President Biden To Formally Recognize The Armenian Genocide

 

CNN: Biden preparing to declare massacre of Armenians a 'genocide,' risking break with Turkey  

(CNN)President Joe Biden is preparing to declare the massacre of an estimated million or more Armenians under the Ottoman Empire a "genocide" this week, risking a potential fracture with Turkey but fulfilling a campaign pledge to finally use the word as President to describe the mass killings after a series of his predecessors stopped short. 

Two people familiar with the decision said the President was expected to make the declaration as part of an official statement on Remembrance Day, which falls on Saturday. 

Both said it was possible he would change his mind before then, and issue a statement merely recognizing the event without describing it as genocide.  

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More News On Reports That President Biden Will Formally Recognize The Armenian Genocide  

Officials: Biden preparing to recognize Armenian genocide -- AP  

Biden expected to recognize massacre of Armenians as genocide - sources -- Reuters  

Joe Biden set to formally recognize Armenian genocide, officials say -- The Guardian  

Biden to Declare Atrocities Against Armenia Were Genocide -- New York Times  

Biden expected to formally recognize Armenian Genocide: report -- The Hill  

Biden to Formally Recognize Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire, Reports Say -- Sputnik

Khmer Rouge Leaders Found Guilty Of Genocide

The Guardian: Khmer Rouge leaders found guilty of genocide in Cambodia’s ‘Nuremberg’ moment

Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea are the two most senior living leaders of regime that presided over deaths of nearly 2 million in Cambodia.

The two most senior Khmer Rouge leaders still alive today have been found guilty of genocide, almost 40 years since Pol Pot’s brutal communist regime fell in a verdict that nonetheless holds meaning for millions of Cambodians.

Nuon Chea, 92, who was second-in-command to Pol Pot, and Khieu Samphan, 87, who served as head of state, will both be sentenced for genocide carried out between 1977 and 1979, in what is a landmark moment for the Khmer Rouge tribunals.

The pair are already serving life sentences for crimes against humanity.

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Update #1: Khmer Rouge’s Slaughter in Cambodia Is Ruled a Genocide (The New York Times)
Update #2: Khmer Rouge surviving leaders face genocide verdict (BBC)

WNU Editor:  No comment.

Mass Graves Discovered In Myanmar. U.N. Says Evidence Of Genocide

Business Insider/AP: UN says Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims has the 'hallmarks of genocide'

* The U.N. special envoy on human rights in Myanmar said Thursday that the Myanmar military's violent operations against Rohingya Muslims bear "the hallmarks of a genocide."
* Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled their villages into Bangladesh since the Myanmar military's crackdown following Aug. 25 attacks by Rohingya insurgents.
* An Associated Press report Thursday detailed a massacre and at least five mass graves in the Myanmar village.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.N. special envoy on human rights in Myanmar said Thursday that the Myanmar military's violent operations against Rohingya Muslims bear "the hallmarks of a genocide."

Yanghee Lee told reporters in Seoul, where she is based, that she couldn't make a definitive declaration about genocide until a credible international tribunal or court had weighed the evidence, but "we are seeing signs and it is building up to that."

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WNU Editor: My gut is telling me that this is probably just the "tip of the iceberg".

More News On Reports That Mass Graves Have Been Discovered In Myanmar

AP Exclusive: AP confirms Myanmar massacre and 5 mass graves -- AP
Evidence of Rohingya mass graves uncovered in Myanmar -- Aljazeera
Myanmar: evidence of Rohingya mass graves uncovered -- Euronews
Mass Graves Discovered In Myanmar Evidence Of Rohingya Persecution, Report Finds -- International Business Times

UN: Islamic State Committing ‘Genocide’ Against The Yazidis

BBC: Islamic State committing genocide against Yazidis, says UN

UN human rights investigators have for the first time accused so-called Islamic State of committing genocide against Yazidis in Iraq and Syria.

A report says IS has subjected members of the religious group it has captured to the "most horrific of atrocities", killing or enslaving thousands.

The group's aim is to completely erase the Yazidi way of life, it warns.

