What should we be doing?

When dealing with Genocide why are we so reluctant to take action even when alternative solutions appear to be failing miserably. An article on CNN.com from Sunday showed us that what the world needs is not peace talks but action. According to the AU envoy, "the process leading to negotiations has begun," and yet how is this possibly going to effect change if the first scheduled "peace talk" does not enjoy the presence of the rebel leaders? UN mediator Jan Eliasson claims that "the real substantial negotiations will start when the parties are prepared," and yet how can we guarantee that rebel groups will ever be "prepared," more importantly what are we doing in the meantime so that when they fail to show up for another "peace talk" action is taken?

Punishments needed to set an example

Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (also known as Baghdad Correctional Facility) was the sight of countless acts of abuse, rape and torture of Iraqi prisoners by the US military. The amplitude of these events was magnified to the world do to a massive number of pictures and videos. Last year reports surfaced that the authority to commit such acts had come from high up. In November 2006, the former US Army Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, in-charge of Abu Ghraib prison, told Spain's El Pais newspaper she had seen a letter apparently signed by Donald Rumsfeld which allowed civilian contractors to use techniques such as sleep deprivation during interrogation. How can we make sure that these events don’t happen again? The first thing that should have happened is recognition that these acts were too obscene to commit. A line was crossed and someone needed to step up and say something. Another step that needs to be taken is harsher punishment for those involved. Very few soldiers were punished for these acts and no high up powers were held accountable. The leaders should be punished not only to set an example, but because it is morally right.

The Killing Fields: His Version

We had a speaker on campus who was a survivor of the killing fields. He talked to us about his experiences when he was there and how he got through the years and the totalitarian rule of the Khmer Rouge.

He started off the session with a brief summary of the events that led to the uprising of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide. Then, he followed up by sharing his experiences: how he would go to school always having the fear that American B-52 bombers might bomb his part of town, how he had the fear that he would not see his parents after returning from school. After the Khmer Rouge got power, he was taken to a concentration camp, and he described the long walks as horrible and too much for anyone to comprehend. Patients were taken out of their beds and made to walk, children died on the road, women gave birth in the middle of the road. And when they finally reached the concentration camps, they were forced into labour and given only a handful of rice daily. Most people died there because of malnutrition. But, the main reason for death was the Khmer Rouge troops. They killed because they didn’t like the person, or because the person was working slow. They had total power there and as a consequence,the genocide went on for 4 years.

The shocking thing I found out from his talk was that the genocide quelled because the North Vietnamese came into Cambodia and fought against the Khmer Rouge. The world had known of this genocide, which had been going on for four years and the whole world simply ignored it. The U.N. had vowed “never again” to any genocide. Still, they did nothing.

When the speaker finally fled from the concentration camp and reached neighboring Thailand, he saw signs of the international community in the form of UNHCR camps.

If the UN had taken quick action to stop the genocide, it would definitely had been stopped. The Cambodian genocide can be taken as a correlation to the Darfur genocide going on right now, in our time. The international community did not give its full attention to Cambodia, so countless lives were lost from the human society. In the present context, we all are aware of the genocide in Darfur. Even if the Sudanese government does not want negotiations to end the genocide, every effort, every resource should be utilized to save lives there no matter what, even if it means deploying the UN troops and sweeping out the current inhumane Sudanese government.

Terrorism: the means to a political ends

While to most Americans, the anniversary of September 11th is a time for remembrance and charity. For George Bush and the White House, it is a day of justification: justification of the war in Iraq, justification for the deficit the country has been plunged into funding the war, and justification for all of the laws which have restricted civil liberties in the past years (such as the patriot act).


This should be a time of grieving and support. Rather than giving help to those in need, and taking a hand in the lives of our nations people, the government would rather use the events of 9/11 to further its stake in the middle east, to draw more support for its war mongering, and to concoct more justifications for why its treating its own citizens as enemies.

The Stanford prison experiment and Abu Ghraib

A parallel can be drawn between the Stanford Prison Experiment and the issue of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. The Stanford Prison Experiment shows that in isolated constitutions, the ones in charge show their dominance over the captives. This process can lead to brutal and often inhumane acts being perpetrated on the captives.

The Stanford Prison experiment shows evidence of this. The guards show their superiority by forcing the prisoners to do push ups, by throwing them in isolation bins, and even by setting up a reward system in which, the most compliant person got to sleep on a proper bed. All these acts convey to the prisoners that they are inferior. These acts give the guards the feeling and the ego that they are definitely in control and dominant over the prisoners.

