RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez
My dear Musaazi, In so many words, you've sadly said nothingnew or illuminating, beyondthe claptrap of the "correct line" we've been hearing for the last 18 years.If the Museveni administration weregenuinelyinterested in peace in northern Uganda, we wouldn't be shedding tears about the victims of Kony's savagery. Unlike you, I see a lot of parallels between what happened in West Nile and the ongoing tragedy in Acholi. The Acholi and Ma'di have been neighbors for centuries. I have lived in both communities in their hour of need and I can tell with a reasonable degree of authority thatthe Acholi people are neither savages nor suicidal to want this war to continue until all of them are wiped off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, the subtext of the string of excuses from the NRM aparatchik and statist creatures like yourself is that the victims areto blame for what's happening to them. As for Fr. Rodriguez, would you have reacted differently to what he did if he were Ugandan? vukoni PS. BTW, I don't believe that a peace maker needs the permission of a government that has clearly failed to protect its citizens and done its best to thwart any serious attempts to end the atrocities in Acholi. Ask Betty Bigombe what happened when Museveni undercut her efforts to bring the LRA out of the bushes. Ask the two Acholi elders who were murdered by suspected state agents when they seemed to be making some headway in their mediation efforts. No, for some reason that psycho-analysts might one dayhelp us unravel, Museveni has sabotaged every genuine effort to end the suffering of the people in Acholi. Original Message Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. RodriguezFrom: "emmanuel musaazi" [EMAIL PROTECTED]Date: Wed, May 12, 2004 11:13 amTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, as much as i sympathize with your people for the brutalization they suffered at the hands of UNLA/UPC, i have to regrettably disagree with you for using that unfortunate situation as an analogy to the present situation in the north. You are comparing apples and oranges. Firstly it is not the government of Uganda that is doing the massacring, maiming, abduction and raping of our fellow citizens in the north, it is the LRA/Kony. Now, there may be some truth in saying that the government needs to do more to protect potential victims in the north, and indeed the government has acknowledged that, and has followed up by beefing up security in the north, hence the relative peace now prevailing at the moment. Now, UPDF is in the north to protect innocent Ugandan citizens against the terror of LRA and many brave Ugandan soldiers are making the ultimate sacrifice to achieve that goal. The whole world is aware of the evil exploits of the LRA. The LRA is an internationally known terrorist organization. The LRA is an enemy of the state of Uganda and indeed the world, and as such anyone guilty of aiding and abating there actions is automatically an enemy of the state of Uganda if not the world. The notoriety of the LRA is comparable to that of Alqida.Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, this is serious bussiness. The LRA is responsible for messing up the lives of a generation of people and the loss of many more. Anybody who is interested in sincerely ending the suffering of our fellow citizens in the north, should join the crusade of those who want to stop them in concert with the government of Uganda. This father Rodriguez does not care more for the suffering people of the north than Ugandans. There are northern politicians and other Ugandan politicians who are working hard within the confines of the law to bring about an end to the problem. ARLPI including you, Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, seem to be of the view that father rodriguez cares most for the suffering people of the north and i am saying that, that is not true. Father Rodriguez is a controversial figure, given that he has been making unauthorized contacts with the LRA...let us remember that there is a government in Uganda, which is responsible for the security of Ugandans, so no matter what good intentions father Rodriquez may have, it is unlawful to make contact with an enemy of the state of Uganda, without the authorization or knowledge of the Ugandan government. What he is doing in Uganda, he can not dare try it in Italy (or wherever he comes from). Can he go to Italy and make unauthorized contacts with alqida operatives without the knowledge of the Italian government and not get arrested as an accomplice? We like to critisize government about there unlawful behaviour as indeed we should, however it is hypocritical to choose and cherry-pick when to critisize unlawful behaviour as exhibited by people like father Rodriguez.If the ARLPI is realy sincere in brokering peace in northern Uganda, it should dissociate itself with unlawful people like father Rodriguez who are already, apparently biased towards the LRA. The ARLPI even seems to acknowledge that father Rodriguez is on the other side by warning
RE: ugnet_: FW: Barbie-shaped women more fertile
So, there is nothing biological in African men's preference for women with some meat on them? It seems to me that in the name of science,someoneis universalizing the impossible anorexic standards of beauty that the western media has relentlessly promoted. Original Message Subject: ugnet_: FW: Barbie-shaped women more fertileFrom: "J Ssemakula" [EMAIL PROTECTED]Date: Wed, May 12, 2004 6:00 pmTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Original Message Follows From: james ssemakula [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],Buganda Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Barbie-shaped women more fertile Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 17:48:20 -0700 (PDT) Barbie-shaped women more fertile 00:01 05 May 04 NewScientist.com news service Large-breasted, narrow-waisted women have the highest reproductive potential, according to a new study, suggesting western men's penchant for women with an hourglass shape may have some biological justification. Women with a relatively low waist-to-hip ratio and large breasts had about 30 per cent higher levels of the female reproductive hormone estradiol than women with other combinations of body shapes, found Grazyna Jasienska, at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and colleagues. Two of the team, Peter Ellison and Susan Lipson at Harvard University in the US, have previously shown that higher levels of estradiol are indeed related to higher fertility in women trying to get pregnant. "If there are 30 per cent higher levels, it means they are roughly three times more likely to get pregnant," Jasienska, a human biologist, told New Scientist. "In Western societies, the cultural icon of Barbie as a symbol of female beauty seems to have some biological grounding," concludes the team. "I would be the last person to propagate Barbie," Jasienska notes wryly. "But when you think about the hourglass shape, Barbie is sort of the symbol." Universal feature The team studied 119 Polish women aged between 24 and 37, who were not taking any kind of hormonal contraception or medication. Women who were extremely underweight or overweight were not included. Saliva samples taken from the women revealed that those with narrow waists and large breasts had on average 26 per cent higher levels of the hormone 17-b-estradiol, than women of other shapes. In the middle of their menstrual cycle, this peaked at 37 per cent higher levels than women in other groups. Waist-to-hip ratio also had a strong effect on levels of another female hormone, progesterone. Jasienska, says that higher progesterone levels should also theoretically translate to increased fertility. However, large breast size was not significantly related to increased progesterone. Jasienska says that a preference for low waist-to-hip ratios is a "universal feature" in psychological studies of men. "It was interesting to see what we observed in psychological studies has some biological background," she says. Androgenous models "The results are extremely intriguing," says Maryanne Fisher, a psychologist at York University in Toronto, Canada, whose study of Playboy centrefolds over 50 years revealed a drift in Western men's tastes. She points out an ongoing debate over the relative importance of waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index (BMI) as features used by men to judge female attractiveness. She says women who have a "great" waist-to-hip ratio may not necessarily be attractive if they also have a high BMI. Fisher's study of Playboy centerfolds showed that over 50 years men's preferences had moved from voluptuous to more androgenous models who had higher WHR but were thinner. Jasienska notes that some non-Western societies do not use the same measurements of female attractiveness. In cultures which value large women, size may be a more important indicator of nutrition and health and therefore fertility, she says. Journal reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2004.2712) Shaoni Bhattacharya - Do you Yahoo!? Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page FREE download! This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez
