LRA, Government of Uganda, give these children a life!

Gulu, Northern Uganda: These children were born in internally displaced people's camp and are growing up there, they don't know how life is when there is no war, all they have known their entire life is a life in war. The success of the peace talks between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army will show them that there is after all life outside the refugee camp. Come on government of Uganda, come on LRA, these children need a life! (File Photo: The Third Eye)

LRA, Governemnt of Uganda: None of you has won, conclude Juba, Now

Representatives of Uganda's rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) , are due to visit northern Uganda officially and in broad day light. They will also visit Kampala, the capital -for the first time in many years. The LRA that has waged a 20 year bloody war in northern Uganda against the government of president Yoweri Museveni is held responsible for death of several hundreds of people, displacement of millions and abduction of several hundred children.

For the last one year, the government of Uganda and the LRA have been juggling in peace talks in the southern Sudan capital of Juba under the chairmanship of southern Sudan Vice President Riek Machar.

So far the peace talks have only tackled two out of the agreed five agenda. As long as the talks rumble on peace is uncertain in this region that posts the poorest statistics in every field (education, health, HIV infections, respect for human rights, poverty prevalence...all human development indicators) in Uganda, a country touted as one of the world's best turn-around cases.

Joseph Kony, the cunning LRA leader can not be held responsible in the horror, suffering and destitution in northern Uganda alone, even the government of Uganda must take its share of the blame-firstly, for failing to stop this war in spite of the millions of shillings spent by the army on this war. The government must secondly own up its piece of the blame because it failed in the past to pursue peaceful means and its demonstrated near utter negligence on this region. In the past the government was responsible for failure of peace talks attempts for its belief that it could end the war militarily and therefore be seen as the strong boy. Government now needs to put aside its chest-thumping antics because they have clearly failed.

On the other hand, it is evident that the LRA is worn out and it cannot afford its mile-trecking ways, raiding villages and maiming civilians, to hurt the government. The LRA must fold its tail now and talk seriously.

It's no longer time to shout around who is stronger than the other, both the LRA and the government of Uganda have shown they are weak because nobody has completely defeated the other. The only wise thing to do now is to do it the cock's way, when you are all worn out, look each other in the eye and make friends-and start all over. Northern Uganda needs peace, now. Conclude Juba, the people want to re-settle and re-start their lives!

Street for Police and TV Crew

During the UN General Assembly, New York's 1st Avenue was sealed off from the public and occupied exclusively by field Broadcast vans for various TV stations that were beaming images from the UN throughout the world-live- and the New York police (Photo:The Third Eye)

This group carried placards saying: President Mugabe is right to do what he does in that country. They demonstrated on the streets of New York as President Mugabe was busy ranting inside the UN during the just ended UN General Assembly. The Third Eye asked who paid their tickets to New York and if they are happy to live with empty stores, without bread or when they can buy bread if they are happy to spend 1million bucks on a loaf of bread. They got pissed off and started abusing away(Photo: The Third Eye)

Burmese Monks demonstrate at the United Nations, New York, last week: Photocredit: The Third Eye

UN FAILS TO ADDRESS WORLD ISSUES IN 62 GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Flags of various countries fly at full mast at the United Nations last week as the UN General Assembly was in session: Did the world leaders really address the important issues affecting the world right now during the Assembly?

Absolutely not, instead Presidents and Prime Ministers wasted millions of dollars to go to New York to take swipes at opponents and fighting such petty wars that really don't affect the life of the people in the world, what does a poor man in that country care whether it is called Burma or Myanmar, all they need is freedom, wealthy, security,...:(Photo credit: The Third Eye)

Columbia: US swapped Character with Iran

If any University President in Iran allowed George W. Bush (the American President) to address faculty and students at his (in Iran, it is always a he) university, we can all guess what would happen to him. He would be charged of high treason and the next we see, would be-those peculiarly Iranian pictures; a huge rope around his neck, him dangling high up on earth movers!

So when Mohammad Ahmadinejad agreed to speak to students and faculty at the School of International Affairs at Columbia University, one of America’s prime and academic hotbeds, the news stirred different reactions. Some Americans thought that was distasteful; they called Ahmadinejad names: a holocaust denier, dictator, terrorist, idiot, and little man…Columbia stood its ground and brought the Iranian leader. That far, Columbia still played American: free speech, intellectual dialogue, openness, that ability and patience to listen to the most distasteful.

Then come D-day and in walk Leo C. Bollinger, Columbia University President:

…... Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator. And so I ask you -- (applause) -- and so I ask you, why have women, members of the Baha'i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country? …Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?

…Secondly, the denial of the Holocaust. In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as "a fabricated legend." One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers. For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda. When you have come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.