The report says major powers should do more to help the Yazidis, at least 3,200 of whom are being held by IS.

IS, a Sunni jihadist group, regards Yazidis as devil-worshippers who may be killed or enslaved with impunity.

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More News On The UN Declaring That The Islamic State Is Committing ‘Genocide’ Against The Yazidis

UN human rights panel concludes ISIL is committing genocide against Yazidis -- UN News Centre
Islamic State committing genocide against Yazidis: U.N. -- Reuters
UN: Islamic State Committing Genocide Against Yazidis -- VOA
UN: ISIL committing genocide against Yazidis -- Al Jazeera
UN condemns Isis genocide against Yazidis in Iraq and Syria -- The Guardian
U.N.: Islamic State enslaving, committing genocide against Yazidi people -- UPI
Islamic State Is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis, UN Says -- Bloomberg
UN report: 'Islamic State' is committing genocide against Iraq's Yazidis -- DW
UN says the Islamic State is committing ‘genocide’ against Yazidis -- PBS News Hour
UN Panel Says Attacks on Yazidis is a Genocide. Now What? -- Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch
What the UN’s genocide finding could mean for justice against ISIS -- David Iaconangelo, CSM

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: 'Islamic State Committing Genocide'

NBC: Kerry: ISIS Is Committing Genocide Against Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims

Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that ISIS has been committing genocide against religious minorities in the Middle East — just the second time the executive branch has used the term in relation to an ongoing conflict.

The formal designation comes days after the House passed a nonbinding resolution by a 393-0 vote condemning ISIS atrocities as genocide.

"Daesh is genocidal by self proclamation, by ideology and by actions," Kerry said in a televised address, using another name for the Sunni militant group. "We must recognize what Daesh is doing to its victims."

"Naming these crimes is important but what is essential is to stop them," he added.

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More News On US U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Accusing The Islamic State Of Committing Genocide

Kerry determines IS group committing genocide in Iraq, Syria -- AP
Islamic State committed genocide against Christians, Shi'ites: U.S. -- Reuters
Islamic State 'committed genocide', says US -- BBC
Kerry declares Islamic State has committed genocide -- Washington Post
John Kerry: ISIS responsible for genocide -- CNN
Kerry declares ISIS committing genocide against Christians, others -- FOX News
Kerry: Islamic State committing genocide against religious minorities -- USA Today
U.S. accuses Islamic State of genocide -- Politico
The Long, Thorny Path to Calling ISIS 'Genocidal' -- Adam Chandler, The Atlantic

U.S. Continues To Not Label Islamic State Violence As 'Genocide'

The Hill: Kerry will miss deadline to label ISIS violence 'genocide'

The State Department won’t meet a legal deadline to decide whether or not the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’s (ISIS) violence against minority groups amounts to genocide.

Congress had given Secretary of State John Kerry until Thursday to decide whether to apply the label to the group’s killing of Christians, Yazidis and other minorities.

“Given the scope and the breadth of the analysis he’s contemplating, he will not have a final decision completed by the congressionally mandate deadline tomorrow,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Wednesday.
The evaluation is “a vigorous one,” Toner added.

“He is not at a point yet where he feels that he has all the information, all the evidence he needs to make the decision he needs to make.”

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WNU Editor: The US State Department is claiming that they need more evidence .... State: Kerry Needs More Evidence to Determine Genocide by ISIS and Assad (Washington Free Beacon).