...now where in my posting did i blame the victims, for what is happening to them. Mr. Vukoni, you seem to see the LRA/Kony as victims instead of the opressors. As a matter of fact you are the one who sees the victims as being responsible for there predicament, simply because they have refused to support Kony. No where in my posting did i mention Acholi, as a tribal group for being responsible for the attrocities in the north. You are the one now bringing in tribalism into it...typical UPC politics. As i have been saying, the poeple in the north undersiege from Kony and his Barbbarism are fellow Ugandans and deserve total protection from the government of Uganda. A southern member of perliament has even suggested bringing children in IDPCs to the south to continue there schooling until the crisis ends, all at government's cost. It is only a few people like you who unfortunately see this crisis as an avenue to score extremely cheap political points. Finally, it doesn't matter where Father Rodriguez comes from, his activities are illegal and unlawful. As i said earlier, he cannot dare do what he is doing anywhere in the developed world and not get arrested. This has nothing to do with the personality of Father Rodrieguez, rather it has everything to do with the rule of law. It is even for his own safety. Supposing he was secretly meeting with the rebels without the army's knowledge and the army simultaneously launched an attack at the same location and he got killed or seriously injured, you guys will be on this forum flooding us with all sorts of conspiracy theories against government. No matter what people like you may say, the fact of the matter is that Kony and the LRA are responsible and are indeed carrying out the killing, maiming, destruction, raping and enslavement of innocent people in the north of Uganda. Spin it all you want, but unfortunately for you and your ilk, facts don't lie. facts are facts. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:45:21 -0700 _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail ---BeginMessage--- My dear Musaazi, In so many words, you've sadly said nothingnew or illuminating, beyondthe claptrap of the "correct line" we've been hearing for the last 18 years.If the Museveni administration weregenuinelyinterested in peace in northern Uganda, we wouldn't be shedding tears about the victims of Kony's savagery. Unlike you, I see a lot of parallels between what happened in West Nile and the ongoing tragedy in Acholi. The Acholi and Ma'di have been neighbors for centuries. I have lived in both communities in their hour of need and I can tell with a reasonable degree of authority thatthe Acholi people are neither savages nor suicidal to want this war to continue until all of them are wiped off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, the subtext of the string of excuses from the NRM aparatchik and statist creatures like yourself is that the victims areto blame for what's happening to them. As for Fr. Rodriguez, would you have reacted differently to what he did if he were Ugandan? vukoni PS. BTW, I don't believe that a peace maker needs the permission of a government that has clearly failed to protect its citizens and done its best to thwart any serious attempts to end the atrocities in Acholi. Ask Betty Bigombe what happened when Museveni undercut her efforts to bring the LRA out of the bushes. Ask the two Acholi elders who were murdered by suspected state agents when they seemed to be making some headway in their mediation efforts. No, for some reason that psycho-analysts might one dayhelp us unravel, Museveni has sabotaged every genuine effort to end the suffering of the people in Acholi. Original Message Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. RodriguezFrom: "emmanuel musaazi" [EMAIL PROTECTED]Date: Wed, May 12, 2004 11:13 amTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]Mr. Lupa-Lasaga, as much as i sympathize with your people for the brutalization they suffered at the hands of UNLA/UPC, i have to regrettably disagree with you for using that unfortunate situation as an analogy to the present situation in the north. You are comparing apples and oranges. Firstly it is not the government of Uganda that is doing the massacring, maiming, abduction and raping of our fellow citizens in the north, it is the LRA/Kony. Now, there may be some truth in saying that the government needs to do more to protect potential victims in the north, and indeed the government has acknowledged that, and has followed up by beefing up security in the north, hence the relative peace now prevailing at the moment. Now, UPDF is in the north to protect innocent Ugandan citizens against the terror of LRA and many brave Ugandan soldiers are making
ugnet_: Facing Escalating Crisis in Uganda, UN Food Agency appeals for Urgent Funding
Facing Escalating Crisis in Uganda, UN Food Agency Appeals for Urgent Funding Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site UN News Service (New York) May 13, 2004 Posted to the web May 13, 2004 With daily rebel attacks spreading fear among hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in northern Uganda, the United Nations emergency feeding agency today appealed for urgent donations to meet the growing food needs of at least 1.6 million displaced people in the area, where the crisis threatens to worsen dramatically. The people of northern Uganda are suffering on a massive, shameful scale, said World Food Programme (WFP) Uganda Country Director Ken Davies. They are urgently in need of help, and we risk failing them unless we receive new donations very soon. An 18-year rebellion against the government by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is behind the immense population displacement. Rebels continue to attack camps for displaced people, burn homes, loot assets, abduct children, rape and kill, in a brutal campaign of violence, according to WFP. They have also disrupted road travel by ambushing vehicles. The number of people in need, 80 per cent of them women and children, has doubled in the past year and the sheer scale of the crisis is stretching the agency's resources in Uganda to the breaking point. Some $56 million is required before the end of the year. But unless significant donations are received in the coming weeks, stocks of cereals will be exhausted by July. WFP needs $21 million now to continue to supply food until August, when the harvest is due. Without new funding, WFP will be forced to cut rations drastically. This month, it had to cut fortified blended food for young children from the standard household ration, conserving dwindling supplies for therapeutic feeding centres and primary schools. To make matters worse, displaced farmers missed the April planting season. As a result, even if the rebel attacks cease, many Ugandan civilians will need assistance until the end of the year to survive. Relevant Links East Africa Uganda Conflict, Peace and Security Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Aid Frequent attacks are preventing people leaving camps to tend fields and gather firewood, making an already precarious existence even more difficult, the agency said. In the past week, LRA rebels are reported to have attacked three women and a child who were returning home from selling goods at a market, forcing them to strip before killing them and then mutilating their bodies. The rebels also killed more than 50 others in the same period, either during raids on their villages or on market days. Ugandan army efforts to protect its civilians have proved only partially successful. Vicious raids by marauding rebels create a climate of terror that prevents farmers from reaching their fields to plant crops, Mr. Davies said. We are dealing with a critical, ongoing crisis. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: OFWONO ON PULKOL
