A little bit of light passes out of the firmament, never to shine again. The clearest representations that I have had about Mr. Cronkite is his presence in myriad period novels that were penned about the 1960s and the 70s, and even the
80s. He was de rigeur, and he never stopped his tireless work, writing and speaking out for countless decades. A gentleman always fulfills his duty, and Mr. Cronkite never failed his grateful public.
Walter Cronkite, the former CBS anchor known as the Most Trusted Man in America, has died. He was 92.
Cronkite's longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. ET Friday at his Manhattan home surrounded by family. She said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease.
A news anchor when CBS News was in its heyday, Cronkite conveyed to Americans historic events including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the landing of the first man on the moon.
He was noted for his editorial during the 1968 Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War, when he characterized the war as unwinnable.
"It is increasingly clear that the only rational way out will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to the pledge to defend democracy," Cronkite said in that broadcast.
After hearing Cronkite’s verdict, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."
Cronkite was anchor of CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, when he handed over the desk to Dan Rather. His nightly signoff, "And that's the way it is ..." was well-known throughout America.
He continued reporting for CBS and other networks until 2008.
Tributes from across the broadcasting world immediately began pouring in after Cronkite's death was announced.
"There will never be a newsman again — ever — who will have that clout," CNN interviewer Larry King said.
"He could change public opinion. No one broadcaster could do that. No one could touch it."
Don Hewitt, longtime producer of CBS news program 60 Minutes, called Cronkite "the gold standard" in broadcast journalism.
A life of broadcasting
(Tina Fineberg/Associated Press)Born in St. Joseph, Mo., on Nov. 4, 1916, Cronkite attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked on the Daily Texan.
He entered broadcasting in 1935 as a radio announcer for WKY in Oklahoma City, Okla. He later joined a radio station in Kansas City, then moved to the United Press wire service in the same city.
Cronkite first came to wider public attention as a battlefield correspondent for United Press during the Second World War, covering battles in North Africa and Europe and U.S. bombing raids on Germany. After the war, he remained in Europe to cover the Nuremberg trials.
In 1950, respected newsman Edward R. Murrow hired him as a Washington correspondent at CBS affiliate WTOP.
In 1962, he was made anchor of CBS Evening News, then a 15-minute broadcast. It became the first 30-minute network newscast the following year with Cronkite at the anchor desk. Later in his career, he said he regretted never seeing the newscast expand to an hour.
Cronkite's calm and sober style, and CBS’s reputation for in-depth journalism worked together to make him the most trusted source of news in America.
He was first on air with reports of the Kennedy assassination, breaking into As the World Turns with a live broadcast on Nov. 22, 1963, with the earliest report of the shooting. He is remembered for the personal emotion he betrayed in his first bulletin reporting the president’s death.
"At that moment I teared up — I just had a little trouble getting the words out," he said of the historic broadcast.
An anchor with credibility
Cronkite was anchor during events such as the Vietnam War, the 1968 Democratic Convention, the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the Apollo space missions and the Watergate scandal.
Cronkite’s credibility and status is credited by many with pushing the Watergate story to the forefront with the American public, resulting in the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.
"Nixon, to me, never seemed comfortable in the presidency. He always seemed to be acting out a rehearsed role. I thought I could see his knees knocking with stage fright," he said later of the disgraced president.
Cronkite won numerous awards for his journalism, including an Emmy, a Peabody and a 1991 Award of Excellence from the Banff Television festival.
He retired at age 65 from the news anchor job.
'Passing of the baton'
"For almost two decades … we've been meeting like this in the evenings, and I'll miss that. But those who have made anything of this departure, I'm afraid have made too much," he said in his goodbye to viewers.
"This is but a transition, a passing of the baton. A great broadcaster and gentleman preceded me in this job, and another will follow. And anyway, the person who sits here is but the most conspicuous member of a superb team of journalists — writers, reporters, editors, producers — and none of that will change."
Cronkite continued to do reports for CBS, CNN and NPR, and also took on projects such as narrating an Imax film about the space shuttle and providing narration for Spaceship Earth at Walt Disney World.
He released his autobiography, A Reporter’s Life, in 1997 and contributed to the TV special about his life, Cronkite Remembers.
He remained a fearless critic of U.S. policy and in recent years made acerbic critiques of the war on drugs and the war on terror.
