Stories about War & Conflict from July, 2009
Ukraine: Nato membership in question
Ukrainiana strongly reacts against voices in both Ukraine and the West saying no to the country becoming a member of Nato.
Russia: Retreat of the Cold Warriors
Gerhard Mangott discusses [GER] the recent letter by Central and East European leaders, warning the US of the consequences of a withdrawal from the region.
Russia: Medvedev Murder Mystery
Anna Politkovskaya... The mere name evokes images of Moscow's worst public relations nightmare in years - an ongoing ordeal for Russia's international reputation in the realm of rule of law. Still, the murderers have not been brought to justice, and Politkovskaya turned into a martyr for world voices critical of Russia - for them epitomising everything that is wrong and wretched with the country. So, should President Medvedev's quick reaction to this week's murder of Human Rights' acitivists Natalya Estemirova merely be regarded as lessons learnt from the Politkovskaya assassination? The answer might be more complicated, as voices from the Russian blogosphere have their say.
Russia: Grozny photographies
LJ user pumchik posts pictures with comments [RUS] from the new Grozny, rebuilt after the second Checnyan war.
Russia: Did Kadyrov kill Estemirova?
Reactions to the murder of Russian Human Rights’ avtivist, Natalya Estemirova, of Memorial have been frequent in recent days. Sean's Russia Blog discusses accusations against Chechen president Kadyrov of being behind the murder, and posts a translation of a Novaya Gazeta article. Streetwise Professor compares the terror of the Chechen...
Palestine: Egypt and Israel and Humanitarian Aid
Writing on Arab-American joint blog Kabobfest, Will notes his disgust with Egypt's stalling of humanitarian aid entering Gaza. “Though we have seen Egypt’s role as essentially Israel’s sidekick before, the machinations around the Viva Palestine really exemplify how much it shares Israel’s sick agenda of collective punishment in Gaza,” he...
Belarus: Arms trade rescues regime
Bielar.us discusses a recent United Nations’ report on arms’ trade in the world, where Belarus is pointed out as a major dealer, and the significance this trade has for the regime.
Bahrain: Learn To Live With Israel?
The Bahraini Nationalist is pleased that Bahrain's Crown Prince has written an op-ed in the Washington Post asking Arabs to talk to the people of Israel: “Shaikh Salman is trying to tell Arabs that Israel is a reality and won’t disappear. Learn to live with it!!” Yet a Facebook group...
Palestine: Fear Of Flying
At the Moments of Gaza blog, Professor Abdelwahed writes about a couple taking their children out of Gaza for the first time in 13 years, and discovering that they were terrified to fly: “Their persistent question was on their situation if the airplane bombed somewhere and killed innocent people like...
Afghanistan: Dostum denies massacre
Nick Fielding reports that General Abdul Rashid Dostum, who is believed to be a war criminal, but is about to getting rehabilitation in Afghanistan, gave a recorded statement to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in which he denied that any Taliban or al-Qaeda prisoners were abused in November 2001 by troops...
Tajikistan: Rasht fighting
Gavin reports that a shootout has taken place in the Rasht Valley of Tajikistan, when national guardsmen were attacked by unknown armed grouping, presumably by the drug trafficking gang or by extremist militants.
Russia: Rocket science in reverse
Streetwise Professor discusses the problems that the new Russian sea launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the Bulava, is still experiencing after years of testing.
Estonia: Holes in the NATO-umbrella?
Itching for Eestimaa discusses whether Estonia's membership of NATO really is the security umbrella the country imagined when it sought entry into the organization.
Africa: Blogging the trial of Charles Taylor
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor is facing 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is being held at the Hague, Netherlands. There are two blog specifically covering Charles Taylor trial: The Trial of Charles Taylor - International Criminal Justice in the Making, which is made up of a team of monitors from the global litigation practice of Clifford Chance LLP and the Trial of Charles Taylor, a project of Open Society Justice Initiative.
Why did Thailand’s former PM travel to Fiji?
Bloggers are debating the significance of the recent trip of Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister to Fiji and Tonga. Fiji and Thailand have no extradition treaties, fueling speculation that the former Thai leader traveled to the Pacific looking for asylum.
Palestine: Israeli Settlers Set Farmland On Fire
The Palestine Solidarity Project blog reports that Israeli settlers were seen setting farmland on fire near Beit Ummar in the West Bank.
China: Fresh tensions in Xinjiang
James Leibold from the China Beats points out that both the Western and Chinese media have failed to explain the tensions happening in Xinjiang that lead to massive killing as the tensions are new.
Russia: From Reykavik to Reset
Russian Life Blog publishes an interesting and initiated exposé of US-Russian relations from Reagan to Obama.
Russia: Medvedev, Obama, and the lot…
Windows to Russia! ironises over Obama's visit to Russia and Medvedev's visit to South Ossetia.
Russia: Politkovskaya laureate murdered
Just another death, just another obituary. That seems to be the general sentiment as news of today's murder of Russian Human Rights activist, Natalya Estemirova, broke. However, there are still people out there, in the Russian blogosphere, who challenge disillusion as yet another voice of conscience and tolerance is silenced by violent death.
Turkey: Kurdish Freedom Movement Extend Ceasefire
Kurdish blogger Hevallo writes that “Kurdish political leadership Koma Civaken Kurdistan, (KCK) has announced that the ceasefire called by the Kurdish Freedom Movement to give the opportunity for solving the Kurdish Question in Turkey by political and peaceful means has been extended.” The original deadline was July 14th; it has...