Stories about War & Conflict from March, 2010
Serbia: Diaspora Serb's Musings on “Serbs, Media, Justice and Me!”
A Diaspora Serb's views on collective blame, collective guilt and other relevant issues – at Balkan Anarchist.
Ukraine: Crimean Tatar Leader Addresses European Parliament
Links related to the March 17 European Parliament hearing with Mustafa Dzhemilev, former Soviet dissident and Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People: Dzhemilev's speech (.pdf file); an overview at Window on Eurasia; an overview at Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO); a written address by MEP Heidi...
Bosnia: Gay Dutch Soldiers
Kirk Johnson of Americans For Bosnia reacts to retired NATO commander John Sheehan's homophobic comment on the Dutch troops’ performance in Bosnia in 1995: “Regarding the Srebrenica Genocide; there are many things for which we can hold the Dutch military at fault, but allowing gay Dutch citizens to serve their...
Sudan: Conflicting views on Sudan from US officials
Gregory Simpkins discusses conflicting views on Sudan policy from the Obama Administration.
Netherlands: Reaction to US general's gay theory of Srebrenica
Dutch foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen tweeted [nl] in reaction to a claim by a retired US general that “gay soldiers contributed to the Bosnian massacre” in Srebrenica in 1995: “Extremely weird statement about Srebrenica. I fear this has more to do with the discussion in the US about homosexuality in...
Pakistan: Terror And The Blame Game
Kalsoom at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan criticizes the blame game of Pakistan's leaders and comments: “the stream of bombings and the subsequent deaths of innocent civilians will continue to undermine Pakistan’s tactical successes against the Taliban.”
Georgia, Russia: Commentary on Imedi's Fake Broadcast
Giorgi Kvelashvili of Jamestown Foundation Blog and Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog comment on the mock news broadcast on the Russian invasion of Georgia, aired on Imedi TV channel last Saturday.
Bangladesh: Why is India killing Bangladeshis?
Shada Kalo comments on the recent gunfire between Indian and Bangladeshi border guards and asks “why is India killing Bangladeshis”?
Moldova: Military Neutrality
Morning in Moldova writes about the issue of Moldova's military neutrality: “In Moldova's case, neutrality has just made the country weak and defenceless in the face of very real aggressors who control a large chunk of the country's territory (the Russians and Transnistrians) […].”
Timor Police Ninja Operation
There has been much ado about "ninjas" in Timor-Leste recently. The police ordered a crackdown against these criminal "ninja" groups but some suggest that the matter is being overblown and is a political game.
France: Blogtrotters video blog sheds light on global issues
French collaborative video-blog (Fr) Blogtrotters travels to conflict zones, dictatorships and other hot spots around the world, from Sub-Saharan Africa to Central and Eastern Asia to the Pacific Ocean, and its climate refugees. (English version here). Coming soon, a report on Burma. The blog was co-founded by Tristan Mendès-France, the...
Afghanistan: Attacks in Khost
Joshua Foust reviews the background of a recent suicide attack in Khost, Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan: Analyzing the extremists groups
Joshua Foust analyzes some questionable points from the SWJ essay about the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
Afghanistan: Talking with insurgents
Joshua Foust criticizes the American push to negotiate with insurgent leaders in Afghanistan.
Sri Lanka: Finding A Middle Path
Dayan Jayatilleka at Groundviews proposes a home grown solution to find some common grounds among the two opposite camps in Sri Lanka on the issue of war crimes and human rights.
Georgia: Mock news report causes panic
A mock news program broadcast on television reporting that Russia had once again invaded and that the president was dead caused panic in Georgia this weekend. Bloggers react.
Israel: Shin Bet “Detains” Reporter
Jewish blogger Richard Silverstein claims that the Shin Bet has secretly detained a reporter for leaking top-secret memos on targetted assassinations.
The Balkans: Ejup Ganić's Arrest
Updates on the arrest of Ejup Ganić in London on March 1: Amila Bosnae – here and here; Gray Falcon – here, here, and here; Greater Surbiton – here and here; Samaha – here; CAFÉ TURCO – here;
Serbia: Writers and Politics
Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia pays tribute to Serbian writer Mihajlo Mijhajlov, “a prominent former dissident to both Titoism and nationalism,” who died recently at the age of 76. Sladjana Lazic of A Slice Of Serbian Politics muses on whether “the political engagement of artists can degrade their work,”...
Ukraine: New SBU Chief and Declassified Soviet Archives
Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop writes about the insights he gained while working with the recently declassified Soviet secret police archives – and about Ukraine's new State Security Service chief, who appears likely to limit public access to the archives again: “‘The special service’s main concern is the protection of...
Ukraine: “Bandera Bashing Déjà Vu”
On Feb. 25, the European Parliament adopted a resolution, in which, among other things, it called on “the new Ukrainian leadership” to “reconsider” the posthumous award granted to Stepan Bandera a month earlier. In a post titled “Bandera Bashing Déjà vu,” Stepan Bandera's grandson – Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop...