Ofwono: Pulkol is double-faced By Badru D. MulumbaMay 12, 2004 Pulkol still has two Eso vehicles, is guarded and driven by Eso/UPDF soldiers and still earns a government salary, OFWONO OPONDO says. For him to make an outburst against government qualifies him to be called a rabid dog. Badru D. Mulumba spoke to him:- Pulkol says that government is run by people related to the president by family ties or similar selfish interests. Where do you lie? I dont think Pulkol is related to Museveni by marriage because Pulkols wife is from Somalia. Pulkol is a Karimojong. Historically, Pulkol was not anywhere with Museveni until Museveni picked him from the university and made him a minister. But Pulkol is not like any other outsider. If there was cliqueism, he must have been part of the group. The president receives advice from many, many sources. When your advice was not taken, and you suspect that it was Ofwonos advice that was taken, you suspect that there is a clique. Ofwono speaking during a radio talk show at Obbligato in Kampala (File Photo).Why cant you have a situation where no side feels defeated?Which one side? There has not been sides in the Movement. But there has been tendencies. If you take the case when elections had been rigged, there was a big tendency led by honorable Bidandi Ssali that lets not pick up arms. Another led by Kategaya and Museveni that said, let us pick up arms. They separated ways. After 2000 elections a tendency by Bidandi and Kategaya called for opening up political parties. That tendency of Bidandi and Kategaya emerged victorious. Museveni conceded. Museveni has never accused them of cliqueism. After the Kategayas won that round, are you trying to win the next to lift the presidential term limits?Movement politics is not about scoring points, about saying that now that they won, lets us also see if we can win. First, you have placed a lid on presidential term limits, on academic qualifications. Since you are opening up, open up everything. Are you running the country your own way?Well, if we wanted to run the country our own way, we wouldnt have gone to the Constitutional Review Commission. We would have waited with our own ideas, come up to the floor of the House, ambush every one. We could have waited in March of 2005. Even if it were true that I want this country run according to my way, why should I let the country be run against my will if I am able to influence - democratically? We have said many times that these are proposals. And it is not the Movement Secretariat or cabinet that is going to decide. Even this canvassing of support in the population for a referendum is really to try and ensure that every Ugandan feels that he was included in the political process of fundamentally changing our political landscape. But even if we go to a referendum, ultimately, it is the Parliament that must take a vote to change this constitution. No body is proposing to bypass Parliament. Which Ofwono is speaking? The politician or the Movement spokesperson?Ofwono the Movement spokesman is a politician. I can never divorce I will not be in that group of people who say, I am now speaking as an individual, cardinal Wamala type. I always speak as the Movement spokesperson. So, the position I am giving is the official position of the Movement. Will Museveni run again?That is speculation and the president has been very categorical. That as far as he is concerned, he has never told anybody, he has never speculated, and he has said he is not going to be involved in speculation and said so far the constitution has not been amended. I have sat in meetings with the president of three, of five. He has never anywhere, even saying that, you Ofwono go and talk on third term for purposes of gauging whether I am still popular. There are people out there, scared of the unknown. This term limit thing was brought by Nyombi Tembo who said that we cannot discard our Movement. And again we cannot discard any possibility for Museveni coming back. You always seem to have a confident answer to every one government friend or foe. Who are you?But I am part of the Movement. I consult broadly. And I sit in meetings. Are you the eye and ear of the president? That is what I am appointed to be. I am the ear, I am the eye, the mouth of the Movement, which so happens to be headed by the president. You just called Pulkol a rabid dog. What is your most memorable phrase?The most current is rabid dog because it is so strange that Pulkol, the only person who has served twice in that position, to make this outburst the way he did, especially telling lies, for example to say that people are trailing him, they want to bump him, Pulkol has been in ESO, can he name anybody who disagreed with government and he [Pulkol] was detailed to kill? Pulkol has two ESO vehicles officially. The soldiers who guard Pulkol, and the ones who drive him, are ESO UPDF officers. Pulkol has a salary in govt or at least he has
ugnet_: UNICEF Executive Director to Visit Northern Uganda
Uganda: Unicef Executive Director to Visit Northern Uganda Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site UN Integrated Regional Information Networks May 13, 2004 Posted to the web May 13, 2004 Kampala The executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is set to visit northern Uganda at the end of May in an effort to raise the profile of women and children suffering in one of Africa's longest and most brutal civil conflicts. Carol Bellamy will arrive in Uganda on 25 May and will shortly after travel to northern Uganda's troubled district of Lira to visit camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). She will also visit child rehabilitation centres in neighbouring Gulu town and inaugurate two new permanent UNICEF offices in the north, officials said. Chulho Hyun, a UNICEF spokesman, told IRIN in the capital, Kampala, on Thursday: The main focus is definitely on the impact of the conflict. Ms Bellamy will be drawing attention to the plight of the IDPs, which is growing increasingly acute. Until recently, UNICEF had no permanent office in northern Uganda. In the last six months, however, two have been set up, one in Gulu, another in Kitgum - a town nearer to the border with Sudan in the war-affected part of Uganda. The UN estimates that 1.6 million people have been displaced by the 18-year war between government forces and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - a cult-like guerilla movement led by a mystic recluse, Joseph Kony. Relevant Links East Africa Women and Gender Conflict, Peace and Security Children and Youth Refugees and Displacement Uganda Civilians fleeing LRA attacks have been forced to live in various camps scattered across the region. But the LRA have on several occasions attacked IDPs camps, killing residents and abducting scores of children for forcible recruitment as soldiers, porters and sex-slaves. Hyun added: Compared with three years ago, there has been a trebling of numbers displaced. Her [Bellamy's] visit is an opportunity for her to see this [at] first hand. She is also scheduled to address a meeting of the African Development Bank and visit educational projects in western Uganda. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Northern Crisis Streching WFP Resources to Breaking point