More News On The U.S. Continuing To Not Label Islamic State Violence As 'Genocide'

Kerry to miss deadline for decision on whether IS atrocities are genocide - U.S. official -- Reuters
Kerry to miss deadline on Islamic State genocide question -- AP
Kerry to miss deadline to rule on ISIS ‘genocide’ -- AFP
How long will President Obama stay silent on genocide? -- Kirsten Powers, USA Today
Analysts Debate Possible Results of IS Genocide Designation -- Pamela Dockins, VOA

The 10 Worst Genocides Of The 20th Century

10 Worst Genocides Of The 20th Century -- Geopol News

According to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPGC), genocide is defined as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group". The subject of what is and what is not considered genocide is a contentious one. Often, accusations of genocide having been committed are disputed for reasons that are usually political. Using the term “genocide” to describe the mass murder or destruction of a group of people creates images of the worst genocide ever committed in terms of loss of life, The Holocaust. Therefore, in order to divert blame or justify actions, leaders of countries accused of genocide usually try to call a murderous event something else. For instance, the Turkish government still to this day refuses to acknowledge that the slaughter and forced expulsion of the Armenian people from the former Ottoman Empire during World War One was genocide. Instead, Turkey claims that numbers of murdered Armenians has been inflated, despite factual documentation, and attempts to downplay the massacres. Here is a list of the 10 worst genocides of the 20th century based on the numbers of people killed.

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My Comment: There are a few BIG omissions in this list. The communists in the Soviet Union did not only bring horror to the Ukraine and Cossak communities .... but they brought even more to the rest of the country. And Mao in China probably slaughtered more people than the Nazis ever did .... and all the other 20th century genocides combined.

Is There A Way To Avert Future Genocides?

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Wikipedia

Foreign Policy Experts Discuss Ways To Avert Future Genocide -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Against the backdrop of memorials to historic atrocities, a group of foreign policy experts, among them Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, gathered at the Holocaust Memorial Museum on Tuesday to consider modern threats of genocide and how to prevent them.

With the specter of mounting violence in some countries, the threat of future mass killings was a prime concern.

“The United States and our partners must act before the wood is stacked or the match is struck,” Mrs. Clinton said, “because when the fire is at full blaze, our options for responding are considerably costlier and more difficult.”

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My Comment: It's hard to avoid future genocides when past genocides .... especially the first one in the 20th century ..... are denied by some democratic governments.

Satellite Images Reveal Mass Graves In Sudan

Satellite images by the Satellite Sentinel Project, a program run by the actor George Clooney, showed visual evidence of mass graves in the South Kordofan region of Sudan, apparently the result of recent offensives by Arab Sudanese forces against black African tribes. (DigitalGlobe/MCT) | MCT

Clooney's New Project Finds Signs Of Mass Graves In Sudan -- McClatchy News

NAIROBI, Kenya — Satellite images from above Sudan have found three excavated sites that eyewitnesses suggest could be mass graves, a watchdog project co-founded by actor and activist George Clooney said Thursday.

The alleged mass burial sites are located on the outskirts of Kadugli, the capital of central Sudan's South Kordofan state. An outburst of conflict there since June 5 has led to allegations that Sudan's Arab government is slaughtering minority Africans aligned with the rival government now running the breakaway nation of South Sudan.

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More News ON Evidence Of Mass Graves In Sudan

Satellite Evidence Indicates Mass Graves in Sudan -- New York Times/AP
US Monitoring Group Detects Suspected Mass Graves in Sudan -- Voice of America
Sudan's South Kordofan fighting: 'Mass graves found' -- BBC
George Clooney’s satellites capture pictures of mass graves in Sudan -- Toronto Star
Clooney's Satellites Capture Piles of Bodies, Mass Graves in Sudan -- Time
Crime Scene: Evidence of Mass Graves in Kadugli, Sudan -- AllAfrica.com
How George Clooney's Satellite Group Is Identifying Mass Graves in Sudan -- The Atlantic

Google Launches The Holocaust Archive

Holocaust Memorial Day: Google Launches Holocaust Archive To Help Keep Memories Of Tragedy Alive -- The Telegraph

Google has partnered with Israel’s Yad Vashem museum, to help digitise the largest collection of Holocaust photos and documents in the world, to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The search giant is working with the Jerusalem-based archive to properly index and store in Google’s cloud 130,000 photographs, some of which are currently available on Yad Vashem’s website, but until now have been difficult to locate and discover online.

Google is also applying the same indexing and optical character recognition (OCR) technology to lots of documents, ranging from visas to survivor testimonials, in order to help people locate more easily online.

