Around our world it has been a week of many ups and downs. (How's that for a totally original introductory sentence?)Good news came out of Kenya today. There hasn't been much good news out of Kenya in the past few months. A contested election for President split Kenyan society along ethnic lines and riots, killings, and all manner of violence ensued. The two main rivals, President Mwai Kibaki (who won the allegedly rigged election) and Raila Odinga finally agreed to allow former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan broker a negotiation to help heal the nation. Today, they announced a breakthrough. I sincerely hope that Kenya, which has been a leading African nation, will not see any more of this violence, but it is asking alot of these politicians to put aside their egos and ambitions for the good of their country.
Not many nations are lucky enough to have a George Washington (or a Thomas Jefferson, or John Adams for that matter) that put the good of the country ahead of their own desire for power.
Read about Kenya here:
Kenya Rivals Reach Peace Agreement
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s rival leaders broke their tense standoff on Thursday, agreeing to share power in a deal that may end the violence that has engulfed this nation but could be the beginning of a long and difficult political relationship. (more)
In a development that creates problems for everyone except the government of Turkey and it's supporters, the Turkish military sent forces into northern Iraq, allegedly to root out members of the PKK, a Kurdish rebel movement that wants the Kurds in northern Iraq and eastern Turkey to unite into an independent nation called Kurdistan. Read a good background article about this conflict from the BBC. To read about how this action has put the U.S. government in an uncomfortable position, read this from the New York Times.
Kosovo declared independence last week. These aren't exact quotes, but basically, the U.S. said, "Congratulations!", the British government said "Hurray for you guys!", but the government of Serbia said "Tell it to the hand, cuz the face ain't listenin!" Read about it: Kosovo's independence weathers its first week. According to the article, "Serbia said it was hunting down rioters who torched the US Embassy in Belgrade Thursday as 120,000 protested the province's newly declared statehood." There are some amazing pictures of the anti-U.S. riots in Serbia, where many are still angry at the U.S. for leading a NATO military intervention in the late 1990's to protect ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo.
1 comment:
This is Hellen speaking from your 4th perid class...... CORRAGGIYOOOOOOOO WE ARE THROUGHHHHHHHHHHHH! OK HAHA TO START OUT WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THE WHOLE TURKEY MOVEMENT AND HOW THEY ARE INVADING IRAQ.. WELL ISNT IT COMPLETELY ILLEGAL????? IT JUST SOUNDS LIKE ITS COMPLETELY AGAINST THE RULES 100% I MEAN ITS LIKE CANADA RANDOMLY COMING TO AMERICA AND ATTACKING US TO HAVE THEIR SO CALLED PEOPLE THAT THEY BELEIVE NEED TO BE UNITED WITH THEM BACK. IT JUST DOESNT MAKE SENSE. I BELIEVE/AGREE THE STATEMENT THAT WAS ON THE NEW YORK TIMES... HOW THE SITUATION WILL ONLY GET WORSE WITH AMERICA ALREADY BEING INVOLVED AND HOW IT WILL ONLY GET MORE PHYSICAL AND BLOODIER.ITS SO TRUE, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT IF TURKEY IS ALREADY KEILLING PEOPLE AND DOING WELL ON IT THAT THEY WONT DECLARE WAR WITH IRAQ WHILE WE ARE ATILL THERE?? IT WILL ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR US, AND BY US I MEAN AMERICANS. BY TURKEY DOING THIS ITS AFFECTING US ALREADY BECAUSE OF THE FUTURE CONSEQUENCES THAT WE MAY HAVE TO FACE. I MEAN WHAT THE HECK WATCH US END UP GETTING INTO A WAR WITH TURKEY... OK MAYBE THAT WONT HAPPEN BUT MAYBE IT WILL.I KNOW THAT MR.GATES URGES FOR THEM TO GET OUT ASAP BUT WILL THEY? I MEAN THEY ARE ALREADY ON A ROLE KILLING 230 P.K.K SINCE LAST THURSDAY. I JUST BELIEVE HAT ITS GETTING OUTTTTTTTTTTT OF HAND, I GUESS ITS JUST SOMETHING THAT BARACK WILL HAVE TO FIX WHEN HE BECOMES PRESIDENT IF ITS STILL GOING ON.
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