Basically, in Abu Ghraib, what the soldiers were doing, was showing their dominance and superiority over the prisoners. The notion that they were in control gave them the power and will to commit the horrific acts. One more factor that helped to aggravate the situation was the agreement of Donald Rumsfeld. He gave permission to use harsh interrogation techniques in the prison. I believe that the lack of fear of consequence and the necessity to portray their dominance led to the horrific acts at Abu Ghraib prison.

Forgotten the Golden Rule?

“While this is still the right position, it is not the right time.”
This is what a conservative Republican representative Mike Pence from Indiana said regarding the House vote for the use of the word ‘genocide’. Pence’s statement not only surprised me, but also made me frustrated; how can someone say that it is right, but not allow it to be done? Pence refers to the announcement that Turkey made, which says that Turkey will stop assisting the United States to transport war equipment and cargo to Iraq. Moreover, George W. Bush gave a warning to the House to approve the use of the term genocide. According to the article in which Mr. Pence made his statement, approximately 70 percent of all air cargo, and around 30 percent of fuel sent to Iraq goes through Turkey. Hence, it is clear that Turkey is important for the United States in terms of military. However, personally I still believe that it is important that the U.S recognizes the genocide, regardless of Turkey’s opinion or announcements. Why would the U.S. not want to call the acts of 1910’s genocide if the only opposing aspect is that Turkey is a military ally with the U.S? I find it absurd that the U.S. can believe in something, in this case referring to the acts as genocide, but still not do it because of military benefits. Didn’t the Golden Rule go

”Treat others as you would like to be treated?”

Effectiveness of Current Information

It is a commonly accepted fact that Darfur is still a region plagued by violence, death, and genocide, so why is the only current information on the Genocide about American Soldiers who have died as a result of the conflict. On websites like BBC NEWS, information about the Janjaweed and political aspect of the genocide is several years old, PBS is more current, including articles on their website that is only slightly over a year and half old. If we are trying to bring about a generation that works for change, how are we supposed to do this when we do not have access to current information and are unable to educate ourselves?

Steps After Genocide

Yes, most have the world has realized that genocide is something we should avoid. That it is morally wrong.
Now the problem is what to do after genocide is stopped. When cleaning up the messes of genocide who is held responsible? Do we look at individuals? Or, do we focus on the entire group?
Throughout the history of genocide, it is known that some of those that committed the acts have gotten away. The world has the challenge of deciding who to hold responsible. Is it correct to try individuals that were just taking orders? We can't possibly know if those people had a choice. It might have been their life or follow orders.
Equally difficult is the challenge of holding an entire government or group responsible. Do you focus on the leaders, the masterminds? We have to figure out if they had enough control that they basically brainwashed people. Or, come to the conclusion that their followers decided to act on their own.
Everything does not instantly become easy once genocide is stopped.

Responsibilities in Iraq

Many of the problems which the US has faced in the struggles in the Middle east have come from a lack of planning. What has taken these situations and made the unmanageable is that no one is willing to to take responsibility for what has happened.

While responsibility has been dodged from the lowest levels to the very highest in the US occupation of Iraq, the most recent example comes from the company Blackwater, a private security company which offers protection and safe travels to American civilians in the middle east.

In this instance, these private security workers opened fire, unprovoked, wounding 27 Iraqis, and killing 17. The company Blackwater, despite having mass media remark on the unprovoked shootings, issued official statements saying that the security workers were shooting in response to enemy fire, and only in self defense. Time and time again, in both the political and extra political workers of the US government, our nations greatest problems have come due to the shirking of responsiblities and avoidance of being blamed.

Time for a Response

The article Reign Of Terror was written in 2004, but relates just as much today as it did then. It commends the government for recognizing the events in Darfur as genocide, but it points out that not everything is being done to stop the problem. Sadly, the same events have been occurring for years in Darfur and nothing is being done. Many activist groups are making their voice heard and telling of possible solutions to the problem. It is up to the leaders of the world's countries to turn up the heat on Sudan and finally stop this genocide. As far as teh U.S. is concerned, Citizens for Global Solutions recommends the following four steps for U.S. foreign policy in Darfur:

The U.S. must secure increased funding for a stronger AMIS force to protect the people of Darfur until a U.N. force can deploy. The international community must act on its recognized “responsibility to protect” the people of Darfur.

The U.S. must engage Sudan’s closest allies -- especially China -- to end the violence in Darfur. With its economic relationship with the Sudan and its oil interests in the region, China is especially well-positioned to play a crucial role in ending genocide.