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My Comment: Once in a while Google gets involved in a good project .... this is one of them. The Yad Vashem's website is here.

Preserving The Memory Of 875,000 Who Were Killed At Treblinka

Treblinka Monument

Only 2 Survivors Remain From Nazi Camp Treblinka -- CBS News/AP

Last 2 Survivors Of Notorious Nazi Death Camp Treblinka Devote Last Years To Memory Of Victims.

(AP) BAT YAM, Israel (AP) - They are believed to be the last two survivors of the most chillingly efficient killing machine of the Nazi Holocaust: the Treblinka extermination camp in occupied Poland.

Samuel Willenberg and Kalman Taigman, 87-year-old Israelis, are devoting their final years to trying to preserve the memory of the 875,000 people systematically murdered in a one-year killing spree at the height of World War II. Almost all of them were Jews.

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My Comment: Knowing that you are the last 2 survivors out of 875,000 .... what a painful and terrible legacy to carry, along with the knowledge that you are the last survivors from that era.

UN Report: Rwanda And 6 Other Countries May Have Committed Genocide In Congo

Rwanda May Have Committed Genocide In Congo, UN Says -- Bloomberg

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Rwandan soldiers may have committed genocide and six other countries are suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1993 to 2003, the United Nations said.

A so-called mapping report, published by the UN’s human- rights agency today, details more than 600 “gross violations of human rights and/or international law” by rebel groups and the armies of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Chad. Rwandan soldiers in particular may be guilty of genocide for the deliberate killing of ethnic Hutu refugees, according to the report.

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More News On The UN Report Of Genocide In The DR Congo

UN claims possible genocide in DRCongo -- Yahoo News/AFP
U.N. report details hundreds of Congo atrocities -- Yahoo News/Reuters
UN claims possible genocide in DRCongo -- Sydney Morning Herald
UN report pins Uganda on Congo -- Daily Monitor
UN tones down Congo 'genocide' report -- AP
Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi furious at UN DRC report -- RFI
Backlash as UN unveils DRCongo massacres report -- AFP
Uganda rejects UN report on war crimes in Congo -- The Guardian
Ugandan fury over UN report into Congo 'war crimes' -- BBC
Dispute Over U.N. Report Evokes Rwandan Déjà Vu -- New York Times
UN's Congo report could spur genocide trials -- AP
DR Congo demands justice for massacre victims -- Vancouver Sun/AFP
Rwanda: UN Report On Congo Atrocities Threatens Regional Stability -- RTT News
Identify the Congo killers and bring them to justice -- Reed Brody, The Guardian
ANALYSIS-Justice in doubt for Congo atrocity victims -- Reuters

My Comment: There is going to be no follow-up on this report. Rwanda is needed for peace keeping missions in places like Darfur, and charging Rwanda's leaders for genocide while they are preventing genocide in Darfur is a decision that the UN is not going to take (for now).

Mankind's First Genocide?

An archaeologist uncovers a skeleton from the Uruk colony's remains. Was this person killed by his/her own people? Photo courtesy Professor Clemens Reichel

New Discoveries Hint At 5,500 Year Old Fratricide At Hamoukar, Syria -- The Independent

Five years ago, archaeologists found the “earliest evidence for large scale organized warfare in the Mesopotamian world.” Using slings and clay bullets a – likely Uruk – army took over the city of Hamoukar, burning it down in the process. Now, new discoveries at a nearby settlement shed more light on the 3500 BC battle – and raise more questions. If the invading army was from Uruk, did they kill their own people? If so, why?

Hamoukar is a city that flourished in northern Syria since at least 4000 BC. They traded in obsidian and in later times copper working became increasingly important to the city’s economy. Thousands of clay sealings – once used to lock doors or containers and impressed with stamp seals – were found at the ancient site. They tell of a bureaucratic system that was almost as complex as our own.

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My Comment: It appears that mankind has been at war with each other since the beginning of time. Sighhh .... the only difference is that our weapons are now vastly more destructive than what the ancients had 5500 years ago.

