2 Qaeda Hostages Accidentally Killed in U.S. Strike

Government officials urged President Obama to take full responsibility after two hostages held by Al Qaeda were killed in an American drone strike in Pakistan in January.  Mr. Obama stated in the White House briefing room, “As president and commander in chief, I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations. I profoundly regret what happened. On behalf of the United States government, I offer our deepest apologies to the families.” Officials said that they had no idea that the two hostages, Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, were being held there despite hundreds of hours of surveillance before the strike. Warren Weinstein was an American citizen, who had been held by Al Qaeda since 2011, and Giovanni Lo Porto was an Italian man who had been held since 2012 - their deaths were just confirmed on Thursday. Mr. Weinstein was a business development expert working on contract for the United States Agency for International Development when he was kidnapped in Lahore, Pakistan, just four days before he was scheduled to return home to his family. The president did not explain why it took three months to reveal the incident; however intelligence agencies had picked up information of their deaths months ago but were unsure of how they died. It took weeks to associate their deaths with the drone strikes and until this week it wasn’t confirmed confidently enough to bring to the president. Al Qaeda released videos of Mr. Weinstein, and news media reports as recently as last week indicating that he was still assumed to be alive.

If intelligence agencies had received information back in January of the death of Mr. Weinstein, I don’t understand why Al Qaeda was releasing videos of him to convince everyone that he was alive. I feel as though this was an unforeseeable mistake made by the United States, and I think that killing has become justification for more killing. In the world we live in today, killing has just become a perpetuated cycle that never ends. I feel sorry for the families and wish them my condolences but we must also remember all of the other innocent civilians who have lost their lives in this ongoing cycle of death.

 Brittany Schrum

04/23/15

11:04PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/2-qaeda-hostages-were-accidentally-killed-in-us-raid-white-house-says.html?ref=world&_r=0

Killing of 10 Soldiers Brings no Peace to Colombia

After more than two years of peace talks, Colombia thought they’d finally seen light at the end of a long tunnel. In the last few months, the rebels had affirmed a independent cease-fire, pledging to stop carrying out attacks, and to stop recruiting child fighters. The two sides had even agreed to work together to find and destroy the thousands of land mines littering Colombia after five decades of war. However, that progress came to a halt when at least 10 soldiers were killed late Tuesday night. The government is claiming this to be an attack by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The attack took place in a village in western Colombia called La Esperanza. President Juan Manuel Santos is claiming that the attack was a “deliberate attack” by the FARC and also stated that the military could resume bombing guerrilla encampments, lifting a ban he imposed in March for the sake of the peace talks. In a TV news conference Mr. Santos stated, “This implies a clear break of the unilateral cease-fire pledge. This is a reprehensible action that will not remain unpunished and demands decisive measures, and it will have consequences for those involved. Acts of this nature and seriousness demonstrate once more the need to accelerate the negotiations to put an end to this conflict.” The military was ordered to hunt down the guerrillas who carried out the attack and the FARC bloc believed responsible for the attack are considered to be among the most aggressive. According to a military official, the soldiers were attacked with grenades, gunfire and explosive devices.

I wish there was a way around all of this violence, to think of living inside a country of war for years is terrifying. I think if there is any chance of achieving peace within this country, the issue needs to take front-and-center stage. I concur with Mr. Santos efforts for not wanting to continue to call for war, but noticing that this attack means that they need to put forward a conscious effort to dilute the conflict. It’s dangerous for the citizens of Colombia to be burdened with this daily struggle.

Brittany Schrum

04/16/15

4:53PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/world/americas/colombia-attack-attributed-to-farc-threatens-peace-talks.html?ref=world&_r=0

5 Women's Rights Activists Being Held Illegally

Five women’s rights activists are being held illegally in Beijing because the police have failed to ask prosecutors to formally arrest them. According to Chinese law, the police are generally required to file a request for a formal arrest to prosecutors within 30 days of detaining someone if they want to continue the detention. According to their lawyers, the deadline for that was Tuesday for the five women. As the lawyers checked with the prosecutor’s office, they discovered that no applications had been filed meaning that it has become overtime detention and that they police have violated the law.  The lawyers also stated that the police were investigating the women on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge that can result in a multiyear prison sentence and a method often used to silence dissenters. Although it is unsure as to why the women who were arrested in Guangzhou and Hangzhou ended up at the Haidian Detention Center, which is in western Beijing. The five women were detained in a coordinated move starting the evening of March 6, they had been organizing peaceful nationwide protests that would have taken place around March 8, International Women’s Day, to denounce sexual harassment on public transportation. The detention of the five women has ignited international criticism of China. Petitions have circulated widely online and around the world protesters have stood on streets wearing masks that have photographs of the women’s faces.

