Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Afghan War’

Summary execution from 1968 to 2012: from pistol to drone

Posted in war crimes, tagged , , , , on December 21, 2011| 1 Comment »


Summary Execution 2012 – 1968.. long distance versus close range killing on the spot without any trial… are we as shocked by the killing drones of today as back in time during the Vietnam War, with the Chief of the South Vietnam Police General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a handcuffed Vietcong prisoner, Nguyen Van Lem in the street in Saigon in front of an NBC camera man and an Associated Press photographer?

Is high tech killing of a whole area, building or car with “precise” rockets experienced as somewhat more acceptable than a close range shot in the head?

Tableau made after reading in The Guardian yet another story of the use of drones to kill adversaries without any form of trial: “William Hague questioned over British role in drone strikes” (Lawyers for Noor Khan, whose father died in Pakistan strike, want clarification of British intelligence’s role in CIA campaign).

There has been much debate in its time about the picture – I know –  Eddie Adams (the photographer in 1968) later wrote in Time:

“ The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths … What the photograph didn’t say was, ‘What would you do if you were the general at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?

… such discussions we still have today, think about the execution of Bin Laden without trial, or do we believe he felt in combat?

(See my article “NATO’s collateral tyrannicide” 7 May 2011 in OpenDemocracy.)

Human Right Watch has a recent report and statement on drones dated December 19th. 2011.

Members of the Abida tribe point to a drone aircraft flying over Wadi Abida, Yemen on October 13, 2010. (click on picture to go to Human Right Watch drone page)

 

Read Full Post »

Pilgrimage to the grave of Jean-Paul Sartre by a group of Nobel Peace Prize winners

Posted in Memorials, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 12, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The grave of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir at the Cimetière du Montparnasse Paris where those who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize pay homage to the ones who were so noble to refuse... and are known to enjoy their clear conscience on sunny days, sitting on their bench of honor. As Afghanistan is a breeding ground for war, several more Nobel Peace Prize winners may be produced by it in the future... it will only end with an Afghan as a Nobel Peace Prize candidate who will gladly decline the honor to surmount any local rivalry and finally make actual peace... Click picture for full size view.

Tableau picture sources that received a new context and have all painterly be modified (from left to right):.
Flickr: “Like Jean and Beaver?”; a picture posted by “weenie wahine” on August 5, 2009.

Enhanced look-alikes Sartre and Beauvoir merged together from diverse internet sources.

The White House’s photostream: “President Barack Obama meets with Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, in Gostinny Dvor, Russia, Tuesday, July 7, 2009.

Photograph published in LIFE magazine 1969: Le, Duc Tho Interview By Acoca In Choisy-Le-Roi.

Lituanus Quaterly Journal of Arts and Sciences: Photograph by the Lithuanian photographer Jonas Dovydenas Afghanistan pictures “Young Freedom Fighter, 1985”.

The Commercial Appeal website on Veterans Day 2009: “President Barack Obama walks through grave markers in during a unannounced visit to Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.,Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009.”

The American Academy in Berlin: “The 2009 Henry A. Kissinger Prize was awarded on May 14, 2009 to former German President Richard von Weizäcker. The honor recognizes an internationally renowned American or European for his or her outstanding contributions to the transatlantic relationship. The annual prize was founded upon Dr. Kissinger’s principles and initiatives for a stronger transatlantic relationship during and following the Cold War. The 2007 and 2008 prizes were awarded to former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and former US President George H. W. Bush, respectively.”

Read Full Post »