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Not logged in on "Preah Vihear: the Thai-Cambodia temple dispute"

Not logged in — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:09:30 +0100

First of all the Cambodian people were the one's who built preah vihear with all of our hearts, soul, flesh and blood. so why would the cambodian people build a temple on someone elses land and not want to claim it? would you like someone to take credit for your work? Most of thailand belong to cambodian anyway. Many centuries ago we lost our land to the thai because of our king not because of the people. Thai think just because of the khmer rouge alot of our history will easily be erase but they are wrong because we know our truth.Thai thinks that they can take whatever they want, we have every right to claim what belong to us.

Not logged in on "Preah Vihear: the Thai-Cambodia temple dispute"

Not logged in — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:01:18 +0100

First of all cambodian people were the ones who built the temple, so why would cambodian people want to build something on another country's land? Second of all, only cambodians people know their own countries history. Last but not least, centuries ago the cambodian king lost alot of the cambodian land to the thai. Thai people have most of the cambodian land and now want to take more of what is not theirs. It seem that alot of the truth was stretched and washed away since the khmer rouge took over making lots die to lots fleeing the country. The truth is always going to remain in the hearts of cambodian people. I'm glad to see that the cambodian people are fighting for what is their's because the cambodians work hard with there flesh and blood to build preah vihear for there own country not for someone else to try to claim it. We are stronger and more united as a country.

joefranks69 on "Maoist lock, Nepali key"

joefranks69 — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:27:58 +0100

Can you please tell me why sacking a general who refuses to abide by
the commands of the civilian leadership is reason for protest?
Moreover, when the command that the general disobeyed was to integrate
rebel soldiers into the army so as to end, by means of incorporation,
the existence of two distinct and separate blocs of soldiers who have a
decade of experience trying to kill each other? And when the "reason"
for disobedience is that the rebel soldiers are "indoctrinated"? Gee,
that's neat. I didn't realize that Nepal is the only country in the
entire world, in all of history, whose army does not indoctrinate its
soldiers. Truly that is amazing. (Very good reason for the general to
refuse to contaminate this rarest form of purity by allowing
"indoctrinated" soldiers in.)

All I know from the United States, one of the world's nearly 200
countries that does indoctrinate its soldiers, where the refusal by a
general to follow an order from the civilian leadership would result in
dishonorable discharge at best, and execution by firing squad at worst,
is that this general got off easy. And this protest is from the
Communist party that was against the Maoist rebellion from the get go,
supporting the monarchy as against the rebels? These are some unique
communists, I would like to learn more about their beliefs.

BrookeHughs on "Butcher and Bolt by David Loyn"

BrookeHughs — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:18:06 +0100

thanks for the review. It looks like agreat read. i am going to have to look for it thanks.

assummafarty on "Butcher and Bolt by David Loyn"

assummafarty — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:41:03 +0100

Спасибо за статью. Восхищена как всегда

M.AKRAM NIAZI on "Butcher and Bolt by David Loyn"

M.AKRAM NIAZI — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 05:48:11 +0100

Union of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Only solution to present problem of Instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan is in the Union of Afghanistan and Pakistan, based on the basics principles of Democracy in which Government should be composed of representatives of all sections of society and regions, No one will be dominant to each other, and that country will be easily governable by Government, In history Durani Empire was composed of all areas in which today Pakistan and Afghanistan are located, During Mughal Empire both Afghanistan and Pakistan were a single country, During initial period of British Empire they were also same country, During British Empire, some vested interest forces kept at distance to both these lands from each other , Due to which borders between these two countries have become hiding place for criminals of both countries and theft automobiles and others stolen assets are stored in this region, this large uncontrollable region is basis of many evils , Narcotics are grown in these areas ,and addiction of which is destroying youths and humanity and due to poverty and non development, people are going towards extremism and militancy, Union of both countries will make the single government of this region more responsible in stabilizing the region and in satisfying the nationalistic pride of people and people will be able to serve humanity as other large nations of world are serving the humanity, other wise this region will always remain as a nuisance for world, as this region already has destroyed Soviet Union it may also take down to western world which will be a great blow to development of Science and Technology specially Medical science.

Advantages to world.
Control of Terrorism:
Instability in this region is causing great damage to humanity, soldiers of USA and NATO are sacrificing their lives just to eliminate Terrorists from these countries, while by unification it will become sole responsibility of the people and government of unified nation to control terrorists and it will be more convenient for that government to administer as there will be unity in chain of command.