Uganda: Northern Crisis Stretching WFP Resources to 'Breaking Point' Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site UN Integrated Regional Information Networks May 13, 2004 Posted to the web May 13, 2004 Nairobi The ongoing crisis in northern Uganda has stretched the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to the limit, and unless significant donations are received in the next few weeks, it will soon be unable to feed the 1.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. The WFP requires US $56 million before the end of the year. But unless significant donations are received in the coming weeks, stocks of cereals will be exhausted by July. Shortfalls of beans and other food aid items will follow shortly afterwards, WFP said in a statement on Thursday. WFP needs $21 million now to continue to supply food until August, when the harvest is due. The number of people in need has doubled in the past year, and the sheer scale of the crisis is stretching WFP's resources in Uganda to breaking point. New donations are urgently required to prevent the crisis worsening dramatically, said the statement. WFP country director for Uganda, Ken Davies, told IRIN in Kampala: We were always going to hit the wall in July. Now I have this huge shortfall coming up and I have to start screaming about it. The UN food agency currently provides 80 percent of the minimum amount of food people need to survive in the troubled Ugandan districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. This is because we estimated that the people in those districts are able to access roughly 20 percent of their minimum nutritional requirements, said Davis. WFP said it was experiencing shortages of foodstuffs like cereals, pulses, vegetable oils, and corn soya blend for children. If new funding is not forthcoming, WFP will be forced to cut rations drastically. Assessments have shown that people not assisted by WFP can meet only 20 percent of their minimum food requirements for survival, it said. It said it had this month been forced to cut fortified food for young children from a standard household ration so as to save dwindling supplies for therapeutic feeding centres and primary schools. According to WFP, when food supplies last ran short between November 2002 and February 2003, there was a corresponding surge in malnutrition rates among young children. WFP is now appealing for cash contributions to buy maize and fortified blended food for malnourished children, both of which are available for purchase in Uganda, it added. Davies said: Vicious raids by marauding rebels create a climate of terror that prevents farmers from reaching their fields to plant crops. The people have lost an entire growing season, so even if security improves, the next harvest for most people will not be until the end of this year. Relevant Links East Africa Aid Conflict, Peace and Security Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Uganda We are dealing with a critical, ongoing crisis, he stressed. The 18-year rebellion against the government of Uganda by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army has caused the massive population displacements in the region. WFP said the rebels had continued to attack IDPs camps, burn homes, loot assets, abduct children, rape and kill in a brutal campaign of violence, and to disrupt travel by ambushing vehicles on the main roads. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: US Embassy Issues New Terror arning to it's citizens in Uganda
US Issues New Terror Warning to Its Citizens Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site New Vision (Kampala) May 13, 2004 Posted to the web May 13, 2004 Yunusu Abbey Kampala THE United States embassy in Kampala has reiterated the security alert warning it issued to American citizens living in Uganda. There is no exaggeration at all. Although the northern insurgency has been on for 18 years, this time we received the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel threat to target Americans, the deputy public affairs officer, Michael Gonzales, said yesterday. Gonzalez said the situation had not changed since they issued the warning on Friday. Relevant Links East Africa Uganda Conflict, Peace and Security United States, Canada and Africa The embassy is not at liberty to release the numbers. But there are hundreds of Americans all over Uganda working with NGOs, missionaries, volunteers and tourists, he said. Gonzales said the embassy had received reports that the LRA might be targeting American citizens in the northern districts of Adjumani, Apac, Gulu, Kitgum, Lira and Pader. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Fight Kony , Women told
Fight Kony, Women Told Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site New Vision (Kampala) May 13, 2004 Posted to the web May 13, 2004 Patrick Opio Kampala APAC resident district commissioner Mary Owor has advised women to join Amuka, a local militia group, to boost UPDF efforts to end the 18-year-old Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion in the north Addressing district leaders recently, Owor said women had the same opportunities as men to join any security organisation. She urged them to join the military to ensure the return of peace to the region. She however cautioned men to desist from harassing their female counterparts. Relevant Links East Africa Conflict, Peace and Security Uganda Women and Gender Owor commended the Langi for ending their rebellion against the Government. The politicians have worked as a team with security agents in the recruitment of Amuka personnel, Owor said. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: IDPs will go home soon-Army commander
IDPs Will Go Home Soon - Army Commander Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site New Vision (Kampala) May 13, 2004 Posted to the web May 13, 2004 Ray Olweny Kampala ARMY Commander Maj. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima has said Internally Displaced Persons' (IDP) camps will soon be disbanded in war-affected areas because the end of the armed rebellion in the north is imminent. Aronda was speaking at a recent security meeting in Pader, where he said he was keen to see the camps disbanded. I don't want IDPs. I want people to go home so life can return to normal, he said. State minister for security Betty Akech, who chaired the meeting, sent a condolence message to people who had lost their relatives at the hands of the rebels. She promised that the Government would work hard to provide security to the people of northern Uganda. ple from Pader, Kitgum, Gulu and was attended among others by state minister for north, Grace Akello, RDC Gulu, RDC Kitgum, LC 5 Kitgum, cultural chiefs, elders, the LC 3 chairpersons from Pader district and resolved over 20 points to be followed by the government and stakeholders if peace is to be achieved. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: dafur Sudan... NO more Villages to Burn
SUDAN 13/5/2004 12:20 DARFUR: FRAGILE CALM, ACCORDING TO UN NO MORE VILLAGES TO BURN General, Standard Because there are no villages left to burn, the situation has calmed down, the United Nations (UN) emergency relief officer Daniel Augstburger told international reporters with reference to the western Darfur region, which has been wracked by war for over a year. Augstburger, a member of one of the two UN missions which have managed to reach the remote region over the last few weeks, painted a worrying picture, explaining that since last months ceasefire agreement between the local rebels and government forces the systematic attacks by pro-government militias against the civilian population have diminished, but that otherwise the overall situation has not changed much. In just over 12 months of fighting, tens of thousands of people have been killed (10,000 according to the most reliable figures) and a million people have been internally displaced, while 130,000 refugees have sought shelter in neighbouring Chad. Forced movements of populations have stopped to a certain extent, but the harassment of civilians is continuing, said Augstburger. The UN official went on to sound the alarm concerning the number of victims in Darfur, claiming that the estimates in circulation are highly restrictive. Vast numbers of people who fled their villages have not been found in camps for displaced people, he said, referring to a group of around 50,000 people. We arent saying they are dead, but we dont know where they have got to, he said. Two rebel groups SLA-M (Sudans Liberation Army-Movement) and JEM (Justice and Equality Movement) took up arms against the Islamic government of Khartoum, which it accuses of neglecting Darfur as the region is inhabited mostly by black people and of funding militias of Arab predators (known as Janjaweed), who have tormented this part of Sudan for years, where some sources including local UN staff claim that a new genocide is underway. [LC] N,h^wrz(Hm g(
ugnet_: Uganda: Torture Used to Deter Opposition