Documenting Genocide In The Congo

Hell On Earth: The UN Documents Congo's Bloodbath -- Spiegel Online

Women and girls were raped. Men slaughtered. Refugees killed with machetes and sticks. A new UN report describes an orgy of violence in Congo between 1993 and 2003, meticulously documenting how law and humanity were abandoned. It also accuses Rwanda of atrocities in Congo -- something that has not gone down well in Kigali.

The report is over 500 pages long. It is one of the most comprehensive investigations into war crimes in the history of the United Nations. Even though it has not even been released yet, it has caused serious diplomatic tensions in New York, Congo and Rwanda.

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More News On The UN's Congo Genocide Report

UN report on Congo genocide could be game-changer -- Christian Science Monitor
U.N.: Rwanda Attacks in Congo Could be Genocide -- PBS
Dissecting Rwandan criticism of UN report on Congo genocide -- Christian Science Monitor
Rwanda May Withdraw Darfur Peacekeepers Over Report -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Rwandan troops in Sudan preparing for possibility of immediate withdrawal -- Sudan Tribune
Rwanda considers pulling peacekeepers from Darfur -- Reuters
Rwanda threatens to quit Darfur mission -- Financial Times
Rwanda's past source of recent ire -- UPI

Rwanda Responds To The U.N.'s Genocide Charges

Rwanda Pushes Back Against U.N. Genocide Charges -- New Yorker

A draft report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights arguing that the Rwandan military may have committed genocide in Congo in the late nineteen-nineties has been leaked to the press. Le Monde had the first item on the report yesterday; the Guardian and the Christian Science Monitor had the longest ones. The U.N. has so far refused to comment on the leak, except to say that the draft is not the final version of the report. The Rwandan government has rejected the report, but not said much more.

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More News On Rwanda And The U.N.'s Genocide Charges

Rwanda threatens UN over DR Congo 'genocide' report -- BBC
Rwanda Contests Report on Army -- New York Times/AP
Rwanda threatens to withdraw peacekeepers -- AP
Rwanda threatens to curtail cooperation with UN -- AFP
U.N.: Rwandan troops may have committed war crimes in efforts to end '94 genocide -- Washington Post
Rwanda dismisses UN report detailing possible Hutu genocide in Congo -- Christian Science Monitor
U.N. Congo Report Offers New View on Genocide -- New York Times

UN Report Accuses Rwanda Of Genocide In Congo

Among the Hutus who fled to DR Congo in 1994 were many of the militiamen responsible for Rwanda's genocide. Photo from The BBC

Leaked UN Report Accuses Rwanda Of Possible Genocide In Congo -- The Guardian

Unprecedented investigation by human rights commissioner says Hutu deaths 'cannot be put down to margins of war'

The United Nations has accused Rwanda of wholesale war crimes, including possibly genocide, during years of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An unprecedented 600-page investigation by the UN high commissioner for human rights catalogues years of murder, rape and looting in a conflict in which hundreds of thousands were slaughtered.

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More News On the UN Report Accusing Rwanda of Genocide

UN DR Congo 'genocide' draft report - key excerpts -- BBC
Leaked UN Report Levels Serious Accusations Against Rwanda -- UN Dispatch
Congo butchery resembled Rwanda genocide: UN lawyer -- AFP
Rwanda accused of war crimes -- Sydney Morning Herald
Draft U.N. report accuses Rwandan army of genocide -- The Hindu
UN: Attacks on Hutus in 1990s could be genocide -- AP
Bombshell UN report leaked: 'Crimes of genocide' against Hutus in Congo -- Christian Science Monitor
UN uncovers possible genocide in Congo: report -- AFP
Rwanda Rejects Report Alleging Role In Possible Congolese Genocide -- NPR
Rwandan Government Slams United Nations Report Alleging Genocide in Congo -- Bloomberg
Statement by the Government of Rwanda on Leaked Draft UN Report on DRC -- Financial Post

War Crimes Conviction For Khmer Rouge Executioner

Khmer Rouge Executioner Found Guilty, But Cambodians Say Sentence Too Light -- Christian Science Monitor

Khmer Rouge chief executioner 'Duch' was found guilty today by a UN-backed court. He could be out of prison in 19 years, even when many Cambodians say he deserved life in prison for his role in the Pol Pot regime.