The U.S. should support the International Criminal Court’s investigation in Darfur. In order to bring justice for the people of Darfur, the U.S. should support the ICC’s case and supply any relevant information on the Darfur case in order to hold accountable those responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity.

The U.S. should take more forceful measures to stop genocide. Stronger measures could include planning for a no-fly zone, enforcing targeted individual sanctions, targeted divestment (specifically from the petroleum sector) and a freeze of off-shore accounts of Sudanese officials.

Action must be taken so that no more lives are lost in this Genocide.

Our drugs - their medicine

I read an article in the New York Times about the dilemma of narcotics: the rich countries are full of medical and entertaining narcotics, whilst the poor countries that are in a big need of them, do not have enough. In places like Uganda, thousands of cancer and AIDS victims are suffering severe pain, because no narcotics are available. On the other hand, narcotics used for entertainment, such as opium and heroin, are produced in these poor countries for the demanding consumers in the rich countries. I guess my main point is to inform people about this ironic situation that the rich people are using the poor countries’ narcotics for entertainment, while the narcotics should be used in the poor countries for their citizens. Just a brief look at the NYT’s map, shows the misallocation of the narcotics. How can more of the narcotics be in countries where they are not needed as much? Whether it is the sense of “otherness” or something else that makes people in rich countries use these drugs for amusement, I think it is important to really prioritize the use of narcotics in the world.

Zimbardo Connections

The zimbardo study was revolutionary in its ability to reproduce the captor-inmate relationship and to model the behavior of the victims and the individuals with power.

It could be expected that the students posing as prison guards would adopt the mindset of enforcement. What is so shocking about the findings of the Zimbardo study is the speed at which the students adopted their roles in the prison and the obedience/ zeal which the students showed in their respective positions.

Im scared because the study makes it seem like in any situation, where there is an approving authority figure (the prison superintendent) people will attempt to do anything. As seen in Abu Ghraib, soldiers were willing to perform acts which clearly were of an evil nature, which were precisely prohibited in the Geneva conventions. Against their understanding of right and wrong, these soldiers went through with torturing numerous inmates, without provocation and illegally.

Not just in the books...

This blog entry is a bit off topic from the whole genocide issue. Regardless, it deals with blind prejudice. I am upset and disgusted by what I am witnessing.

At this very moment, I am sitting in Ogilvie Station in downtown Chicago. For whatever reason, I always sit in the same spot when I wait for this train. I know what track it always leaves on and I know what time it departs for I take it very often. I sat down to do some homework and an African-American, man approached me. I would guess this gentleman is in his mid-twenties. He very kindly asked me which train was departing from the track that I was seated most near. I, also kindly, responded. He also asked if I knew where the men’s restroom was located. He thanked me generously after my replies and went on his way.

About ten minutes later I saw him walk across the station and sit. His position was also near the track and still in my plain view. A security guard approached him. The guard asked him where he was planning to go so late on a Sunday night. He asked the young man to empty his pockets, show him identification, and provide proof that he paid for a ticket to ride this train. I was near enough to hear all of the conversation and yet the guard did not approach me, a Caucasian student typing on her laptop.

A woman walked past him. He looked up, smiled, and said hello. After looking him right in the eye, she blankly looked straight ahead, quickened her pace, clutched her purse more tightly, and spoke no words back to him.

I’m watching people in this station judge this gentleman based on his race. They are treating him as though he is a threat. They do not see him as an individual but rather a black man who fits into a category with all other black men. The judgment, otherness, and categorizing that we’ve been talking about in class is happening before my eyes.

What next?

As awful as it is to admit, articles about Genocide and Mass Killings are a fairly frequent occurrence in today's newspapers. Although these are a common sight they are still vital to the education of modern society and still hard to stomach, however I discovered a new low of mass killings when on CNN.com I encountered an article about rebels in the Congo attacking a wildlife habitat that houses endangered mountain Gorillas. Throughout the last several weeks of our class we have been discussing what type of person participates in mass killing, reading this article made me wonder, what would posses someone to participate in the mass killings of animals? And if they are simply victims of a conflict zone then why are rebels taking the time to kill the animals "execution style" or for that matter why bother breaking in more than once to kill them? How is it that the next phase of executing innocent bystanders is gorillas?

Imagery as propaganda

Imagery is an an effective means of altering and eventually dictating the perception of people. So, it has been used in the form of propaganda in all the wars by all the factions. They have been used to portray the enemy as a separate non-human entity and on the other hand, they have been used to rouse the sense of belonging to a group.