He was married for 64 years to Betsy, a reporter he met in Kansas City. She predeceased him in 2005.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Out of the three lovely commentaries by American women journalists on the topic of modesty in the last few days, I randomly chose this one for inclusion in my blog. Very sensitive.
My friend owns a burqa, a keepsake from one of her many foreign travels.
The garment is a memento that has intrigued her friends for several years now. A few of us have long mused about organizing an all-female get-together with the burqa as the centerpiece.
Envisioned is a conversational show-and-tell where everyone would try it on and come away with some deep message of what it means to be a woman in societies we consider less enlightened than our own.
We’ve never done it, and I hope we never do. We’d likely misinterpret the covering, understanding little about the women who wear them.
The same uneasy feeling arises listening to surprised reactions to the large numbers of female protesters in Iran. A patriarchal tone is implicit in the commentary. The assumption seems to be that in countries where women have fewer freedoms than in the U.S., they are less insightful of their situation, less likely to complain.
The opposite may be true.
I agree with Oprah’s adage that if you were born female in the U.S., you are luckier than most of the world’s women.
And yet, among the most enlightening conversations I ever had about female sexuality came from two veiled Muslims from Afghanistan.
They were two sisters, college students studying in Kansas City after Sept. 11, 2001. They talked of how their devout Muslim families had allowed them to make a conscious choice to wear their heads veiled or not, and about the sexual freedom they felt modesty afforded.
Their bodies, they said, were not up for public enjoyment. U.S. women, they argued, may be freer to dress as provocatively as they desire. But the sisters contrasted that openness with the very real struggles of American women and body image.
After several hours of conversation and watching women walk by the Plaza coffee shop where we met, it was clear they were more comfortable and possibly “liberated” in their sexuality than many women raised in the U.S.
Like their Muslim counterparts in Iran, they are part of a growing number of highly educated women from countries too readily dismissed as backward, forever inhospitable to the rights of women.
About 60 percent of university students in Iran are female. The revolt is largely about Iran’s complicated political structure. But it is also fueled by the gulf between conservative clerics wishing to limit the mobility of the country’s women and the choices college-educated women are increasingly empowered to make.
The image of femininity that eventually emerges from Iran may not only continue to surprise us, it might just put many U.S. women to shame.
My friend owns a burqa, a keepsake from one of her many foreign travels.
The garment is a memento that has intrigued her friends for several years now. A few of us have long mused about organizing an all-female get-together with the burqa as the centerpiece.
Envisioned is a conversational show-and-tell where everyone would try it on and come away with some deep message of what it means to be a woman in societies we consider less enlightened than our own.
We’ve never done it, and I hope we never do. We’d likely misinterpret the covering, understanding little about the women who wear them.
The same uneasy feeling arises listening to surprised reactions to the large numbers of female protesters in Iran. A patriarchal tone is implicit in the commentary. The assumption seems to be that in countries where women have fewer freedoms than in the U.S., they are less insightful of their situation, less likely to complain.
The opposite may be true.
I agree with Oprah’s adage that if you were born female in the U.S., you are luckier than most of the world’s women.
And yet, among the most enlightening conversations I ever had about female sexuality came from two veiled Muslims from Afghanistan.
They were two sisters, college students studying in Kansas City after Sept. 11, 2001. They talked of how their devout Muslim families had allowed them to make a conscious choice to wear their heads veiled or not, and about the sexual freedom they felt modesty afforded.
Their bodies, they said, were not up for public enjoyment. U.S. women, they argued, may be freer to dress as provocatively as they desire. But the sisters contrasted that openness with the very real struggles of American women and body image.
After several hours of conversation and watching women walk by the Plaza coffee shop where we met, it was clear they were more comfortable and possibly “liberated” in their sexuality than many women raised in the U.S.
Like their Muslim counterparts in Iran, they are part of a growing number of highly educated women from countries too readily dismissed as backward, forever inhospitable to the rights of women.
About 60 percent of university students in Iran are female. The revolt is largely about Iran’s complicated political structure. But it is also fueled by the gulf between conservative clerics wishing to limit the mobility of the country’s women and the choices college-educated women are increasingly empowered to make.
The image of femininity that eventually emerges from Iran may not only continue to surprise us, it might just put many U.S. women to shame.
"Are three-year-old babies not human?"
-Afghan activist, Malalai Joya, in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday.
-Afghan activist, Malalai Joya, in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday.
Seriously, what is going on with American progressives? Really, what is wrong with them?
