September 25, 2004
Gitmo
Image source: http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2004/01/12_400.html
In openDemocracy this week, David Rose, has written a short piece about his book, Guantánamo, to be published next month by Faber. The article includes some interesting hyperlinks that are well worth a visit, especially the Gitmo link that goes to a MotherJones.com article describing some of the goings-on at Guantánamo. Even senior Pentagon officials have expressed concern about the continued detention of many of the interns who include, among others, three young teenage boys, deaf and elderly men, and many who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sadly, as Rose observes, 'if Guantánamo has provided but a few meagre scraps of information, it has also become an icon of oppression throughout the developing – and especially the Muslim – world'. The case that Guantánamo is 'legally and morally questionable is overwhelming', he argues, and even viewed in terms of its own stated mission – to stop further terrorist attacks – it has proved ineffective.
September 10, 2004
River-linking in India
Will the Indian Government divert the Ganges?
One of the issues I have been monitoring this week besides the US presidential soap opera is the heavy rain in China and the strain it is putting on their mega-dam Three Gorges Project. Aside from the fact the project itself is an environmental catastrophe, matters are exacerbated somewhat by the fact surrounding landscapes have been denuded of flora which increases the amount of run-off. Hundreds of people have been killed in the mud slides and flash floods. Sadly, deaths caused by eco-terrorism don't seem to get the same amount of air-play on CNN and BBC World. Why some governments appear so intent on reshaping the forces of nature is a source of great puzzlement to me. I blogged some time ago on the Spanish government's hydrological hair-brained scheme, while the Indian government has an equally ludicrous idea in the shape of its River Linking Project. India's new PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh, formed a task force to review the project shortly after taking up office. I haven't heard anything since. With any luck, the idea might disappear deep into the bowels of the Indian bureaucracy never to see the light of day again.
September 03, 2004
The freeing of Anwar Ibrahim
The release from prison of Anwar Ibrahim yesterday produced a predictable response from the man who is responsible for putting him there. Dr Mahathir, whom Paul Keating once described as a 'recalcitrant' is quoted in The Guardian as saying: "I'm not going to lose any sleep ... I still believe that he's guilty. My conscience is clear." But what are the wider ramifications of Anwar's release for the Malaysian political economy? The optimistic view is that it is a clear sign Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, does not plan to interfere in the judicial process. Others, however, are more sceptical, suggesting the main reason for Anwar's release is that he no longer presents the political threat that he once did, and not too much should be read into the PM's magnamity. I, for one, don't think we've seen the last of Anwar on the Malaysian political scene.