Uganda: Torture Used to Deter Opposition Political Opponents Swept Up by Security Apparatus Beyond Legal Oversight (New York, March 29, 2004) Ugandan security forces are torturing supporters of the political opposition and holding them in secret detention amid the governments pursuit of rebels involved in the countrys armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Uganda set up a shadow sector of security operations to contend with armed rebel groups and crime waves. But now, the security system serves to punish and deter political opposition by detaining and torturing supporters of the political opposition. Jemera Rone, Uganda researcher for the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch Printer Friendly Version Related Material State of Pain: Torture in UgandaReport, March 29, 2004 Abducted and Abused: Renewed Conflict in Northern UgandaReport, July 1, 2003 Stolen Children: Abduction and Recruitment in Northern UgandaReport, March 1, 2003 Free Email Newsletter Contribute to Human Rights WatchThe 76-page report, State of Pain: Torture in Uganda, documents cases of torture committed by military, intelligence, and security agents in the governments pursuit of armed rebels. However, politicians challenging the de facto single-party state and the 18-year rule of Ugandas president, Yoweri Museveni, are often detained, severely beaten and threatened with death by the uncontrolled security apparatus. Uganda set up a shadow sector of security operations to contend with armed rebel groups and crime waves, said Jemera Rone, Uganda researcher for the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, But now, the security system serves to punish and deter p olitical opposition by detaining and torturing supporters of the political opposition. Military intelligence and security forces reportedly have suspe! nded victims from the ceiling for hours or days in a position called kandoya (with their hands and feet tied behind their back), beaten them severely with wooden or metal rods, cables, hammers or sticks studded with protruding nails, and subjected them to water torture in which the victim is forced to lie face up while a water spigot is opened directly into his mouth. In 2001 the government established a system of covert safe housesunacknowledged and illegal places of detentionto hold persons suspected of supporting opposition politicians or rebels, groups that often merge in the minds of security officials. With no real oversight by the Ugandan judiciary and no access given to Ugandan government human rights officials, these places of detention facilitate torture and other abuses by shielding abusers from scrutiny. Individuals have been held incommunicado in such places with no contact with family members or lawyerssometimes for mont! hs. They have been denied medical care despite severe injuries, kept blindfolded so they cannot later identify their torturers and interrogators, and threatened with retaliation if they talk about their torture. The constitutional requirement that criminal charges be brought within 48 hours of detention or the suspect released is rarely honored in these cases, so that fresh marks of torture can fade and the suspect can be coerced to sign a confession. People are swept up into a security apparatus that is operating outside the law, said Rone, Ugandas security system has served to keep victims of the governments abuse silent and its perpetrators immune from punishment. The only mitigating mechanism for detainees is the writ of habeas corpus, a legal proc edure usually available only to persons who can afford attorneys. The writ requires authorities to produce the suspect in court. Afterwards, the government usually quickly brings criminal! charges for treason or terrorism to justify further detention. However, it must then transfer the accused to prison, where torture does not appear to occur. Reforms by the government and within the Ugandan justice system are needed to stop torture and end rampant impunity in Ugandas military, security and intelligence services. Human Rights Watch called on the government to disband security services that are outside parliamentary oversight, to start conducting medical examinations of suspects when they are first taken into custody, to stop using illegal places of detention, and to rescind the policy of prolonged incommunicado detention. The courts should enforce the constitutional requirement to promptly charge or release all detainees held 48 hours, and that all confe ssions be voluntary. Gook "Rang guthe agithi marapu!" A karamonjong word of wisdomAdd photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: America must practise what they preach
America must practise what they preach By Andrew M. Mwenda May 12, 2004 Fate is a great joker; it always laughs last. United States (US) president George Bush stood before the American people and the world on July 12, 2003 and announced that with the fall of Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, the dictators torture chambers will no longer cause grief to Iraqis. Today, we know that Saddams torture chambers have been replaced by US and British torture chambers in Iraq. Just to recap: US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, told a Congressional committee hearing on May 7, 2004 that the US public has not yet seen the worst pictures of torture of Iraqis by American soldiers in Iraq. He described the unseen pictures as sadistic, cruel and inhuman adding that words cannot describe it, the pictures give a vivid realisation of what actually took place. A CNN Pentagon correspondent said there are even video pictures of US soldiers forcing Iraqi prisoners to masturbate before them. Reports by the International Committee of the Red Cross even talked of an American soldier raping an Iraqi prisoner. In some instances, the reports said, torture led to death. I am shocked, but certainly not surprised by this. What do you expect from a pig but a grunt? What do you expect from a colonial authority but oppression? Bush promised to build democracy in Iraq adding that Iraq would then become the springboard for democratic movements throughout the Middle East. With the pictures of torture in Iraq prisons the people of Iraq and the Middle East are certainly better off without democracy at least not the one from Bush. Americas involvement in other countries has always been troubling. The US is a democracy that in many cases has promoted and propped some of the most brutal and corrupt dictatorships in other countries the Shan of Iran, Saddam Hussein and Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko of former Zaire being the eminent examples. The US has also helped create, finance and arm some of the worst terrorist groups in this world, the Contras in Nicaragua, and Unita in Angola being the top the list. However, Bushs America is taking this game too far. Other administrations in the US have run dictatorships by proxy. Bush is running his own in Iraq directly, complete with an appointed colonial governor in the name of the US Iraq administrator. The Bush administration runs its own prisons in Iraq complete with torture chambers. The US military have powers to arrest, detain and interrogate prisoners. US prisoners in Iraq rot in jail without appearing in court to be formerly charged. There is a reported instance where a 19-year-old American soldier pulled out his gun and shot an Iraqi whose only crime was to ask why they were searching him up to his underwear. In this case, the person who was killed was a member of the US appointed governing council for some city in Iraq, a clear case of impunity. Bushs America is even more troubling because it has created a legal regime that threatens civilised jurisprudence like categorising some prisoners as illegal combatants. These illegal combatants in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are detained without trial for years on end and without access to attorneys. Although these people are primarily civilians from different countries across the globe suspected of being terrorists, the US says it will try them before a military court. The choice of detaining people without trial and of categorising them as illegal combatants carries a strong racist undercurrent. Why? Because US citizens arrested under such circumstances like John Walker Lindh are not detained in Guantanamo Bay, will not be tried by military courts, have access to an