Naomi Klein had an absolutely beautiful, salt of the earth quote that she produced vis-a-vis Amerika in July 2nd's Ha'aretz. Here it is in its entirety:
"In the United States there is an exaggerated need to believe in people's goodwill, but I think it's better to judge people by their deeds than to busy yourself speculating about their good intentions."
The Daily Kos is one of the websites that has stayed true to progressive intentions, in good times and in bad, and is pushing, pushing, pushing for a resolution to what Dexter Filkin's of the New York Times has termed the Forever War; a war that literally has no ends, no goals, save killing as many people in leadership positions as humanly possible to permanently enslave a population.
As a Canadian progressive, I'd like to see some protest at this dreadful reality. Thus far, I have seen NOTHING. I would like to know why there are no significant antiwar protests and actions beyond once a year rallies. I would like to know why the Canadian public isn't speaking out.
Has anybody tortured them?
Crossing the Rubicon? Obama Admin to Cover-up Mass Murder
by Valtin
Share this on Twitter - Crossing the Rubicon? Obama Admin to Cover-up Mass Murder Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 11:25:48 PM PDT
Alright, I'm angry. I'm beyond disenchanted. Am I over-the-top? You be the judge. If you want all the details on this issue, I ask that you read jhutson's recommended diary, NYT: Bush Admin. covered up Afghan massacre.
The mass murder of which I speak was the massacre of about 2,000 Taliban prisoners who surrendered to joint U.S.-Afghan forces in November 2001. They were suffocated to death in metal containers by a U.S.-backed warlord (who later entered the Karzai government!). The mass graves of the victims were tampered with to hide the evidence.
Now the Obama administration is saying it can't investigate the killings, after years of Bushite cover-up, because the killings took place on foreign soil and involved foreigners! (See AP story)
Valtin's diary :: ::
From a New York Times article by James Risen today (emphasis added):
American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation — sought by officials from the F.B.I., the State Department, the Red Cross and human rights groups — because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the C.I.A., and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001, several officials said. They said the United States also worried about undermining the American-supported government of President Hamid Karzai, in which General Dostum had served as a defense official....
The question of culpability for the prisoner deaths — which may have been the most significant war crime in Afghanistan after the 2001 American-led invasion — has taken on new urgency since the general, an important ally of Mr. Karzai, was reinstated to his government post last month.
Here's part of that AP article:
Asked about the report, Marine Corps Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said that since U.S. military forces were not involved in the killings, there is nothing the Defense Department could investigate.
"There is no indication that U.S. military forces were there, or involved, or had any knowledge of this," Lapan said. "So there was not a full investigation conducted because there was no evidence that there was anything from a DoD (Department of Defense) perspective to investigate."
Meanwhile, a Justice Department spokesperson says the FBI doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate. That's bullshit. Physicians for Human Rights, who have been on top of this issue for seven years now, pushing for investigations, filing FOIA suits, conducting forensic investigations in the field (even as the Bush administration refused them any security protection), answered back Obama administration spokespeople in a press release tonight (emphasis added):
"For US Government officials to claim that there is no legal basis to investigate this well-documented mass atrocity is absurd," stated Physicians for Human Rights Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin. "US military and intelligence personnel were operating jointly and accepted the surrender of the prisoners jointly with General Dostum’s forces in northern Afghanistan. The Obama Administration has a legal obligation to determine what US officials knew, where US personnel were, what involvement they had, and the actions of US allies during and after the massacre. These questions, nearly eight years later, remain unanswered."
"Furthermore," added Nathaniel Raymond, PHR’s lead researcher on the Dasht-e-Leili case, "The New York Times has shown that the Bush Administration engaged in a coordinated effort to prevent this alleged war crime from ever being investigated. Under the Geneva Conventions, the cover-up of a war crime can itself constitute a war crime."
This is a moment of truth, Kossites. If Obama can so blatantly cover-up Bush major war crimes tantamount to mass murder, then all pretense to progressivism with this administration is at an end. All of you waiting for Obama, giving him a chance, how does it feel to swallow the deaths of thousands of SURRENDERED SOLDIERS, suffocated to death, packed in metal containers and dying in agony? What apologia is there for this?
I admit fatigue: I'm tired of cover-up for crimes, crimes of torture, crimes of invading other countries and bombing innocent men, women and children, crimes that go back before 2001, to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to MKULTRA, to the mass napalming of North Korea (a crime even barely known today, but which by destroying that country, laid the groundwork for the rise of the bizarre and paranoid current regime that rules there today).
