Stories about War & Conflict from May, 2006
Armenia: Montenegro Precedent
Onnik Krikorian asks whether or not Montenegro's vote for independence is a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Sri Lanka: The conflict and the death of a loved one
The death of a friend's father is a shocking reminder of the fragility of life in Sri Lanka for Indi. “The people dying aren’t youthful revolutionaries or radicals, these are just normal people. They have families and responsibilities and hundreds of people that depend on them in countless ways.” An...
Sri Lanka, India: The other side of LTTE
Kiruba on the other side of LTTE – “Back then, they were the good guys. The village folks were sympathetic towards their struggle and generally gave them good support. They were mainly looking for shelter and food and there was never a shortage of that in the village.”
Lebanon: Looming Clash
lebanon.profile: published in anger over the recent Israeli bombing of Lebanon, the Israeli threat to bomb Beirut, and the need to call in Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to halt Israeli military action given the impotence of Hezbollah and the Lebanese and Syrian governments. A dangerous war of ideologies is...
Iraq: Incomplete cabinet
Observers and Mohammed do not expect any considerable progress to happen soon and it seems that there will be more obstacles to deal with before the cabinet is complete. It makes Mohammed feels that the sound and smoke of explosions in Baghdad were not enough to wake up our politicians...
Palestine: Free Hait Cut
Palestinian hairdressers in the West Bank town of Hebron offered a free trim to local government employees who have not been paid for more than two months, Fadi said.
Estonia: Nordic Battle Group
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about the history of military action of Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Finland, and reports on a Nordic Battle Group's workshop that took place Tuesday.
Sri Lanka: Activism and the Online Medium
What does the online medium mean to those who engage with activism? ICT for Peacebuilding says “The crux of the problem is in the creation of content that is able to kindle the interest of those unused to the drudgery and often, very real danger, of activism on the ground...
France: Massacre of Algerians
Watch France points to an article in Le Monde on the massacre of thousands of Algerians by France at the end of World War II…
East Timor reported by the Lusophone Blogosphere
Seven years after the end of Indonesian rule -- becoming the newest world nation in May 2002 -- and having gone through what was viewed as a successful nation building and independence process led by the UN, East Timor is once again facing deep unrest. The last weeks since the reported clashes of April 28th have shown escalating violence and by now the Lusophone blogosphere is starting to speculate about the real forces behind the recent events.
Serbia & Montenegro: Photos of the Missing Albanians of Kosovo
Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes about a wall of photos of 2,000 missing Albanians next to the government building in Pristina, Kosovo, the story behind these photos and their significance: “Kosovo: just because nobody’s paying attention, doesn’t mean it’s gone away.”
China: Destitution inspires art
Guangzhou-based Supernaut artist-blogger Frances D'Ath finds inspiration for her death-themed works in the killings and violence which have taken place over the past year in clashes between villagers and Communist authorities in several small villages around southern China's Guangdong province in her post ‘云浮, 汕尾, 太石 and other holiday places.’...
DRC: Mining industry
Peaceful Rising, a blog about Chinese influence in the developing world comments the state of the DRC cobalt mining industry which has run into decay “Since the Gecamines went bankrupt in 1990, its open mines have been invaded by thousands of self-employed hand-diggers and artisan miners, known in French as...
Nepal: Peace Talks
Consultations, negotiation and a code of conduct may show the way forward for peace in Nepal says Bahas. “Members of the government and Maoist negotiation teams have agreed to a 25-point code of conduct late Friday to be observed by both the sides during the period of ceasefire.The talks ended...
Indonesia: Using Religion for Violence
Unspun explains why it is both heartening and depressing at the same time to see Indonesia's major Muslim organisation asking the president to crack down on thugs who use religion to justify violence.
East Timor: More Violence
Factions continue to fight with each other in East Timor . The blogger at Diligence, in his post titled Another Bad Day, mentions this incident that took place on Thursday, 25th May The UN released details of the casualties from an encounter between FDTL soldiers and the police after army...
Taiwan: China threat growing
Although no clear timeline has been set by Beijing, an invasion of Taiwan is not a matter of ‘if,’ says political analyst-blogger Confidential Reporter at China Confidential, but when: “Notice we said ‘when,’ not if, because it is becoming increasingly clear that unless Taipei eventually, well, surrenders to Beijing, there...
Sudan: UN Assessement in Darfur
The Sudanese Thinker reports that Sudan has finally agreed to a UN Assessment Mission to go to Darfur
Somalia: Appeal by Women
Marians Blog posts an appeal made by Somali women in 2004 – reminding us once again of the impact of conflict on women and the role women play in nation building but still remain disenfrancised.
DRC: Coup Attempts and More Questions on the Upcoming Elections
Free and Fair Elections? Joseph Kabila, the founder of the PPRD (the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy), has overseen an interim administration established by the 2002 peace agreement. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's first post-conflict presidential elections are set to be held on July 30th after months of...
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome
There is a new government and this historic event has raised more than a ripple in the Iraqi blogs, but, actually, not much more than that. And in this week snapshot of life in Iraq blogs I will show what has been diverting bloggers attention. From high jinks to the...
