I – Introduction

On Tuesday, October 4, the UN Security Council announced it would take up a draft resolution on Syria. This meeting was to be an instance, when the lessons some Security Council members had drawn from the experience with the resolutions on Libya could be reflected in their action on a draft resolution against Syria.

Several weeks earlier, journalists had been told that there were two different draft resolutions about Syria tabled at the Security Council.

One draft resolution on Syria had been proposed by Russia and China. Russia and China said their resolution had been designed to encourage a peaceful process to help the Syrian government deal both with its stated desire for reforms and with the extremist violence against the Syrian government that was making such reform difficult.

The other draft resolution was tabled by four of the European members of the Security Council –… weiter lesen

[A few months ago I posted a statement by Concerned Africans on the Abuse of Libya by the UN Security Council. Concerned Africans has just issued a press statement, "On the Libyan Crisis and Execution of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi." Their statement calls for an independent, transparent, international enquiry into the true facts of the extra judicial execution of Gaddafi. The statement concerns the role of NATO, of the US, France, the UK, the UN, and the so called rebels in carrying out this "morally repugnant act". Because it helps to clarify the importance of identifying the significant breach of international law and moral decency represented by those responsible for Gaddafi's death, I would hope this statement receives widespread distribution. Below is their statement-ed]

24 October 2011

On Thursday 20 October 2011, Libya’s former leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, was publicly executed in an act of vigilante violence. A day before… weiter lesen

The demonstration on Saturday, October 15 was one of the most impressive demonstrations I have ever been to. As part of the Occupy Wall Street events in New York City, a demonstration was called for Times Square at 5 pm.

There were people of all ages represented who filled a crowded area between 42nd and 43rd Street on Broadway. This was just one of several areas in the next several streets filled with protesters. Many people carried homemade signs. The 42nd-43rd area probably included more than one thousand people. Some of the slogans on the signs people carried included slogans such as, “Don’t occupy Iraq or occupy Afghanistan, Occupy the US, Bring Democracy to America”, “Normal Person”, “All the news we’re paid to print”.

Along with all of the homemade signs, another aspect of the demonstration that was impressive was the free speech stage. Anyone who wanted… weiter lesen