Russia on Saturday attacked remarks by U.S. and British officials who criticized Moscow's veto on proposed U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement Saturday said it was "impermissible" that the criticism called into doubt Russia's worthiness as a Group of Eight partner.
The United States accused Russia and China of standing with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe against his own people, after the two permanent members of the U.N. Security Council vetoed proposed sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The resolution would have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, an international travel ban and a freeze on the personal assets of Mugabe and 13 other officials.
It also called for the appointment of a U.N. special envoy for Zimbabwe.
The U.S., along with Britain and France, supported the resolution, arguing that sanctions were needed to respond to the violence and intimidation that opposition leaders and international observers said Mugabe and his supporters used to steal the recent presidential election.
Russia, however, claimed the sanctions would have taken the U.N. beyond its mandate, while China argued Zimbabwe should be allowed to resolve its political crisis on its own.
You don't threaten to throw Russia out of the G8--you either do it or you don't do it. And who realistically thinks that would happen anyway? Russia has Europe over a barrel when it comes to energy supplies anyway.
The fact that the UN can't stop arms from going to Zimbabwe effectively ends the possibility that anything will be done any time soon. And the ineffectiveness of the UN body plays into the hands of the people who think Rice is a capable diplomat because it confirms their bias against the organization.
Myanmar's military rulers held elections aimed at solidifying their hold on power, while brazenly turning cyclone relief efforts into a propaganda campaign. In some cases, generals' names were scribbled onto boxes of foreign aid before being distributed.
Human rights organizations and dissident groups have bitterly accused the junta of neglecting disaster victims in going ahead with Saturday's referendum, which seeks public approval of a new constitution. Critics describe it as a sham.
[SNIP]
Though international aid has started to trickle in — with two more planes organized by the U.N. World Food Program landing at Yangon's airport Saturday — almost all foreign relief workers have been barred entry into the isolated nation.
The junta said it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own.
But with roads blocked and bridges submerged, reaching isolated areas in the hard hit delta has been made all but impossible. The military has only a few dozen helicopters, most small and old. It also has about 15 transport planes, few of which are able to carry massive amounts of supplies.
As aid groups struggled to distribute supplies to cyclone victims despite government obstacles, Myanmar TV was broadcasting messages urging people to vote "yes" in a referendum that critics say would strengthen the military rule.
Activists demonstrate over the Myanmar referendum at the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok on Friday.
The New York Times said it appeared that some resources for cyclone victims was diverted to the vote campaign. In some cases, generals' names were scribbled onto boxes of foreign aid before being distributed, according to the Associated Press.
A resident of Yangon said refugees seeking shelter in schools were evicted so the buildings could be used as polling places, the newspaper reported.
That's why it's time to consider a more serious option: invading Burma. Some observers, including former USAID director Andrew Natsios, have called on the U.S. to unilaterally begin air drops to the Burmese people regardless of what the junta says. The Bush Administration has so far rejected the idea — "I can't imagine us going in without the permission of the Myanmar government," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday — but it's not without precedent: as Natsios pointed out to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. has facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid without the host government's consent in places like Bosnia and Sudan.
A coercive humanitarian intervention would be complicated and costly. During the 2004 tsunami, some 24 U.S. ships and 16,000 troops were deployed in countries across the region; the mission cost the U.S. $5 million a day. Ultimately, the U.S. pledged nearly $900 million to tsunami relief. (By contrast, it has offered just $3.25 million to Burma.) But the risks would be greater this time: the Burmese government's xenophobia and insecurity make them prone to view U.S. troops — or worse, foreign relief workers — as hostile forces. (Remember Black Hawk Down?) Even if the U.S. and its allies made clear that their actions were strictly for humanitarian purposes, it's unlikely the junta would believe them. "You have to think it through — do you want to secure an area of the country by military force? What kinds of potential security risks would that create?" says Egelend. "I can't imagine any humanitarian organization wanting to shoot their way in with food."
So what other options exist? Retired General William Nash of the Council on Foreign Relations says the U.S. should first pressure China to use its influence over the junta to get them to open up and then supply support to the Thai and Indonesian militaries to carry out relief missions. "We can pay for it — we can provide repair parts to the Indonesians so they can get their Air Force up. We can lend the them two C-130s and let them paint the Indonesian flag on them," Nash says. "We have to get the stuff to people who can deliver it and who the Burmese government will accept, even if takes an extra day or two and even if it's not as efficient as the good old U.S. military." Egeland advocates that the U.N. Security Council take punitive steps short of war, such as freezing the regime's assets and issuing warrants for the arrest of individual junta members if they were to leave the country. Similar measures succeeded in getting the government of Ivory Coast to let in foreign relief teams in 2002, Egelend says.
Check it out! Four to six inches of snow blanketed the ground across Greece and draped the olive trees in ghostly white as winter made it's presence known in this usually temperate country. Schools were closed across Athens, villages were cut off, and travel was disrupted. Snow on the Acropolis. Wow.