But while fatigued, I'm not indifferent, nor politically dead. I ask that readers here watch the following, then call the White House and demand an immediate investigation. And sign PHR's petition to Attorney General Eric Holder to commence an investigation, essentially picking up the FBI inquiry that was spiked some years back.
If this community cannot rise up and protest this cover-up of mass atrocity, if this is not outrage enough, then outrage is dead, and Cheneyism's dismal spread across this land will have made its greatest conquest: the hearts and energies of the progressive community.
Naomi Klein had an absolutely beautiful, salt of the earth quote that she produced vis-a-vis Amerika in July 2nd's Ha'aretz. Here it is in its entirety:
"In the United States there is an exaggerated need to believe in people's goodwill, but I think it's better to judge people by their deeds than to busy yourself speculating about their good intentions."
The Daily Kos is one of the websites that has stayed true to progressive intentions, in good times and in bad, and is pushing, pushing, pushing for a resolution to what Dexter Filkin's of the New York Times has termed the Forever War; a war that literally has no ends, no goals, save killing as many people in leadership positions as humanly possible to permanently enslave a population.
As a Canadian progressive, I'd like to see some protest at this dreadful reality. Thus far, I have seen NOTHING. I would like to know why there are no significant antiwar protests and actions beyond once a year rallies. I would like to know why the Canadian public isn't speaking out.
Has anybody tortured them?
Crossing the Rubicon? Obama Admin to Cover-up Mass Murder
by Valtin
Share this on Twitter - Crossing the Rubicon? Obama Admin to Cover-up Mass Murder Fri Jul 10, 2009 at 11:25:48 PM PDT
Alright, I'm angry. I'm beyond disenchanted. Am I over-the-top? You be the judge. If you want all the details on this issue, I ask that you read jhutson's recommended diary, NYT: Bush Admin. covered up Afghan massacre.
The mass murder of which I speak was the massacre of about 2,000 Taliban prisoners who surrendered to joint U.S.-Afghan forces in November 2001. They were suffocated to death in metal containers by a U.S.-backed warlord (who later entered the Karzai government!). The mass graves of the victims were tampered with to hide the evidence.
Now the Obama administration is saying it can't investigate the killings, after years of Bushite cover-up, because the killings took place on foreign soil and involved foreigners! (See AP story)
Valtin's diary :: ::
From a New York Times article by James Risen today (emphasis added):
American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation — sought by officials from the F.B.I., the State Department, the Red Cross and human rights groups — because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the C.I.A., and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001, several officials said. They said the United States also worried about undermining the American-supported government of President Hamid Karzai, in which General Dostum had served as a defense official....
The question of culpability for the prisoner deaths — which may have been the most significant war crime in Afghanistan after the 2001 American-led invasion — has taken on new urgency since the general, an important ally of Mr. Karzai, was reinstated to his government post last month.
Here's part of that AP article:
Asked about the report, Marine Corps Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said that since U.S. military forces were not involved in the killings, there is nothing the Defense Department could investigate.
"There is no indication that U.S. military forces were there, or involved, or had any knowledge of this," Lapan said. "So there was not a full investigation conducted because there was no evidence that there was anything from a DoD (Department of Defense) perspective to investigate."
Meanwhile, a Justice Department spokesperson says the FBI doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate. That's bullshit. Physicians for Human Rights, who have been on top of this issue for seven years now, pushing for investigations, filing FOIA suits, conducting forensic investigations in the field (even as the Bush administration refused them any security protection), answered back Obama administration spokespeople in a press release tonight (emphasis added):
"For US Government officials to claim that there is no legal basis to investigate this well-documented mass atrocity is absurd," stated Physicians for Human Rights Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin. "US military and intelligence personnel were operating jointly and accepted the surrender of the prisoners jointly with General Dostum’s forces in northern Afghanistan. The Obama Administration has a legal obligation to determine what US officials knew, where US personnel were, what involvement they had, and the actions of US allies during and after the massacre. These questions, nearly eight years later, remain unanswered."
"Furthermore," added Nathaniel Raymond, PHR’s lead researcher on the Dasht-e-Leili case, "The New York Times has shown that the Bush Administration engaged in a coordinated effort to prevent this alleged war crime from ever being investigated. Under the Geneva Conventions, the cover-up of a war crime can itself constitute a war crime."