Attorney etc. What is the United States telling the world? That its citizens are more human than other human beings and therefore deserve to be treated under more civilised legal regimes? If you have read Prof. Mahmoud Mamdanis book Citizen and Subject, Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, then you get to see the rolling American imperial and colonial project in Guantanamo Bay. Mamdanis thesis is that late colonialism was defined by the creation of a bifurcated state with two legal regimes: one civil and governing the colonising race who were considered civilised; the other customary governing the natives considered barbaric. Those governed under the civil law enjoyed civil rights: the right to an attorney, right of appeal etc while those governed under customary law faced administratively driven justice the chief who administered customary law was the judge, the prosecutor and the person who executed the sentence: in Mamdanis words, customary law was a decentralised despotism. That is the system of justice, President Bush introduced first in Guantanamo Bay, and now in Iraq colonial justice. The US public has a great challenge, but also a duty and opportunity because America is a democracy. Whatever its flaws, American democracy gives US
RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez
My dear Musaazi, Obviously, you need to re-read carefully your earlier contributions on this topic. They'redripping with innuendos and inferences about who you think is really to blame for thewar that has made Acholiland and its immediate neighborhood a living hell for all its inhabitantsand otherswithin striking distance. I can't really help you to get a grip on the ramifications of yourpronouncements on the crisis in northern Uganda. But I can provide clues. So answer the following questions for yourself. 1. Why is it that18 years and counting, UPDF has failed to defeat the insurgents in northern Uganda? 2. Who is supporting the LRA? It is notpracticing tribalismto mentionthat nearly a millionAcholi people are the primary victims of the LRA. That's a fact. But I understand where you're coming from. To hide a crime that by commission or ommission has genocidal implications, you mustemployeuphemisms and geographical references that don't betray the identity of the victims. Also, to be a monkey-on-the-string for the NRM, you mustpossessthe curious mentality that can supportodiouslaws aimed at abolishing independent initiatives that fault or counterthe "correct line." I see you mention UPC, the Movement's otherbogeyman, in your latest posting. Boy, do you love innuendos! For the record, I have never been and never will be a member of UPC. A party I despise for its excesses, UPCowes its resurrection to ex-member Yoweri Museveni's compulsive-obsessive hatred of Dr. Milton Apollo Obote. You say: "A southern member of perliament has even suggested bringing children in IDPCs to the south to continue there schooling until the crisis ends, all at government's cost." -- So, each child born in Acholiland will have to be moved to another part of Uganda. How about the parents? Older siblings? Other relatives? Mon ami, relocation isas effective astreatingcancer with vaseline. What's needed isending the war that the NRM/UPDFhas failed to. If a Rodriguez or an Odama can helpmove the peace process forward, why invokethe lawor chicanery to prolong the status quo? Or is there a hidden agenda to let the LRA kill off the Acholi and whomever else falls in their hands? vukoni PS. BTW, could you please quote the law(s) thatcrimininalizenongovernmental initiatives for peace? I think we need toremove it/them from the books. Thanks. =features/featuredemail This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Sad export story
Hi Mr Badru D Mulumba. Thank you so much for this piece, 'Sad export story'. But in comparing the trends of economic development of Uganda and of Mauritius, I feel you have left out a very important factor, and thus rendered the conclusions on Mauritius, like those of many other authors, suspect at best. While Switzerland has always been the destination for most illicit money, Mauritius has always played this role for money from apartheid SOUTHERN Africa. You can't imagine how many executive jets used to set off on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon from SA to the Casinos of Mauritius. If one can say that in the first half of the last century the greatest amount of money was generated in SA, one has to also admit that rather than the Swiss banks, the Boers salted away all these billions/trillions to Mauritius. Indeed it is a suprize that Mauritius has not done any better, economically, with such a mountain of looted wealth from the likes of Harry Oppenheimer, etc... Ever since the Kimberly diamond mines were opened, ~ 1860, the scale of fruits of the sweat of all those generations of our African forefathers can only be compared to the amount of wealth (silver) that Spain looted out of Bolivia i.e. Enough to build a silver bridge from Brazil across the Atlantic ocean to Liverpool or Manchester in England. Otherwise the only explanation for things not being better in Mauritius could be that, like in feudal Spain all the wealth just passed through to other countries like Britain. Mitayo Potosi ~~ Sad export story By Badru D Mulumba May 13, 2004 Why is the left lane of the Highway that proceeds to Kenya new yet the right lane that leads from Kenya looks eight years older? Part 3: This is the third part of our series on the economy that explore Uganda's economic performance with the view to ultimately build consensus on the way forward. Who does Museveni's economic miracle benefit? In this series of Uganda's economic performance, Senior Staff Writer, BADRU D. MULUMBA unravel the mystery of an economic miracle that has in many respects done exactly the opposite of what it ought to do by condemning a sizeable population by the wayside. Mr Walusimbi Mpanga has an interesting story to tell. He is a consultant with Uganda Export Promotions Board. Last year, he escorted a visiting United Nations Development Programme consultant to Tilda (Kibimba Rice Scheme). I told him, look we do not export. And what he reads about Uganda is a country supposed to be a success story. He thought it is like Singapore. That is how bad. We do not export, whatever we export is of little value. In other words, exports equals to success story. Uganda does not have them. And the signs of this export inadequacy where all there to be seen. Standing there, along Kampala - Tororo Highway and taking in the fresh air of the countryside, the realisation hit them both hard. The left lane of the Highway that proceeds to Kenya is new; the right lane that leads from Kenya looks 'eight years older'. And it is not because the contractors did a shoddy work on the lane from Kenya. It is one of the most damning examples of how a country that has spent the last decade and half being taunted posting some of the most intriguing growth rates in the region has, in some strange twist, also lost it. Said Mpanga: Why is it new? That is, because we do not export. Because we import a lot instead, that is why the road from Kenya is old. The wish of everybody is that this road [from Kenya] should be newer than this other one [lane from Uganda]. It is the lingering black spot on Uganda's economic success. And, puzzling, it started some time in 1986, as the extract from Uganda: a country guide (Library of Congress, 1990), reveals. From surplus to trade deficit Agricultural products have dominated Uganda's exports throughout its history. Coffee became the most important export after 1950, but cotton, tea, tobacco, and some manufactured goods were also important. During the 1970s, all exports except coffee declined as a result of low producer prices, marketing problems, declining exchange rates, and general economic disruption. Coffee production declined only slightly during these years of political turmoil, but the value of sales was vulnerable to shifts in world market prices. From 1981 to 1984, general exports steadily increased, but only in 1984 and 1985 when they were sufficient to produce a trade surplus. In 1986 a trend of declining exports and increasing imports developed and continued to the end of the decade. Uganda sent most of its exports to the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, and France. Exports to regional trading partners were less important but increased slightly in the late 1980s. During the early 1980s, the value of imports remained fairly steady, constrained mainly by the shortage of foreign exchange. However, in the late
