access to food or clean drinking water, they face cholera, fever and other illnesses.

Mr Ban said the UN had been able to reach some 270,000 people, providing only “the most rudimentary assistance”.

He said food aid provided so far might amount to less than a 10th of what was needed, and that rice stocks were “close to exhaustion”.

U-TAPAO, Thailand (CNN) — The United States has sent more aid to cyclone-devastated Myanmar amid allegations that the ruling military junta is keeping the best foreign supplies for itself and doling out rotting food.

Rain lashes Myanmar cyclone survivors

YANGON (Reuters) – Heavy rains pelted homeless cyclone survivors in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta on Tuesday, complicating already slow delivery of aid to more than 1.5 million people facing hunger and disease. “The response of the regime in Burma to this crisis has been absolutely callous and those paying the price of this callousness have been the long-suffering Burmese people,” Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told parliament.

Journalists in Myanmar ‘live in fear’

• Phones are tapped and the few foreign journalists in Myanmar operate in secret
• Reclusive military regime does not want details of the suffering to leak out
• Junta wants to conceal the extent of the cyclone damage, says one journalist
• Aid agencies there now becoming uncomfortable talking to reporters in public

AT THE OTHER NATURAL DISASTER

China’s Hu says quake relief government’s top priority

A massive search and rescue operation is under way in south-western China after one of the most powerful earthquakes in decades.

Troops have arrived in Wenchuan county at the epicentre, which was largely cut off by the quake – but heavy rain is hampering rescue operations.

Elsewhere in Sichuan province, frantic efforts are being made to reach thousands of people under the rubble.

Boulders and landslides are blocking roads in the worst-hit areas and helicopters have been unable to land because of the bad weather.

Beijing has deployed 50,000 troops to help with relief efforts, but they have not yet all arrived.

The 1,300 rescue troops and medics who reached Wenchuan county immediately started searching for survivors and treating the injured, Xinhua reported.

Premier Wen pledges to save more lives …

The meeting demanded sufficient supply of food, medicine, clothes and tents to the quake-hit areas and that telecommunication, power and water supplies and transportation access must be restored as soon as possible.

Local governments should keep a close watch on the latest development of the earthquake and its aftershocks, and guard against earthquake-induced disasters causing new casualties.

Those who spread rumors to sabotage disaster relief work would be dealt with according to China’s laws and regulations.

The contrasts are evident, no word on international aid response to China. But, given China’s superior capabilities, China may not need the same help that Burma does. Natural disasters in affluent countries is no less traumatic, but the response is much more effective. China’s paranoia aside, it appears to be making an heroic effort, Chinese people have a more humanitarian heart, when it comes to their own. No comment about Tibet …

Burma is a catastrophe sandwiched between tyranny and greed. Paranoia takes a more sinister turn when international aid is hijacked by the government. Casualty numbers for both disasters are daunting. Success of relief efforts will determine the size of the health crisis to follow. China’s paranoia will address health issues immediately, its world image is at stake. Burma’s paranoia allows it to ignore the plight of its own people to protect their dismal few tyrants.

The world is watching another life lesson unfold before their eyes. Governments not prepared for the consequences contribute to the destruction of the human race. The world must shake massive denial the earth is changing and take note of all the symptoms. Without coordinated, responsible behavior, the results of earth’s warnings will throw humanity back into the stone age … Every year earth’s alarm clock rings and rings … as advanced and sophisticated as human beings have become, self-importance has made us all deaf. Governments doze and dream of money and power. First world humans are so disconnected from the earth realities, they will be the first to go …

]]> http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/13/disaster-contrasts-burma-hampers-aid-china-goes-all-out/feed/ 0 BossKitty http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/11/myanmar-discussion-us-blames-india-for-high-food-prices/ http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/11/myanmar-discussion-us-blames-india-for-high-food-prices/#comments Sun, 11 May 2008 14:55:29 +0000 bosskitty http://truthhugger.wordpress.com/?p=262 ]]> Myanmar: U.S. seeks India’s help

NEW DELHI: The U.S. has sought India’s good offices to persuade Myanmar to adopt a more liberal approach towards foreign aid for its cyclone-hit people. It also downplayed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s earlier statement blaming increasing consumption in India for the rise in food prices.

Ms. Rice spoke to External Affairs Minister Mukherjee on Friday evening as part of her talks with several world leaders on Lebanon, Zimbabwe and Myanmar. With Mr. Mukherjee she also touched upon the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal but there was no amplification on the issue.

A Foreign Office statement here said, Mr. Mukherjee and Ms. Rice exchanged views on important developments in the region as well as on global issues since they last met in March.

“Part of their discussion was also about the Indian civil nuclear deal but they focused quite a bit on the issue of Burma [Myanmar]. And the message was to urge all the parties to do what they can to reach out and use whatever leverage they have with the top decision-making layer in the Burmese regime to get them to reverse the course that they have been on in terms of not allowing large scale humanitarian supplies to come into Burma, and then also, and very importantly, to allow experts who can offer assistance with humanitarian relief into Burma.”

“The issue to this point has been the decision of the Burmese regime not to allow in large-scale assistance. We’re doing everything that we possibly can but importantly, the entire international system is mobilised now to do what it can to convince the Burmese regime to change its decision,” added the spokesperson Sean McCormack.

Basic fact

On the widely criticised remark on food prices, the spokesperson said the U.S. was not trying to single out a government or expressing the sentiment that greater calorie intake is not a good thing.

“I think the statement just gets to the basic fact that the world and the international system is changing. And the fact that you have greater economic prosperity around the world, whether it’s in India or China or elsewhere around the world, and as a result, there are different standards of living, a positive sense, that is good for the international system.”

© Copyright 2000 – 2008 The Hindu

The US still has ‘foot in mouth’ disease. How many ways can you insult growing economies? China and India are proud to be entering the economic elite club. The United States is acting a little jealous …

What an un-diplomatic way to engage in a dialog. By the way, while we ask for your help, can you please cut back on your own consumption of global resources?

The US is demonstrating that it feels threatened by other countries economic prosperity. Because the US has squandered its own prosperity by a war for greed instead of adapting to a new global condition, it finds itself being put into the back seat of respect. Spokesperson McCormack can try to spin out of this, but those words cannot be whitewashed.

The US is desperate to engage in humanitarian efforts, it needs good press. At the same time, it wants emerging economies to slow down, for global resource reasons, of course.

Bush is so worried about the “MESSAGE” we send to our enemies, what about the “MESSAGE” we send to our friends?

]]> http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/11/myanmar-discussion-us-blames-india-for-high-food-prices/feed/ 0 BossKitty