Control of Extremism:
As unified nation will be composed of multiethnic groups such as Punjabies,Sindhies,Baloachs, Pukhtoons,Urdu speakers,Tajiks, Persians and Hazaras and will be composed of multisectarian society such as Sunni and Shiites it will become impossible for any ethnic group or religious sect to find any future in extremism

Stabilization of Region:
Although now a days in this region there is problem of terrorism but infact from a long time (about 50 years) this region is suffering from instability, reason is that people of this region are finding no hope and future for themselves due to division of this region and interference of large nations such as Soviet Union, USA, China and India but when the people of this region were unified at the time of Durani Empire this region was stable and same was case during Mughal Empire..
As there are three main groups in Asia i.e. Chinese, Hindues and Muslims. Chinese and Hindues are satisfied with their Dominion states of China and India, but as there is no large state of Muslims in Asia while their numerical population is greater than Chinese and Hindues, therefore Muslims are suffering from distress which is causing instability and irritation in common Muslims, therefore by creation of a unified state of Pakistan and Afghanistan a sense of satisfaction and respect with the existence of a national state will be achieved

Solution to Economic Problems.
At present both countries are burden on other countries and in fact are a barrier in exploring the resources of Central Asia by world. After stabilization it will be useful for not only for Central Asia and World but also for the new unified nation itself

Advantages to Pakistan:
It was the vision of Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam to unify region of West Pakistan with Afghanistan and East Pakistan with Malysia and Indonesia and that is still the need of time.
• By unification with Afghanistan, areas which are included in Pakistan will be stabilized, and migration of people from disturbed areas will be stopped,
• Law and order situation due to smuggling of weapons from Afghanistan will come to an end.
• Similarly illicit drug trade will be minimized.
• Whole areas of Pukhtoons speaking population will become unified and which will be helpful for development of culture and language of that group which is now divided in two nations.
• Security measures expenses on borders will be minimized which may be used for welfare of people.
• Interference of other nations in this region will be stopped.
• Due to historical and unique region and having importance for Buddhism and Hindues religion, tourism industry will be flourished and business activity in the region will be increased,

Advantages to Afghanistan:
• By unification status of Afghanistan as land lock country will come to an end, and Union will increase the freedom of people of Afghanistan for travel and economic activity,
• Extremism and terrorism will come to and end, as the people will become more engaged and involved in adjusting themselves in new union. it will increase the utilization of raw products of Afghanistan ,
• Security and military expenses will be minimized,
• Doors of job for people of Afghanistan in Pakistan will opened ,the desire of unification of people of Afghanistan with people of Pakistan will be fulfilled.
• Shortage of food products in Afghanistan will be decreased and it will increase the utilization of raw products of Afghanistan in the region.
• Due to linkage of central Asia via Afghanistan, will cause extraordinary development in the whole region.

From all above points it is clear that unification of Pakistan and Afghanistan will be fruitful for every one and for world at large by each and every angle.

Written By:
M.AKRAM KHAN
E.Mail:akrumniazi@hotmail.com
Baldia Town,Karachi.Pakistan.

Not logged in on "Preah Vihear: the Thai-Cambodia temple dispute"

Not logged in — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:42:49 +0100

Siam no have right to get our temple Preach Vihear.

we are people of Cambodia should strong.

We can do.

I happy to be a Cambodia.

Malcolm Bush on "The curse of commodities"

Malcolm Bush — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:08:14 +0100

I have read this article with great interest. I'll acquire all the additional information I can and do some sort of campaign, perhaps a comprehensive campaign covering all aspects related to this and the surrounding area.

syed salamah ali on "The curse of commodities"

syed salamah ali — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:19:26 +0100

East Timor is a perfect example of what multi-nationals are willing to do inorder to get what they want, by hook or crook. Those Darfurians and Chadians who are fighting to secede from Sudan and Chad should learn from the Timorese who were left to fend for themselves after handing over their mineral and commodity wealths to the multi-nationals inorder to gain, as falsely promised by the multinationals, "liberty, fraternity and equality". They will find out, as did the Timorese, that it is more difficult to get rid of the multinationals than getting rid of their existing national governments with the help of the multinationals.

BigC on "China’s media change: talking with Angela Merkel "

BigC — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:16:33 +0000

Removing the monopoly control of the party over news is one thing but it's not very impressive if you're replacing it with news media owned by or beholding to the new oligarch class.

I'm interested by the comments of those impugning this writer's record. Do you have any examples to back these accusations up?

removehim on "China’s media change: talking with Angela Merkel "

removehim — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:12:37 +0000

Can someone please remove this racist and facist guy Li Datong from OpenDemocracy. He should be ashamed of his crimes against humanity in Inner Mongolia! He is promoting colonial policies and oppression of Mongols, Tibetans and Uighurs.

chriswinteralfs on "My Lai to Haditha: war, massacre and justice"

chriswinteralfs — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:45:53 +0000

The only reason there was any semblance of justice concerning My Lai was due to a series of flukes, not because the U.S. military system working. There happened to be a photographer who took pictures, and most importantly, there happened to be a soldier that wrote letters to his congressman. That's it. The military fought tooth and nail to cover up what happened there and only undertook an investigation after intense public pressure when rumors began to fly. Then after a lengthy trial only one man, William Calley was found guilty, out of near one hundred that took part. And he in the end only served 2 days in a stockade and 2-3 years of house arrest, with full rights to visits from his loved ones. Later Nixon pardoned him, freeing him from even that punishment. over 500 old men, women, and children were killed over 4 hours time. Mass torture and rape, sexual assault and abuse all took place. Justice was hardly served.