The general subjects of the images could be categorized as, “us vs. them”, “we are good and they are evil”, “we are honest and they are liars”, and “we are heroes and they are villains”. This distances the two factions and changes the core moral values of the people involved. The enemy is portrayed as a non-human force by dehumanizing and demonizing them and portraying them as rats, monsters, madmen, etc. Thus, the audience has the feeling that the other group is less than human and should be crushed without thought and without guilt.

Thus, imagery is used to numb the people and turning them from human beings to killing machines.

International Crimes Punished by Court

Genocide means any acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. While attempts to destroy groups have been very much a part of human history, it has been either a description of the action or a very general concept, such as massacres or mass murder. It wasn’t until 1944 when Raphael Lemkin wrote, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, which was the first public articulation of the concept of genocide. Today people still have a hard time classifying what is genocide and what is not. For example, the continuing debate about the Armenian genocide. This is why the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 1998. Now, genocide is an international crime for which individuals, no matter how high in authority, may be indicted, tried, and punished by the ICC.
This way nations can not hide behind that fact that a war is going on at the time to justify genocidal acts. This Court is also good because a nations laws or customs may excuse them in part for there actions. With the ICC no one can escape the brutality of there actions.

What does an enemy look like?

Enemy is a common word. Everyone knows what it means and upon mention an example will most likely enter a person's head. But, everyone has different examples. An enemy could be some fictitious character or possibly a threatening country and its people.
We watched a film by Sam Keen that looked into this. Mr. Keen researched how different countries displayed their enemies. Many of them used the same images. It appeared to be a universal opinion that certain animals were bad and somethings always represented good.
What this really shows is that countries are not that different from one another. It was very interesting when he showed images from opposing countries that had similar cartoons. There are some things that link people from all over the world together.

How do we educate the "melting pot"?

The United States is typically referred to as the “melting pot” of cultures. We are composed of so many different cultures. With the passing of time, we have only added to the diverse range of people in the United States. The question is: how can we properly and is constantly changing and gaining more people from around the world.
The United States is such a young country and with that youth comes a lack of extensive history. There are so many people with so many backgrounds. Everyone has a different story and history. World history seems to be our history because of the diverse population of our nation. Another question come up: who is to decide what is important enough to teach and what is not? How do we educate our nation on a history that includes pieces from around the world?

Turkey & EU?

I read BBC New’s online discussion on the question whether Turkey should be allowed to join the European Union or not. Surprisingly, a Cypriot from the Greek side of Cyprus, states that Turkey should be allowed to join the EU because it would help Turkey to solve its dilemmas with Cyprus and Armenia. I find this statement rather amusing since it is said that the EU members should practice freedom of speech and take care of its citizens’ civil rights. Just today I read an article of a Turkish novelist who is put on trial because a character in her latest novel refers to the deaths of Armenians in the genocide. So, why should Turkey be given a privilege of fixing its problems only after joining the EU instead of before even considering of joining? In my opinion, there is no possibility for Turkey to join the EU before recognizing the Armenian genocide. As long as the Turkish government denies the events of the 1910’s and manipulates Turkey’s citizens, there is no room for Turkey in the EU. freedom of speech is not practiced in Turkey, which Nevertheless, I think that the European Union should put its effort on fixing the problems in Turkey and fully encourage Turkey to acknowledge the genocide and pursue to heal the relationship with Armenia.

Peacekeepers need Protection Now.

As of earlier today, peacekeeping efforts have been hurt and set back by recurring attacks by rebel forces. According to Yahoo! News:

HASKANITA, Sudan - Rebel forces stormed a small African Union base in northern Darfur and killed at least 10 peacekeepers, leaving behind charred armored vehicles and bombed out barracks in an unprecedented attack on the beleaguered mission that threatened upcoming peace talks. More than 30 peacekeepers were still missing by late Sunday, indicating the death toll from the attack could rise significantly.

The Peacekeepers, internationals sent by the UN, by some standards, the warring in Sudan has already produced genocide numbers in deaths. Without a firm reinforcement to the peacekeeping troops stationed in the Sudan, there is no chance that peacekeeping talks will have any success, as implementation will be out of the question. Taking down regimes and funding unnecessary wars is to create a mockery of the work and focus that needs to be directed at these third world countries where civil war has scarred the land and destroyed the lives of an entire nation. The UN, as well as its main power the United States, must get its priorities together and send support to Sudan, where it is needed now more than ever. For the Peace.