This is a moment of truth, Kossites. If Obama can so blatantly cover-up Bush major war crimes tantamount to mass murder, then all pretense to progressivism with this administration is at an end. All of you waiting for Obama, giving him a chance, how does it feel to swallow the deaths of thousands of SURRENDERED SOLDIERS, suffocated to death, packed in metal containers and dying in agony? What apologia is there for this?
I admit fatigue: I'm tired of cover-up for crimes, crimes of torture, crimes of invading other countries and bombing innocent men, women and children, crimes that go back before 2001, to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to MKULTRA, to the mass napalming of North Korea (a crime even barely known today, but which by destroying that country, laid the groundwork for the rise of the bizarre and paranoid current regime that rules there today).
But while fatigued, I'm not indifferent, nor politically dead. I ask that readers here watch the following, then call the White House and demand an immediate investigation. And sign PHR's petition to Attorney General Eric Holder to commence an investigation, essentially picking up the FBI inquiry that was spiked some years back.
If this community cannot rise up and protest this cover-up of mass atrocity, if this is not outrage enough, then outrage is dead, and Cheneyism's dismal spread across this land will have made its greatest conquest: the hearts and energies of the progressive community.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Contact:
Shivali Tukdeo, Coalition Against Coke Contracts +1 503 867 1284 (US)
Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center +91 98103 46161 (India)
New Delhi: The Coca-Cola company has lost its contract with the University of Illinois, giving another boost to the international campaign against Coca-Cola.
Students and faculty at the University of Illinois, a prestigious public university with over 40,000 students, have campaigned for over two years to end the 10-year, exclusive “pouring rights” agreement with Coca-Cola because of the company's unethical practices in India and globally.
The Coca-Cola company has created severe water shortages around its bottling operations across India, and one of its largest bottling plants has been shut down by the government because of pollution.
“This is a tremendous victory for the campus community and sends a strong message to the Coca-Cola company that it must respect human rights and the environment,” said Shivali Tukdeo of the Coalition Against Coke Contracts, a broad coalition of campus and community groups that led the campaign to remove Coca-Cola from campus.
More than 20 colleges and universities in the US, UK and Canada have removed Coca-Cola from campuses as a result of student-led initiatives to apply pressure on the company for its practices in India and internationally.
“We welcome the decision in Illinois to remove Coca-Cola and the action goes a long way in pressuring the Coca-Cola company to do the right thing in India,” said Nandlal Master of Lok Samiti, a community group that is campaigning for the closure of Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Mehdiganj in north India.
In an unusual arrangement, the state of Illinois negotiated new contracts for beverages for the state which covers over 2000 vending machines and 29 facilities across the state, including the University of Illinois and Northeastern University.
The Coalition Against Coke Contracts enjoyed widespread support from the campus and community, and also approached the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and petitioned university administrators to end the contract with Coca-Cola.
The state selection committee included Mr. Mike Bass, Executive Assistant Vice President for Business and Finance at the University of Illinois. Mr. Bass admitted that financial considerations were not the only criteria used for rejecting the contract with Coca-Cola.
“The decision from Illinois is a clear message to Coca-Cola that the campaign will continue to take a toll on its profits and image until it gets serious about addressing the concerns in India,” said Amit Srivastava of India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization that worked closely with the Coalition Against Coke Contracts at the University of Illinois.
For more information, visit India Resource Center and Coalition Against Coke Contracts.
Shivali Tukdeo, Coalition Against Coke Contracts +1 503 867 1284 (US)
Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center +91 98103 46161 (India)
New Delhi: The Coca-Cola company has lost its contract with the University of Illinois, giving another boost to the international campaign against Coca-Cola.
Students and faculty at the University of Illinois, a prestigious public university with over 40,000 students, have campaigned for over two years to end the 10-year, exclusive “pouring rights” agreement with Coca-Cola because of the company's unethical practices in India and globally.
The Coca-Cola company has created severe water shortages around its bottling operations across India, and one of its largest bottling plants has been shut down by the government because of pollution.
“This is a tremendous victory for the campus community and sends a strong message to the Coca-Cola company that it must respect human rights and the environment,” said Shivali Tukdeo of the Coalition Against Coke Contracts, a broad coalition of campus and community groups that led the campaign to remove Coca-Cola from campus.