As to Hue massacre, there was a mass execution, but no signs of rape, torture or abuse, and no kids or women were killed. This does not make it right, but it doesnt compare to the brutality of what happened at My Lai, even though the number of dead was higher.

Khwaja Aftab Ali on "Pakistan's permanent crisis"

Khwaja Aftab Ali — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:24:06 +0000

Five regional cities should be upgraded with in the provinces in Pakistan. Regional cities of Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP, Gawadar/ Qalat in Balouchistan, Sukkar/ Larkana in Upper Sind, Jehlam/ Rawalpindi and Multan in Punjab province. These regional cities have been ignored by the federal and provincial governments although these cities have their own history, culture and languages.Dera Ismail Khan in south of Pakhtun khwa is under seige, Multan/DG Khan in south of Punjab is next target of religious extremists,Sukkar/ Larkan is rule by criminals, Gawadar/ Qalat is trouble some. The people of these regions have to travel to provincial capitals for every small issue and requirement of the daily life which should be provided in nearby cities. A good number of population travel to big cities for their survival to earn livelihood as the local feudal own majority land and keep the common man as their slaves. Creation of regional government and upgrading of the regional cities will save a lot of money and time of the poor people of these regions. Circuit courts of the High Courts are already working in these areas and only requirement is the additional staff of different departments involved in additional work at the provincial capitals. The concern authorities should immediately consider to upgrade the regional cities. And immediate attention should be given upgrade the airports,TV station, civic center, libraries,hospitals, educational institutes and investment opportunities for Pakistanis living abroad and foreign firms to create jobs in the area as majority population in rural Pakistan do not have enough resources to survive.It's remind me the condition of pre Islamic revolution of Iran in Shah time when the rural Iran was ignored and the capital Tehran was developed in a way to call it Paris of Middle East with modern life style. Couple of other big cities like Isfahan and Caspian sea was taken care of because of foreign tourists but rural area was ruled by cruel police and intelligence. Then what happen after revolution rural population moved to Tehran and other big cities. But the new government developed, built and upgraded the riral areas of the country.KHWAJA AFTAB ALI,( former secretary, Iranian embassy, Saudi Arabia) Advocate High Court & I.P. Attorney,presently residing in Florida, USA

Karthick Ram on "Sri Lanka under siege"

Karthick Ram — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:44:03 +0000

Flawed understanding of ethnic conflicts, characteristic of ruling classes world over, makes them dismiss legitimate concerns of oppressed communities as "divisive." People who have little knowledge of the systematic state-sposored oppression that the Tamils were put through ever since Lanka got is independence now accuse the Tigers of "terrorism" - conveniently ignoring the state terrorism of the Lankan government. Of course, jingoism sees no reason but that of its own interests. It is heartening that responsible journalists like Meenakshi Ganguly have taken the effort to point out the flawed policies of the Lankan state in the context of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka.

Bhupat Rawal on "Sri Lanka under siege"

Bhupat Rawal — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:56:17 +0000

Ms. Ganguly- We are in 21st century now. Haven't we learned anything from dividing the globe on tribal/ethnic roots? The tigers in Sri Lanka are just creating what Pakistan is to India and vice versa or Israel to Pakistan? If democracy has to succeed and it must in the absence of a better alternative,it's time reformers like you rise beyond the ethnic or religious divide. The Globe is shrinking. Haven't the tigers killed enough? Is Sri Lanka not a sovereign nation? Let its constitution exert the rights of its populace. By promoting the Tamil nation, the rebels are unwittingly defeating the human cause of living in harmony with one another. When will the journalists cease their biased view of political correctness? On one hand they talk about non-violence and on the other the same profession wants to justify ethnic violence in the name of democracy or human rights. We have seen this in Kashmir when Nehru instructed the Indian Army to take over a state that had acceded to India and opted to go out for the U.N. Sixty years later the hurt is getting worse on both sides.Many lives have been lost. Negotiation within a democratic constitution is the only to give what people want out of a democracy-not from outside interests. The ethnics live all over the world. Should each tribe have a separate country? Look what happened to the Indian Empire after the religious division into India and Pakistan and then the linguistic division of India into states.How many lives have been lost as a result from playing one religion against the other? It's time to wake up and not add fuel to the ethnic fire.No democracy should be forced to negotiate with terrorists who use humans life as their shield and at ransom. That's not leadership-it's piracy.