The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history. Because of this, and for many other reasons, your absurd comments about the debate over the Holocaust both defy historical truth and make all of us who continue to fear humanity's capacity for evil shudder at this closure of memory, which is always virtue's first line of defense. Will you cease this outrage?

My question is this: Why do you support well-documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and the civil society of the region?

“A number of Columbia graduates and current students are among the brave members of our military who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They, like other Americans with sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and wives serving in combat, rightly see your government as the enemy.

Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shi'a militia targeting and killing U.S. troops?

…Let me close with a comment. Frankly -- I close with this comment frankly and in all candor, Mr. President. I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately I am told by experts on your country that this only further undermines your position in Iran, with all the many good-hearted, intelligent citizens there.

A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country, as at one of the meetings at the Council on Foreign Relations, so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party's defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more. (Applause.)

Clearly, while accusing Ahmadinejad of extremism, fanaticism and terrorism, Mr. Bollinger did the same, thanks to his speech that sounded like it was written from The White House.

Then came Ahmadinejad: physically meek, humble-looking and dressed pettily:

Starting with a recitation of the Koran that only serves to put off his American audience)

Oh, God, hasten the arrival of Imam al- Mahdi and grant him good health and victory, and make us his followers and those who attest to his rightfulness.

At the outset, I want to complain a bit on the person who read this political statement against me. In Iran, tradition requires that when we demand a person to invite us as a speaker, we actually respect our students and the professors by allowing them to make their own judgment, and we don't think it's necessary before the speech is even given to come in -- (applause) -- with a series of claims and to attempt in a so-called manner to provide vaccination of some sort to our students and our faculty.

I think the text read by the dear gentleman here, more than addressing me, was an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here, present here. In a university environment, we must allow people to speak their mind, to allow everyone to talk so that the truth is eventually revealed by all. Most certainly he took more than all the time I was allocated to speak. And that's fine with me. We'll just leave that to add up with the claims of respect for freedom and the freedom of speech that is given to us in this country.

In many parts of his speech, there were many insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully. Of course, I think that he was affected by the press, the media and the political sort of mainstream line that you read here, that goes against the very grain of the need for peace and stability in the world around us.

Nonetheless, I should not begin by being affected by this unfriendly treatment.

But for one of the issues that he did raise, I most certainly would need to elaborate further so that we for ourselves can see how things fundamentally work.

It was my decision in this valuable forum and meeting to speak with you about the importance of knowledge, of information, of education. Academics and religious scholars are shining torches who shed light in order to remove darkness and the ambiguities around us in guiding humanity out of ignorance and perplexity. The key to the understanding of the realities around us rests in the hands of the researchers, those who seek to uncover areas that are hidden, the unknown sciences. The windows of realities that they can open is done only through efforts of the scholars and the learned people in this world. With every effort, there is a window that is opened and one reality is discovered.

In our culture, the word "science" has been defined as "illumination." In fact, the "science" means "brightness" and the real science is a science which rescues the human being from ignorance to his own benefit. In one of the widely accepted definitions of science, it is stated that it is the light which sheds to the hearts of those who have been selected by the Almighty; therefore, according to this definition, science is a divine gift, and the heart is where it resides.

…Scientists and scholars are misused for personal, group or party interests. So in today's world, ruling powers are misusing many scholars and scientists in different fields, with the purpose of stripping nations of their wealth. And they use all opportunities only for their own benefit.

For example, they deceive people by using scientific methods and tools. They, in fact, wish to justify their own wrongdoings, though, by creating nonexistent enemies, for example, and have insecure atmosphere. They try to control all in the name of combatting insecurity and terrorism. They even violate individual and social freedoms in their own nations under that pretext. They do not respect the privacy of their own people. They tap telephone calls and try to control their people. They create an insecure psychological atmosphere in order to justify their warmongering acts in different parts of the world.

I'd like to thank you now, but refer to two points made in the introduction given about me, and then I will be open for any questions.

Last year, I would say two years ago, I raised two questions. You know that my main job is a university instructor. Right now as president of Iran I still continue teaching graduate and Ph.D.-level courses on a weekly basis. My students are working with me in scientific fields. I believe that I am an academic myself, so I speak with you from an academic point of view.

And I raised two questions. But instead of a response, I got a wave of insults and allegations against me, and regretfully, they came mostly from groups who claimed most to believe in the freedom of speech and the freedom of information. You know quite well that Palestine is an old wound, as old as 60 years.

And as an academic, I ask two questions, the same two questions that I will ask here again. And you judge for yourselves whether the response to these questions should be the insults, the allegations and all the words and the negative propaganda, or should we really try and face these two questions and respond to them? Like you, like any academic, I, too, will keep -- not get -- become silent until I get the answers, so I am awaiting logical answers instead of insults.

So who sounded sober, intellectual? Well, it sounds like US and Iran swapped character, in Columbia-thanks to Mr. Bollinger