ugnet_: Donors Reject Uganda Budget
Donors Reject Uganda Budget SECURITY: Nsibambi and Ssendaula By Alfred Wasike INTERNATIONAL donors have refused to endorse Ugandas proposed budget for 2004/5, citing high spending on defence and public administration at the expense of the poverty eradication action plan (PEAP). They questioned the sh30b budget for the referendum on political systems set for next year and the continued financing of mass mobilisation activities despite the current move towards pluralism. Uganda, with a projected domestic revenue of sh1,823b, a 9% increase over the current fiscal year, wants sh3,359b, a 6% increase compared to this financial year. The budget is to be read out next month. The donors made these concerns at a day-long Public Expenditure Review meeting at the Uganda International Conference Centre, Kampala. World Bank and the International Monetary Fund officials, on behalf of donors, criticised the steep rise in government spending and called for efficiency and an end to corruption. They praised Uganda for sound economic management that has resulted in economic growth and poverty reduction. World Bank mission chief in Uganda Grace Yobrudy said, We will not be able to endorse the draft budget presented to Parliament. We do not find it a convincing reflection of PEAP priorities, and key elements of the budget defence and public administrationremain too high. Prime minister Apollo Nsibambi said Uganda had made progress in education, health, water/sanitation and roads. He said insecurity in the Great Lakes Region, especially the LRA rebel terror remained a major concern for Uganda, necessitating adequately funded security strategies. Yobrudy noted, I would like to begin with defence, a topic which we discussed at length last year. Defence spending rises by 19% to a proposed sh367b in 2004/5, after a 48% increase in the preceding two years. Last years 29% increase was presented as a one-off. Finance minister Gerald Ssendaula said, You and us have come a long way together. Bear with us. This year is very difficult. The revenues are low but the demands are too high. But Uganda has made a lot of progress in very many sectors of the economy. But Yobrudy said though the donors recognised the need for security, particularly in the north, they felt the proposed defence spending increase was unjustified. He said the donors also doubted whether the management changes identified under the Defence Review would be in place to manage the increase. She said the increase was not sufficiently targeted towards security in the north. In the absence of information on how the classified budget is being used to implement the Defence Review, we are not persuaded that increases of this magnitude are justified. She wondered if the rise was affordable given competing priorities. They urged the Government to reconsider the defence provision for 2004/5. They welcomed the planned sector working group on defence. The donors cited excessive cost of public administration in Uganda, a big public service and bureaucracy and called for a solution. They called for an efficient public service. Ends Published on: Friday, 14th May, 2004 Email this article to a friend. \\\Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of someone else.\ Njoki Paul University of Pretoria This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Like Mandela, Pik Botha is now our 'leader'.
Can you imagine that Pik Botha is now the ANC in-charge for the Greater Johannesburg region (including Soweto)? Yes. He is shedding crocodile tears about the 'evil forces of apartheid that slaughtered our children in June 1976 !!!.' OUR CHILDREN ? - Your children, my ass, can you imagine the temerity and insult by this CIA Boer? Meanwhile, there is this black man, Justice Nkonyane, who came to N. America from a refugee camp in Tanzania and wisely invested his efforts and became an auditor. He worked for some big players - Greg Hunter, Ernst Young etc... And he was invited back to sort out the accounts mess in the SADF - and catch the thieves responsible. Now, that means stepping on the toes of some people. A military truck was supposed to finish him off in an 'accident' , between Pretoria and Jo'burg. He survived, thanks to the spirits of our ancestors. (And from where does Tokyo Sekwale obtain a personal fortune of $500 million he is bragging about - didn't you see this on 60 minutes?) Mitayo Potosi _ STOP MORE SPAM with the MSN Premium and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-capage=byoa/premxAPID=1994DI=1034SU=http://hotmail.com/encaHL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: AIDS surging among Canadian aboriginals
AIDS surging among Canadian aboriginals as Ottawa helps developing countriesat 18:01 on May 13, 2004, EST. MONTREAL (CP) - While Canada leads the global fight against AIDS, the virus remains a dangerous threat at home, especially in the aboriginal community, researchers and activists said Thursday. "In some spots across the country, it is almost like African-level prevalence rates," said Kevin Barlow, executive director of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network. More than 26 per cent of the roughly 4,000 new HIV cases detected every year are among Canada's native population, he said. Yet aboriginals comprise just 3.3 per cent of the Canadian population. Health Canada estimated that 56,000 Canadians were living with HIV/AIDS in 2002. Injection drug use, brought on by poverty and the effects of the residential school system, accounts for two-thirds of the mode of infection among natives, Barlow said from Ottawa. "Indigenous populations across the world have experienced very similar issues around colonialism, domination so that they've struggled and end up with the same socio-economic conditions." Dr. Mark Wainberg, chairman of the four-day Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research, which began Thursday, said much more needs to be done to avert the further spread of the disease, especially among native youth. "In some ways, they have got lost in the shuffle," he said. About 750 Canadian researchers are gathering for the 13th annual conference to discuss the latest collaborative projects, treatment advances and prevention research. Their mood has been brightened by recent boosts of federal funding in Canada and abroad, said Wainberg. Prime Minister Paul Martin's government announced $170 million in funding this week for two AIDS projects to help those infected in developing countries. The announcements won high praise from rocker Bono. "One of the things we also want is for the domestic agenda, which Bono has not addressed, to not get neglected in the shuffle," Wainberg said in an interview. Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said assistance to domestic organizations battling the disease will double to $84.4 million annually over five years. A Commons health committee recommended last year that $100 million be earmarked for a national AIDS strategy. A total of $5 million was recommended for native efforts. But double that sum is required to halt what will become a crisis as those infected with HIV become sick with AIDS, said Barlow. Researchers also want the government to provide $5 million annually to fund collaborative projects with colleagues in developing countries. The United States spends more than $200 million annually on these efforts. France and Holland also participate. With a vaccine decades away, prevention remains the cornerstone for stemming HIV infection rates, said Wainberg, who is also head of McGill University's AIDS Centre. Among the messages that should be stressed is abstinence among young teens, he said. "Safe sex is inappropriate if you're 12, 13 or 14 years old. The only thing that's appropriate at 14 years of age is no sex." Wainberg added that success in developing new drugs has spawned safe-sex fatigue. A growing number of youngsters believe they'll just take drugs if they become infected with HIV. "And that's just stupid thinking because nobody wants to be a slave to these drugs." Despite treatment advances, anti-viral drugs produce side-effects, become resistant over time and cost an average of $12,000 a year. Developing a vaccine could be at least 25 years away because the virus mutates so quickly and has so many strains around the world. "Nobody has a right to promise that we're going to have an HIV vaccine ever," said Wainberg. ROSS MAROWITS © The Canadian Press, 2003 Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now