More than 20 colleges and universities in the US, UK and Canada have removed Coca-Cola from campuses as a result of student-led initiatives to apply pressure on the company for its practices in India and internationally.
“We welcome the decision in Illinois to remove Coca-Cola and the action goes a long way in pressuring the Coca-Cola company to do the right thing in India,” said Nandlal Master of Lok Samiti, a community group that is campaigning for the closure of Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Mehdiganj in north India.
In an unusual arrangement, the state of Illinois negotiated new contracts for beverages for the state which covers over 2000 vending machines and 29 facilities across the state, including the University of Illinois and Northeastern University.
The Coalition Against Coke Contracts enjoyed widespread support from the campus and community, and also approached the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and petitioned university administrators to end the contract with Coca-Cola.
The state selection committee included Mr. Mike Bass, Executive Assistant Vice President for Business and Finance at the University of Illinois. Mr. Bass admitted that financial considerations were not the only criteria used for rejecting the contract with Coca-Cola.
“The decision from Illinois is a clear message to Coca-Cola that the campaign will continue to take a toll on its profits and image until it gets serious about addressing the concerns in India,” said Amit Srivastava of India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization that worked closely with the Coalition Against Coke Contracts at the University of Illinois.
For more information, visit India Resource Center and Coalition Against Coke Contracts.
At least 55 percent of the recorded deaths were attributed to insurgents, 33 percent were caused by international and Afghan forces and 12 percent could not be attributed to any of the warring parties, the report said
Civilian deaths resulting from armed hostilities between insurgents, the US military, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and government forces have increased by 24 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2008, according to a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.
An injured Afghan child from the Bala Baluk
An injured Afghan child from the Bala Baluk, district of Afghanistan, is seen on a bed at the hospital in Farah province of Afghanistan Tuesday, May 5, 2009. One of the worst incidents was in May when dozens of civilians, among them at least 65 women and children, were killed when US forces bombed a village in the Bala Bulok district of Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 26 May. (Photo: AP)
(More photos...)
In May alone, 261 non-combatants lost their lives in conflict in Afghanistan, John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told members of the Security Council at a meeting on 26 June.
One of the worst incidents was in May when dozens of civilians, among them at least 65 women and children, were killed when US forces bombed a village in the Bala Bulok district of Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 26 May.
“UNAMA [the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan] recorded 800 civilian casualties between January and May 2009, mostly in the south, southeast and eastern regions of the country,” states the UN Secretary-General’s report, The Situation in Afghanistan and its Implication for International Peace and Security, which was released on 23 June.
At least 55 percent of the recorded deaths were attributed to insurgents, 33 percent were caused by international and Afghan forces and 12 percent could not be attributed to any of the warring parties, the report said.
The UN SG’s report blamed the Taliban for most of the civilian casualties and welcomed measures adopted by international forces to minimize the impact of war on non-combatants.
Armed conflict has also displaced tens of thousands of people, leaving most in need of protection and assistance, aid agencies say.
Unprecedented rise
Since the fall of Taliban regime in 2001, insecurity has gradually plagued parts of the country, particularly the south.
In May 2009, security deteriorated to levels not seen since 2001, with over 1,000 recorded violent incidents, the UN report said.
While insurgency-related violence has been mostly concentrated in the volatile south and east, it has also expanded to central and northern areas of the country. “The next period will likely experience an increase in the level of violence compared with the same period last year, including complex suicide attacks, intimidation and assassinations carried out by insurgents,” said the report.
In addition to adversely impacting the lives of civilians, the intensifying insecurity has posed serious threats to aid workers and has increasingly inhibited humanitarian access to large swathes of the country.
Over 60 security incidents involving NGOs were recorded from 1 January to 15 June 2009 by the Afghanistan NGOs Safety Office. Tens of aid workers were killed or kidnapped last year.
Owing to a surge of US forces over the past few months and the expansion of newly trained Afghan forces, security has seen improvement in Kabul, Herat, Logar and Wardak provinces, states the UN report.
However, aid workers are concerned that violence will peak in the coming months as the country is set to hold presidential and provincial council elections in August. Insurgents have reportedly threatened to disrupt the elections process with more suicide attacks and roadside explosions.
Afghan villagers mark new burial site of victims
Civilian deaths resulting from armed hostilities between insurgents, the US military, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and government forces have increased by 24 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2008, according to a report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.
