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| Expect More Fukushimas |
 The
gung-ho nuclear industry is in deep shock. Just as it and its
cheerleader, the International Atomic Energy Agency, were preparing
to mark next month´s 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl
accident with a series of self-congratulatory statements about
the dawning of a safe age of clean atomic power, a series of
catastrophic but entirely avoidable accidents take place in
not one but three reactors in one of the richest countries of
the world. Fukushima is not a rotting old power plant in a failed
state manned by half-trained kids, but supposedly one of the
safest stations in one of the most safety-conscious countries
with the best engineers and technologists in the world. Chernobyl
blew up not because the reactor... |
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| THE IKE PHASE |
| ON January 20, 1961, John Kennedy delivered
his rousing Inaugural Address. But this speech was preceded,
as William Galston of the Brookings Institution has reminded
us, by an equally important speech: Dwight Eisenhower´s
farewell address. Kennedy´s speech was an idealistic call
to action. Eisenhower´s speech was a calm warning against
hubris. Kennedy celebrated courage; Eisenhower celebrated prudence.
Kennedy asked the country to venture forth. Eisenhower asked
the country to maintain its basic sense of balance. While Kennedy
gloried in the current moment, Eisenhower warned the country
to "avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering,
for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of
tomorrow... |
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Steps to curb rise in Afghan civilian deaths sought
DPA KABUL A HUMAN rights group in Afghanistan on Wednesday called for urgent action to prevent civilian casualties in the war-torn southern Asian country, saying that deaths since the start of 2011have risen by 7 per cent from the same period last year.
“For many Afghans, it’s not very important which warring party has to be blamed for what percentage of the civilian casualties, but they want an end to the attacks - by progovernment and anti-government elements,” Ajmal Samadi, director of the Afghanistan Rights Monitor(ARM), said in a statement.
Civilian casualties have been a major bone of contention recently between the Afghan government and international forces, especially US troops.
Tensions spiked after the killing of nine children in the eastern province of Kunar earlier this month.
At least 390 civilians have been killed in conflict-relatedsecurity incidents since the start of this year, according to ARM.
The Kabul-based group accused the Afghan government, Taliban insurgents, the United States and NATO of being “fiercely engaged inpolitical blame games” and “distorting facts and figures to servepolitical and strategic purposes” instead of fixing the situation.
ARM blamed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s administration for failing to implement meaningful measures to address the causes ofpreventable civilian casualties, provide justice to the victims andhold the perpetrators accountable.
Karzai has harshly criticized US forces for causing civiliancasualties during their operations in Afghanistan, but ARM accusedthe president of using the deaths for “political rhetoric.” It also blamed US and NATO forces, saying that they have yet tominimize civilian deaths despite promises to do so.” They have done little, except for rare and selective sympathy statements, to provide financial and ethical compensations to thecivilian victims,” it said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had on Tuesday also pointed to a dramatic deterioration in the security situationfor ordinary Afghans in the first two months of 2011.” It is an untenable situation.
Civilians must be protected fromharm as much as possible, not become victims of the fighting,” itsaid in a statement.
Last year had already been the bloodiest period for Afghans sincethe ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001, with 2,777 civilian fatalities recorded, according to a recent United Nations report.
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