Pakistanis dealt Musharraf a stinging rebuke on Monday when they elected a whole slate of opposition parliamentarians. It was seen as a repudiation not only of Musharraf but also of the Bush administration, which has backed the regime unwaveringly. American officials will have little choice now but to seek alternative allies from among the new political forces emerging from Mondays voting.
As Tajiks struggleto survive the worst winter the country has seen in at least three decades, the United Nations has issued an urgent appeal for $25 million in emergency aid. Cities are enduring inconsistent water and electricity delivery, and rural areas have been cut off from food supplies. The U.N. estimates that half a million people face food shortages, and at least 260,000 are in need of immediate food assistance.
How's that Surge™ workin' out for ya? Five Iraqi civilians were killed when rockets rained down on an American military installation near the Baghdad airport and an adjoining neighborhood. Two American soldiers and n14 Iraqi civilians, including six children, were injured. Rocket attacks are far from rare, but this one was unusual because it was sustained and focused.
Well, that's it for Monday. This is your nightly open thread. Make the most of it, and I'll see you on the morrow.
Just in time for Christmas, UNICEF has released their preliminary findings from a report on the status of children in Iraq after nearly five years of warfare.
The findings are grim.
Two million children are threatened by disease, inadequate nutrition and inconsistent education. And making matters worse, children are frequently caught in the wars crossfire - literally.
“Iraqi children are paying far too high a price,” said Roger Wright, UNICEF’s Special Representative for Iraq. “While we have been providing as much assistance as possible, a new window of opportunity is opening, which should enable us to reach the most vulnerable with expanded, consistent support. We must act now.”
Only 28 per cent of Iraq’s 17 year olds sat their final exams in summer, and only 40 per cent of those sitting exams achieved a passing grade (in south and central Iraq).
Many of 220,000 displaced children of primary school age had their education interrupted, adding to the estimated 760,000 children (17 per cent) already out of primary school in 2006.
Children in remote and hard-to-reach areas were frequently cut off from health outreach services.
Only 20 per cent outside Baghdad had working sewerage in their community, and access to safe water remains a serious issue.
An average 25,000 children per month were displaced by violence or intimidation, their families seeking shelter in other parts of Iraq.
By the end of the year, approximately 75,000 children had resorted to living in camps or temporary shelters (25 per cent of those newly-displaced since the Samarra shrine bombing in February 2006).
Hundreds of children lost their lives or were injured by violence and many more had their main family wage-earner kidnapped or killed.
Approximately 1,350 children were detained by military and police authorities, many for alleged security violations.
And still, against all odds and that reality - UNICEF and other aid organizations managed to deliver critical assistance even though they struggled under the yoke of the lowest funding levels since 2003.
Health care was delivered and house-to-house immunization campaigns were waged, protecting four million children from polio, and three million more from measles, mumps and rubella. Because of dedicated efforts like these, Iraq remains polio-free, and cases of measles dropped from over 9,000 in 2006 to just 156 in 2007.
Nearly five million children benefited from efforts to deliver educational services. Materials and textbooks were supplied, schools were rebuilt and restored, classrooms were added to existing structures to accommodate displaced children who were forced to relocate to flee violence and ethnic strife. (It is estimated that approximately 83% of Iraqi children of primary school age were in school in 2005-2006. The numbers for 2007 are currently in the crunching process.)
Shi'ite children in a refugee camp near Najaf
UNICEF has been instrumental in providing sanitation, hygiene and most importantly - clean, potable water to as many as 500,000 internally displaced refugees. Currently, at least 200,000 Iraqis only access to clean water is a UNICEF tankering project. These are the most desperate and destitute, living in tent cities that have sprung up, populated with people who fled the violence but had no where to go.
As security improves, a clearer picture of the needs of Iraqi children will emerge, but UNICEF stresses that the challenges will be amplified by repatriating families, who will be some of the most vulnerable citizens in need of help. Many have exhausted savings and are returning to homes that may or may not be standing, and if standing, they may be standing on an ethnic battleground.
To meet the coming challenges, UNICEF and its partners are spearheading IMPACT: Iraq. IMPACT: Iraq is an initiative that draws together a network of NGOs and UN teams to rapidly assess and respond when families are vulnerable. The intent is to facilitate local recovery, because strong families make strong communities.
To help seize the current opportunity, UNICEF calls for support to:
1. rapidly increase attention and action to meet the immediate needs of children and families inside Iraq - focusing on all vulnerable groups; 2. widen humanitarian access to Iraqi children and their families in conflict zones, behind security barriers and in detention centres; and 3. strengthen Iraq’s capacity and initiatives to improve governance and mobilize its own resources to invest in national recovery.
“Iraqi children are the foundation for their country’s recovery,” said UNICEF spokesman Wright. “Where children’s lives are protected and revived, community recovery will swiftly follow. We continue to owe them our very best in 2008 and beyond.”
I agree. Now, in the spirit of the season, let's give the late, great, John Lennon the final word:
