Blog 10: Series of Bombings Kills More Than 20 Across Iraq, Teresa Lindsey. 04/18/2014 8:50 a.m.

Summary

The article titled “Series of Bombings Kills More Than 20 across Iraq” discusses several incidents that took place over the course of a week beginning on Sunday when militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria gained control of the main road that connects Baghdad with the Northern provinces, while a series of blasts occurred around Iraq that left up to 25 people dead. The deadliest bombing of the day was a car bomb that detonated as a joint patrol for the police and army passed through Mosul in the north, which killed 10 and wounded 12 others. Five people (including an oil executive) were kidnapped while traveling on the road in Salahuddin Province by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a powerful jihadist group that was once affiliated with Al Qaeda. All of these attacks happened less than a week after the 11^th anniversary of the toppling of a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and two weeks before the first parliamentary elections (which are scheduled to take place at the end of the month), since the United States withdrew from Iraq in 2011. According to security sources, in Kirkuk in the north, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security checkpoint which resulted in killing eight people. Also in Salahuddin Province, gunmen attacked the home of a Sunni tribal fighter, killing three members of his family and near a police checkpoint a car bomb exploded killing four police officers.

Analysis

This article highlights the continuing acts of violence that have been centered around politics and/or religion It almost seems as though these coward criminals think that if they go around detonating car bombs and shooting innocent people that somehow it will deter people from participating in elections or going to church/mosque to serve whatever God you worship. Whatever happened to being an individual and having the right to choose in this world? I think everyone should be able to go to the grocery store, school, church, the mall, or just sit in the park on a sunny day enjoying the sunshine without having to be on edge and constantly looking over your shoulder eyeing everyone to see if they are acting suspicious. To live your life in fear of being attacked for just being who you are and believing in what you believe in is something no one should ever have to endure. I was taught growing up that you shouldn’t have hate in your heart for anyone so it bothers me to read these articles where this group or that group have bombed this building or this car bomb went off or this suicide bomber killed himself and many others too. In my opinion all of these killings are senseless and they need to stop because innocent people are dying because someone else has a problem with who they feel they should elect into office or who they feel they should worship.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/14/world/middleeast/series-of-bombings-kills-more-than-20-across-iraq.html?ref=middleeast

Unrest in Russia

Recently, several photos were taken of “Military build up” in Russia near Ukraine.  The photos were taken because NATO has instructed Russia to remove its forces away from Ukraine.  Many people believe that Russia wants to invade Ukraine and take the land.  The photos show all kinds of different attack weapons that vary from helicopters, tanks, fighter jets, ground troops, and missiles. 

            Many people would argue that war is required for life on earth to happen.  It is hard to say that wars are bad and that we should all just live hand in hand.  The United States navy has a slogan that says, “A global force for good.”  This in my opinion stirs up a lot of talk.  The idea that America is the police of the world has a sting to it.  Why is it our job to fix and Americanize another country when they are fighting amongst themselves?  Now like anything else this comes with exceptions.  For example, in world war two we were called to go and help the persecuted but in other situations where we just stick our heads into other countries business that is uncalled for.  Hopefully in the future as our country grows and matures we will keep to ourselves unless we are called upon. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/11/world/europe/nato-satellite-images-russia/index.html?hpt=ieu_t2

Blog 9 - How Bad is Brazil's Crime?

Summary:

This article gives some insight on what is going on in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There was a video clip included in the article showing just how serious mugging has gotten. This clip was of a live television show where a lady was being interviewed and upon being asked if she was afraid of the crime in Rio a mugger came up behind her in attempt to steal her necklace. He managed to break it, but ran off before he could grasp it. The increasing crime rates have become a big deal with the World Cup coming up in only two months. Brazil officials are trying to get this under control before the tourists start coming in for this major event. Despite the attempts to control the street crime, it is still going up. There has been recent reports that tourists credit cards are being duplicated at ATMs in Rio's main international airport. Other crimes include cell phone robberies which have gone up 121%, robberies on the bus which have gone up 118%, and murders have went up 18%. An aggressive police program, pacification, has been enforced to create peace. Rio has ordered the police to be stationed in bad neighborhoods or shantytowns. 

Analysis:

This article shows how corrupt different places of the world are becoming. Even those these events are happening on the other side of the world, they still affect us as U.S. citizens. I mentioned in my summery that the World Cup is rapidly approaching and people from all over the world will be in attendance. It is really important for Brazil to get this crime under control, because if they don't the amount of people that will show up for this event will be affected. That will happen because no one is going to want to go to a supposedly "fun" event and have to worry about being robbed in broad daylight. Crimes such as this aren't high in Brazil only. The United States and Russia also have very high crime rates. This is an issue that we should get under control as one. 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/04/10/301414958/live-on-brazilian-tv-woman-talking-about-crime-gets-attacked

Blog 9: Suicide Bomber Kills Afghan Tribal Elder, Teresa Lindsey. 04/11/2014 3:08 p.m.

Summary

The article titled “Suicide Bomber Kills Afghan Tribal Elder” discusses an incident that took place on Friday in a market in eastern Afghanistan, A suicide bomber blew himself up and killed a pro-government tribal elder and wounded three civilians. At about 2 p.m. the bombing struck the tribal elder Gul Babri in the market of Jani Khil district of Paktiya province. Nobody immediately came forward to claim responsibility for the attack This attack came on the end of elections on April 5 for a new president and provincial councils and there have been many attacks in prior weeks leading up to the elections. The Taliban vowed to target polling stations and election workers but on Election Day millions of Afghans exercised their right to vote without bloodshed. Authorities in another eastern province, Ghazni, said some attacks were foiled when a suicide bombers explosives-packed vest detonated in a religious school earlier this month, killing 16 other militants who had been planning attacks against the balloting. As a result of this three Pakistanis and an Afghan Taliban commander were among those killed in a remote area of the Gilani district. The circumstances were unclear however district police Chief Mohammad Hashim said the explosion was an accident that happened during a training exercise in which the Pakistanis were demonstrating how to use the vests.

Analysis

This article highlights once again the violence that continues to happen in this world due to who someone chooses to worship or who they want to elect into office. There appears to be no place that is off limits for these coward suicide bombers to blow up; it doesn’t matter if it’s a school, church, hotel, market, mall, or a daycare. No one is safe and no one is exempt. It used to be back in the day if someone was going to break a crime they wouldn’t dare do it in broad daylight for fear of being seen and getting caught but times have changed and criminals have grown some mighty big balls because they will gun you down or bomb you in the light of day and not blink an eye or give a rats ass because they are prepared to die also. Innocent people dying for no valid reason at all this nonsense needs to stop and it needs to stop right now!

Link:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/suicide-bomber-kills-afghan-tribal-elder/2014/04/11/5a171894-c186-11e3-9ee7-02c1e10a03f0_story.html

Blog 8: Attack at Wrong Door Turns into Fatal Mistake for the Taliban, Teresa Lindsey. 04/04/2014 4:12 p.m.

Summary

The article titled “Attack at Wrong Door Turns into Fatal Mistake for the Taliban" discusses an incident that took place on Friday, March 28, 2014, when the Taliban assailants thought they were attacking a Christian-run daycare center that wasn’t guarded. The bizarre thing about this attack is that the Taliban hit the wrong place; they burst into the compound next door where an American government contractor (Roots of Peace) was heavily armed ready and waiting for them. Roots of Peace had blocked its front gate with an armored Land Cruiser which they used to take cover behind when the shooting began. The guards and the five foreign residents were able to retreat to the house and go upstairs. One of the guards hit an assailant coming up the circular staircase while two of the American residents hid in their bedroom closets. One big tall man hid in his closet and piled clothes on top of him, while the Taliban was shooting up the bedroom and throwing flash grenades, and even opened the closet but didn’t see him. Police were able to rescue two dozen foreigners from the Christian-run daycare center next door while the gun battle was going on. According to Afghan officials all five Taliban gunmen were killed including one who committed suicide. Two Afghan civilians were killed (one of whom was a young girl) and Two Roots of Peace guards were wounded. This attack took place in Karte Se which is a well-to-do area of Kabul and also an area where many foreign aid groups have homes and offices. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, who was reached by phone while the attack was still underway, asserted the target had been “a church used to convert Muslims to Christianity.” He claims that the Taliban had intelligence that the alleged church was going to be celebrating their first anniversary in Kabul and they timed their attack to what they thought was that celebration. The attack began with a large explosion (the Taliban and the police confirmed) which was a suicide car bomb that blew open the daycare center gates and could be heard throughout the city. A smaller explosion followed that blew off the gates of the Roots of Peace house, this house was used as residential quarters for its expatriate staff. Because the Taliban received incorrect information, the attackers armed with assault rifles and wearing suicide bomb vests entered the contractors’ house instead of the daycare center.

Analysis

This article highlights violence that continues to happen in the world due to either religion or politics. This incident is among many other attacks that have recently happened like the attack at the Serena Hotel which killed 9 people including a journalist and most of his family. In January there was an attack on a restaurant that killed 13 foreigners, many of whom were relief workers and employees of international organizations. Just earlier this month, a Swedish journalist was assassinated on a street in the diplomatic quarter by insurgents who accused him of spying. These attacks are brutal, senseless, and sad. It almost seems like if you are a journalist, political figure, activist, or innocent bystander you are fair game at being a target. This article bothered me because their intended target was a daycare center. Just think of the innocent children who could have been potential targets. It’s almost a blessing in disguise that the Taliban got wrong information and hit the wrong place and spared those children but in the aftermath a young girl still lost her life so although it’s still sad it could have been much worse had the daycare center been actually hit. I just really wish the Taliban and all the other mean hateful people that want to hurt innocent people just go rot in jail somewhere.

Link    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/world/asia/taliban-militants-attack-kabul-house-and-trap-foreigners.html

Blog 8 - North Korea Will Execute 200 Supporters of Jang Song Thaek

Summary:

This article goes into detail about how North Korea is planning a public execution of two hundred people. The execution will take place at a shooting range in the Military Academy. The people that are being executed have been labeled as supporters of Jang Song Thaek. Thaek was a top official in the Korean Worker's Policy. He was executed in December of last year for attempting to overthrow the Korean government. The government of Korea was so upset by Thaek's acts that they are now targeting his supporters. Along with the two hundred supporters being executed, over one thousand of their family members will be forced into concentration camps. It was noted in the article that this public execution is going to be used to make an example.

Analysis:

I chose this article because it relates directly with the lecture in class about why people go to jail and the ways that we try to stop people from doing wrong. This article reminded me of deterrence. Deterrence is the use of a punishment or threat that acts as discouragement to people, so that they won't do wrong. By Korea stating that they are doing this to make an example of them makes plenty of sense. They are trying to show the citizens how serious they are about these issues. During the lecture you stated how the ultimate form of deterrence is capital punishment especially when it is done publicly. Korea knows this and that is why they chose to go this route. I feel as though it's very extreme, but that's in comparison to the way we live in the United States. Everyone has a different way of living and public capital punishment and use of concentration camps may be acceptable in other countries and places.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/north-korea-execute-200-supporters-jang-song-thaek-article-1.1744668

Blog Eight: Crime in China

        According to Forbes.com, Liu Han, the former chairman of Chinese mining business Hanlong Group, stood trial on Monday on charges of leading a gang-style group and murder, the government-run China Daily newspaper reported today.  He was ranked on the top 200 richest people in China with a net worth of over 800 million dollars.  There were multiple murder victims that were traced back to Liu Han.  Han even was quoted saying, “I would do anything for the company, even murder.”  This did not help the case. 

         In this particular case many people would argue that Liu Han is an immoral man and that if they were in his shoes they would never do that even if they had the same amount of money.  However, the point that I am making is that I believe man is innately evil.  Now before you shut this argument down hear me out.  Since adolescents children do not have to be taught to be selfish or to scream and cry when they do not get what they want.  This shows that from the time of birth we are all innately evil.  So in the case of Liu Han, if anyone was in his shoes and possibly in his circumstances when would do the same thing.  Given the right situations everyman will fall to temptation, affairs, or even in some cases murder.  This is not to say that it is okay in anyway it just means that we are not able to achieve some perfect state but instead all fall short of perfect. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2014/04/01/former-forbes-china-rich-list-member-liu-han-faces-gang-crime-murder-charges/

Blog 7: Gunmen Kill 6 in Attack on Kenyan Church, Teresa Lindsey. 03/28/2014 4:26 p.m.

Summary

The article titled “Gunmen Kill 6 in Attack on Kenyan Church” discusses an incident that took place on Sunday, March 23, 2014, in a church near Mombasa when six worshipers were killed when gunmen opened fire. Witnesses said that the attackers burst through the church’s back door began shouting and opened fire on the congregation. Lilian Omondi, who was leading the prayer meeting, stated that “Both carried big guns and began shouting all over the place. I fell to the ground and could hear screams.” The floor was covered with blood spattered Bibles, overturned plastic chairs, and bullet casings. Two people were killed at the church and four others died of their wounds at the hospital. The attackers tried to raid a second church nearby but fled when the police appeared. Robert Mureithi, the local police chief, stated that Sunday’s attack had “all the indicators of a terrorist attack because the attackers did not steal anything and they appeared focused on killing.” Police threw a dragnet over the Likoni neighborhood, where the shooting occurred and rounded up more than 200 youths for questioning. There was no assertion of responsibility for the attack The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab and its local sympathizers have carried out attacks in Kenya, some of them on churches, in retaliation for the Kenyan army’s intervention against al-Shabab in Somali. Kenyans have become alarmed at how easy the militants appear to move around East Africa’s biggest economy a recipient of U.S. counter-terrorism funding. The Parliament called for better coordination between the security and intelligence agencies after dozens of people were killed in an al-Shabab attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi in September. The Kenyan coast’s large Muslim minority, many of whom feel marginalized by the predominately Christian government, has been a vast recruitment ground for Islamist militant networks. Breaking up those networks has been a top priority for the Nairobi government, but moderate Muslim clerics say that these tactics have sparked resentment from the Muslim youths. Sheik Juma Ngao, a prominent Muslim cleric in Mombasa, said “The attackers have not done this on behalf of any religion or right-thinking group, if they are hoping to drive a wedge between religious groups in this region, then they are greatly mistaken.

Analysis

This article highlights the continuing violence that is happening all over the world as a result of people/groups that seem to have an issue with government and/or politics, robbery, or maybe even adultery. Violence is not the answer to any type of conflict. I feel that it is just senseless to rob someone of something that does not belong to you but to go inside of a church and shoot innocent people who are just trying to worship and enjoy a peaceful church service is just horrific, cold, calculating, and inhumane. You know it’s bad when people can’t go to church without getting shot, kids can’t go to school without dying, and hardworking people and their families can’t enjoy an outing at the mall without running and ducking for cover because gunmen shoot up the place ready to kill anything that moves. This world we live in is getting rougher every day it seems like and it’s really sad that when you go places you have to be on alert and very cautious of your surroundings because you want to live and make it home to your family. This story made me reflect on other similar stories of shootings at churches in other parts of the world and it’s hard to imagine this type of violent act occurring in a place of worship but as we all know this world is/has changed and not necessarily for the better. Gone are the days where you can pull up in front of a store run in and get something and leave your car running. Gone are the days of leaving your front door unlocked at night and waking up the next morning with all family members accounted for and all your possessions still in their rightful place. Gone are the days when you can wear whatever color clothing you want and not get shot. Gone are the days when we can live carefree, go to school and your only worry is what am I going to eat for lunch, and unfortunately gone are the days when you can go to church to worship whatever God you serve and only focus on the service. What has the world come to?

Link:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/gunmen-kill-6-in-attack-on-kenyan-church/2014/03/23/40fca554-b2cc-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html