ugnet_: Donald Rumsfeld has a new war on his hands-the U.S.officer corps has turned on the government
Donald Rumsfeld has a new war on his hands - the U.S. officer corps has turned on the government Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, told George Bush in February about torture at Abu Ghraib prison. From the limited detail Rumsfeld recalled of that meeting, it can be deduced that Bush gave no orders, insisted on no responsibility, did not ask to see the already commissioned Taguba report. If there are exculpatory facts, Rumsfeld has failed to mention them. For decades, Rumsfeld has had a reputation as a great white shark of the bureaucratic seas: sleek, fast-moving and voracious. As counsellor to Richard Nixon during the impeachment crisis, his deputy was the young Dick Cheney, and together they helped to right the ship of state under Gerald Ford. Here they were given a misleading gloss as moderates; competence at handling power was confused with pragmatism. Cheney became the most hardline of congressmen, and Rumsfeld informed acquaintances that he was always more conservative than they imagined. One lesson they seem to have learned from the Nixon debacle was ruthlessness. His collapse confirmed in them a belief in the imperial presidency based on executive secrecy. One gets the impression that, unlike Nixon, they would have burned the White House tapes. Under Bush, the team of Cheney and Rumsfeld spread across the top rungs of government, drawing staff from the neoconservative cabal and infusing their rightwing temperaments with ideological imperatives. The unvarnished will to power took on a veneer of ideas and idealism. Iraq was not a case of vengeance or power, but the cause of democracy and human rights. The fate of the neoconservative project depends on Rumsfeld's job. If he were to go, so would his deputy, the neoconservative Robespierre, Paul Wolfowitz. Also threatened would be the cadres who stovepiped the disinformation that neoconservative darling Ahmed Chalabi used to manipulate public opinion before the war. In his Senate testimony last week, Rumsfeld explained that the government asking the press not to report Abu Ghraib "is not against our principles. It is not suppression of the news." War is peace. Six National Guard soldiers from a West Virginia unit who treated Abu Ghraib as a playpen of pornographic torture have been designated as scapegoats. Will the show trials of these working-class antiheroes put an end to any inquiries about the chain of command? In an extraordinary editorial, the Army Times, which had not previously ventured into such controversy, declared that "the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons ... This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountabilty here is essential - even if that means relieving leaders from duty in a time of war." William Odom, a retired general and former member of the National Security Council who is now at the Hudson Institute, a conservative thinktank, reflects a wide swath of opinion in the upper ranks of the military. "It was never in our interest to go into Iraq," he told me. It is a "diversion" from the war on terrorism; the rationale for the Iraq war (finding WMD) is "phoney"; the US army is overstretched and being driven "into the ground"; and the prospect of building a democracy is "zero". In Iraqi politics, he says, "legitimacy is going to be tied to expelling us. Wisdom in military affairs dictates withdrawal in this situation. We can't afford to fail, that's mindless. The issue is how we stop failing more. I am arguing a strategic decision." One high-level military strategist told me that Rumsfeld is "detested", and that "if there's a sentiment in the army it is: Support Our Troops, Impeach Rumsfeld". The Council on Foreign Relations has been showing old movies with renewed relevance to its members. The Battle of Algiers, depicting the nature and costs of a struggle with terrorism, is the latest feature. The seething in the military against Bush and Rumsfeld might prompt a showing of Seven Days in May, about a coup staged by a rightwing general against a weak liberal president, an artifact of the conservative hatred directed at President Kennedy in the early 60s. In 1992, General Colin Powell, chairman of the joint chiefs, awarded the prize for his strategy essay competition at the National Defence University to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dunlap for The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012. His cautionary tale imagined an incapable civilian government creating a vacuum that drew a competent military into a coup disastrous for democracy. The military, of course, is bound to uphold the constitution. But Dunlap wrote: "The catastrophe that occurred on our watch took place because we failed to speak out against policies we knew were wrong. It's too late for me to do any more. But it's not for you." The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012 is today circulating among top US military strategists. Sidney
ugnet_: Top Officials Hold Fake Degrees
Top Officials Hold Fake Degrees CBS News Monday 10 May 2004 They are safety engineers at nuclear power plants and biological weapons experts. They work at NATO headquarters, at the Pentagon and at nearly every other federal agency. And, as CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, they're employees with degrees from phony schools. These degrees aren't worth the paper that they're printed on, says one insider, who asked CBS News to protect his identity. The man worked at a so-called diploma mill where students pay a lot of money to get a degree online or through the mail for little or no work. He says he's not surprised to know that there are people working at almost every level of government who have degrees from these types of operations. Assistant Secretary of Defense Charles Abell has a master's from Columbus University, a diploma mill Louisiana shut down. Deputy Assistant Secretary Patricia Walker lists among her degrees, a bachelor's from Pacific Western, a diploma mill banned in Oregon and under investigation in Hawaii. CBS News requested interviews with both officials. The Pentagon turned us down, saying, We don't consider it an issue. But using such a degree is a crime in some states. Alan Contreras cracks down on diploma mills for Oregon, a state that's taken the lead on this issue. You don't want somebody with a fake degree working in Homeland Security, says Contreras. You don't want somebody with a fake degree teaching your children or designing your bridges. But we found employees with diploma mill degrees at the new Transportation Security Administration, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Departments of Treasury and Education, where Rene Drouin sits on an advisory committee. He has degrees from two diploma mills including Kensington University. Kensington was forced out of business by officials in California and Hawaii. Another Kensington alum, Florida State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, just stepped down from the National Commission on Presidential Scholars. Both Carroll and Drouin say they worked hard and thought their degrees were legitimate. The students are being sold a bill of goods that really don't help them at all, the insider says. There are slick people out there, and it's happening every day, every minute probably somewhere in America. And taxpayers have paid for bogus degrees some workers used for hiring, promotions and raises. --- Mitayo Potosi _ MSN Premium: Up to 11 personalized e-mail addresses and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-capage=byoa/premxAPID=1994DI=1034SU=http://hotmail.com/encaHL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: STOP PRESS
Netters The question is very simple, how are the results of the elections in India going to affect Uganda politics? Congratulations Ms Sonia Gandhi it is about time. Edward Mulindwa Toronto The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
