I know what follows is going to be a little depressing. But I don’t think it has to be. I think it can be inspirational – sometimes once you know what the problems are then you can begin to identify and discuss what you want to DO about them.
I won’t cover Pakistan because it’s getting a ton of coverage now, nor Iraq. You already know what’s going on in Iraq.
Everything below refers to just the last week.
Listen to the music from my neighbors and try to keep your spirits up. 2008 has just begun and with hope, courage and hard work the world can be a better place!
Afghanistan – Besides a Canadian soldier being killed, war continues more than 6 years later between the Taliban and NATO/US/Karzai forces leaving a lot of people dead.
Argentina – Economy minister admits “storing” thousands of dollars in her office bathroom.
Azerbaijan – The pro-US dictatorship keeps locking up opposition media.
Bahrain – The pro-US dictatorship has arrested 32 people over “illegal gathering” of people in majority Shi’ite areas.
Bangladesh – Government troops continue to engage in gun battles with pirates.
Bethlehem – Christian priests duke it out on how to clean the Church of the Nativity. Sigh…
Cambodia – The UN-backed tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders is running out of money.
China – Leading human rights activist and AIDS awareness campaigner Hu Jia is arrested.
Colombia – A dead between the gov’ts of Colombia and Venezuela and the FARC to release a number of hostages held by the FARC have fallen through. 40+ year civil war continues.
Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) – Country still split in two between official gov’t territory and rebel-held territory.
Gambia – Sadly despite a relatively high measure of independence and democracy, absolute dictatorship continues to loom.
Georgia – Besides political corruption and repressive police tactics in Georgia proper, Georgia is closer than ever to outright war with Russian/CIS troops in Abkhazia. Meanwhile Abkhazia’s PM was targeted for assassination by unknown actors but survived.
India – Various separatist/terrorist groups in the north continue decades long battles against the central government.
Israel/Palestine – Same old shit.
Kenya – Hundreds dead due to rioting and civil strife after a very close presidential election.
Kosovo – Still on the brink of disaster.
Lebanon – The army has clashed with Hezbollah in southern Beirut.
Meanwhile army troops clash with Palestinians in a refugee camp.
Mali – One of the most stable and democratic nations in Africa continues to battle ethnic Tuareg rebels in the north.
Myanmar (Burma) – Dictatorship still rocking like a hurricane.
Nepal – Elections are on track but various militias continue to terrorize outlying districts, kidnapping people for ransom. Over 25,000 people are still internally displaced refugees.
Nigeria – The insurgency in the oil-rich areas of the south continue with more kidnappings for ransom of foreigner workers.
North Korea – 50+ years of the same dictatorship continue. Meanwhile the NK government failed to meet a deadline on its nuclear weapons disarmament program and Bush basically said “so what?”.
Philippines – U.S. troops continue their war in the south against Muslim groups, alienating a lot of people.
Serbia – Ratko Mladic still a free man.
Somalia – More than a year later, southern half of the country still militarily occupied by Ethiopian troops and battles still ongoing between Somali “gov’t” forces/Ethiopian troops and UIC forces. Meanwhile in eastern Ethiopia proper the Ogaden National Liberation Front continues to fight Ethiopian troops.
Sri Lanka – Ongoing civil war between LTTE and gov’t forces continue with artillery shelling, gun battles and the murder of a Tamil member of parliament.
Sudan – Hey remember Darfur? That war continues.
Meawhile a U.S. diplomat was gunned down in the capital.
Thailand – Civil war with southern provinces continue as various gun battles and insurgent actions leave scores dead.
Meanwhile the country is still “in transition” from a military coup that occurred September 2006.
Taiwan – The country’s president says China has increased the number of missiles pointed at the island nation.
Tunisia – The al-Qaeda linked GPLC continues to operate in the country
Turkey – Bombing raids continue into northern Iraq as the war between Kurdish separatists/terrorists continue.
Uganda – Massive flooding has led UNICEF to declare a state of emergency.
Meanwhile the 25+ year civil war between the LRA and the people/state of Acholi continues as the LRA crosses over into the nation of the CAR.
U.S. – Amongst everything else, the dollar is tanking and countries are abandoning it for the euro.
Meanwhile big media corporations just got FCC blessing to grow even larger.
Uzbekistan – Pro-US dictator Islam Karimov rigs elections to continue 18-year rule.
Zimbabwe – Thousands arrested for violating gov’t price controls as the economy spirals into total destruction.
And now the good news:
David Hicks is a free man.
The president of Syria has promised to release 7 political prisoners.
Bhutan takes tiny steps towards democracy.
Rasim Delic goes on trial.
Somehow Kyrgyzstan is narrowly hanging onto democracy.
Some genuinely good news from Afghanistan.
The government of Liberia tries something new to help the country heal from decades of civil war.
Democracy seems to be hanging on in Timor Leste (E. Timor)
After decades of civil war Sierra Leone makes the first baby steps towards democracy and true peace.
My new home country of Romania leads the world in countries that protect the privacy of its citizens. The U.S. is at the bottom unfrotunately.
And last but not least, a message from 70 years ago of peace from Albert Einstein.
Dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
Peace