In the first verdict at the UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the Khmer Rouge’s chief executioner has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his nom de guerre, “Duch,” ran the notorious S-21 prison where as many as 17,000 people were tortured before being killed.

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More News On Today's Conviction Of A Khmer Rouge Executioner

Khmer Rouge Figure Is Found Guilty of War Crimes -- New York Times
Khmer Rouge Jailer Faces 19 Years for 16, 000 Dead -- New York Times/Reuters
Senior Khmer Rouge Cadre Jailed For Mass Murder, Torture -- New York Times/Reuters
Former Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Gets 35-Year Jail Term -- RTT News
Khmer Rouge torture chief jailed for mass killings -- The Age
Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch found guilty -- BBC
Video of First Khmer Rouge Trial -- New York Times
Mixed reactions to Khmer Rouge verdict -- Euronews
Genocide in Cambodia: Who were the Khmer Rouge? -- CNN
Duch trial: Khmer Rouge factfile -- The Telegraph
Who's on Trial at Cambodia's War Crimes Tribunal -- New York Times/AP

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Awaits Verdict On Genocide Charges

Judgment Day For Khmer Rouge Executioner -- The Australian

THIRTY-ONE years ago the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed and its leaders fled Phnom Penh.

Invading Vietnamese troops came across an abandoned prison where the bodies of tortured prisoners were still shackled to beds and the floor was splattered with their blood.

This was Tuol Sleng, a school that Pol Pot's murderous regime had converted into its main extermination centre in Cambodia.

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More News On Seeking Justice In Cambodia

Khmer Rouge Prison Chief Awaits Verdict -- New York Times/AP
Long haul for Cambodia's genocide court -- BBC
Cambodia confronts its past as Khmer Rouge killer awaits court's verdict -- The Independent
Comrade Duch, the Khmer Rouge executioner who killed thousands for Pol Pot, faces his day of justice -- The Guardian
Khmer Rouge victims pray at prison before historic verdict -- Montreal Gazette/AFP
Many victims of the Khmer Rouge regime may now get justice -- Herald Scotland
A timeline of the Khmer Rouge regime and its aftermath -- CNN

Patterns Of Genocide -- A Book Review

Machetes collected at the Rwandan border after the 1994 genocide. Jenny Matthews/Panos

From The New York Times:

Evil repels analysis. Poets from the time of Homer have sung of war, but only a monster sings of atrocities. So, too, with journalism and scholarship. We are admonished not to ascribe rational motives to Osama bin Laden or Hitler, or to their followers. To admit of motives is to reduce the moral to the psychological, and thus to the comprehensible, and thus perhaps to the acceptable. Our understanding of unspeakable acts is limited on the one hand to the irreducible moral fact of evil, and on the other to the dynamics of mob psychology — of mass lunacy.

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My Comment: I can write 10 books on this topic because this is a subject that demands more analysis and study .... but I am also sure that what I will produce will only touch the surface on what is a dreadful topic.

U.S. Backs Implementing U.N. Doctrine Against Genocide

From the Wall Street Journal:

UNITED NATIONS -- The Obama administration is supporting moves to implement a U.N. doctrine calling for collective military action to halt genocide.

The next step is to see if the countries in favor of implementing the policy will act when a new genocide is brewing if all other diplomatic actions fail. The doctrine is political, not legal: Although these countries have expressed the political will to act, they aren't legally bound to.

The U.N. just concluded a week long debate on implementing the doctrine, which was endorsed by U.N. members in 2005.

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My Comment: Another well meaning U.N. resolution .... but with no teeth nor clear lines of who will enforce such a mandate. I will take such doctrines seriously when killers like the President of Sudan is arrested in any African nation and brought to the International Court at the Hague ..... that is when I know that there is meaning in this resolution.