An injured Afghan child from the Bala Baluk
An injured Afghan child from the Bala Baluk, district of Afghanistan, is seen on a bed at the hospital in Farah province of Afghanistan Tuesday, May 5, 2009. One of the worst incidents was in May when dozens of civilians, among them at least 65 women and children, were killed when US forces bombed a village in the Bala Bulok district of Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 26 May. (Photo: AP)
(More photos...)
In May alone, 261 non-combatants lost their lives in conflict in Afghanistan, John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told members of the Security Council at a meeting on 26 June.
One of the worst incidents was in May when dozens of civilians, among them at least 65 women and children, were killed when US forces bombed a village in the Bala Bulok district of Farah Province, southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on 26 May.
“UNAMA [the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan] recorded 800 civilian casualties between January and May 2009, mostly in the south, southeast and eastern regions of the country,” states the UN Secretary-General’s report, The Situation in Afghanistan and its Implication for International Peace and Security, which was released on 23 June.
At least 55 percent of the recorded deaths were attributed to insurgents, 33 percent were caused by international and Afghan forces and 12 percent could not be attributed to any of the warring parties, the report said.
The UN SG’s report blamed the Taliban for most of the civilian casualties and welcomed measures adopted by international forces to minimize the impact of war on non-combatants.
Armed conflict has also displaced tens of thousands of people, leaving most in need of protection and assistance, aid agencies say.
Unprecedented rise
Since the fall of Taliban regime in 2001, insecurity has gradually plagued parts of the country, particularly the south.
In May 2009, security deteriorated to levels not seen since 2001, with over 1,000 recorded violent incidents, the UN report said.
While insurgency-related violence has been mostly concentrated in the volatile south and east, it has also expanded to central and northern areas of the country. “The next period will likely experience an increase in the level of violence compared with the same period last year, including complex suicide attacks, intimidation and assassinations carried out by insurgents,” said the report.
In addition to adversely impacting the lives of civilians, the intensifying insecurity has posed serious threats to aid workers and has increasingly inhibited humanitarian access to large swathes of the country.
Over 60 security incidents involving NGOs were recorded from 1 January to 15 June 2009 by the Afghanistan NGOs Safety Office. Tens of aid workers were killed or kidnapped last year.
Owing to a surge of US forces over the past few months and the expansion of newly trained Afghan forces, security has seen improvement in Kabul, Herat, Logar and Wardak provinces, states the UN report.
However, aid workers are concerned that violence will peak in the coming months as the country is set to hold presidential and provincial council elections in August. Insurgents have reportedly threatened to disrupt the elections process with more suicide attacks and roadside explosions.
Afghan villagers mark new burial site of victims
This was picked up by an Australian site.
Yoko Ono Comments On The Death of Michael Jackson
by Paul Cashmere - July 1 2009
The death of Michael Jackson has been the biggest shock to the music world since the death of John Lennon in 1980 and Elvis Presley in 1977.
No other celebrity has impacted in death as much as Jackson, Lennon and Presley.
Earlier in the week we heard from Lisa-Marie Presley commenting on how her former husband always thought he would die like her father Elvis.
Today, John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono commented on the death of Michael Jackson.
This is what she had to say:
"With his enormous talent, Michael kept giving us power, inspiration and joy. Yet he knew that the world was not kind to him for many reasons, some of it going right back to racism.
That must have been so hard for him. His various attempts to be loved by the world equaled the pain he received from it.
Michael, now you are free from all that. Rest well in Peace. We will always remember you and love you for what you were to us.
With love, Yoko Ono Lennon June, 2009
Yoko Ono Comments On The Death of Michael Jackson
by Paul Cashmere - July 1 2009
The death of Michael Jackson has been the biggest shock to the music world since the death of John Lennon in 1980 and Elvis Presley in 1977.
No other celebrity has impacted in death as much as Jackson, Lennon and Presley.
Earlier in the week we heard from Lisa-Marie Presley commenting on how her former husband always thought he would die like her father Elvis.
Today, John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono commented on the death of Michael Jackson.
This is what she had to say:
"With his enormous talent, Michael kept giving us power, inspiration and joy. Yet he knew that the world was not kind to him for many reasons, some of it going right back to racism.
That must have been so hard for him. His various attempts to be loved by the world equaled the pain he received from it.
Michael, now you are free from all that. Rest well in Peace. We will always remember you and love you for what you were to us.
With love, Yoko Ono Lennon June, 2009
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