I think it’s ridiculous and inexcusable that these women are receiving no answers. First of all, the cause that they were raising awareness about is completely validated; women shouldn’t have to worry about sexual harassment on public transportation. That’s outrageous. It’s about time that women’s rights be recognized globally, and that we actually do something about it.

Brittany Schrum

03/08/15

10:37AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/world/asia/5-womens-rights-activists-in-china-are-being-held-illegally-lawyers-say.html?ref=world 

Educators Found Guilty in Sexual Assault of Kindergartners in Indonesia

An Indonesian court found a Canadian educator and an Indonesian teaching assistant at one of the country’s most prestigious international schools guilty of sexually assaulting three kindergarten students on Thursday. Neil Bantleman, a guidance counselor at the Jakarta Intercultural School, and Ferdinand Tjiong, the teaching assistant, were sentenced to 10 years in prison by a three-judge panel at the South Jakarta District Court. The two men have been in custody since July after the parents of three boys filed police complaints and the men’s legal team said that they would appeal. Dozens of parents and school employees rallied outside the courthouse on Thursday in support of Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong.

The case erupted last April when the Indonesian police arrested a janitor who worked for an outside cleaning company on charges of child sexual assault at the school’s main campus. The janitor and five other cleaners who were arrested later were accused of having gang-raped a 6-year-old kindergarten student sometime in March 2014, in a student bathroom less than 30 feet from the boy’s classroom. Five janitors were found guilty of child sexual assault and were sentenced to prison terms ranging up to eight years; the sixth committed suicide. Months after these allegations became public, the families of the first boy who came forward and two other boys in the kindergarten program filed complaints with the police also accusing members of the school’s teaching staff of sexual assault. Claiming that Mr. Bantleman, Mr. Tjiong, and the elementary school’s American principal, Elsa Donohue, had drugged and raped the children and other students in the school’s administrative offices and that they had videotaped the assaults. Ms. Donohue has not been detained or charged with any offense and no videotapes of the alleged assaults were ever found.

Cases such as these are so extremely disturbing, I just do not understand. It is such a shame also for this to be happening at what is supposed to be a prestigious school. If this is one hundred percent accurate, this school clearly needs to reconsider some of their protection for these children, because this was happening right in front of people’s faces.

Brittany Schrum

03/03/15

12:13AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/asia/educator-found-guilty-in-sexual-assault-of-kindergartners-in-indonesia.html?ref=world&_r=0 

Germanwings Pilot Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash

With little information known earlier in the week of why the Germanwing, a jet with 150 people on board, crashed into the mountains northwest of Nice (France) amid a relatively clear sky on Tuesday, investigators are now saying that one pilot left the cockpit prior to the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in. According to an audio recording, the investigator said “The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer. And then he hits the door stronger, and no answer. There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.” While the audio appeared to give some understanding into the circumstances leading to the Germanwings crash, it also left many questions unanswered. There are so many questions: why did one pilot leave the cockpit? Why wouldn’t the other pilot open the door? The descent from 38,000 feet in about 10 minutes is alarming, but gradual enough to suggest that the Airbus had not been damaged drastically and at no point during the descent was there any communication to air traffic controllers or any other sign of emergency for that matter. The plane was traveling with enough speed that it was all but destroyed, killing all 144 passengers and crew of six, leaving very few clues. At the crash site, workers found the casing of the plane’s other black box (flight data recorder), but the memory card had been thrown loose or destroyed by the impact. A French official involved in the investigation said that the lack of communication from the pilots during the plane’s descent was disturbing, and that the possibility that their silence was deliberate could not be ruled out. He also stated, “So far, we don’t have any evidence that points clearly to a technical explanation, so we have to consider the possibility of deliberate human responsibility.”

I do not understand just how many airplane disasters it is going to take before the airline industry transmits flight data electronically, rather than storing it in a little black box that gets destroyed with the plane itself. There are too many casualties to date between airplane crashes or airplanes ‘disappearing’ – how does an airplane DISAPPEAR?! The possibility that we may never learn what caused this tragedy is unsettling.

Brittany Schrum

03/26/15

6:56PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/europe/germanwings-airbus-crash.html?src=xps 

Tunisia Museum Attack Is Blow to Nation's Democratic Shift

Gunmen in military uniforms killed 19 people on Wednesday in a midday attack on a museum in downtown Tunis, dealing a new blow to the tourist industry that it so vital to Tunisia. Initially it was reported that the attackers were holding 10 hostages and had killed nine others. However, when security took control of the museum roughly four hours later, the death toll more than doubled, raising many questions of how and at what point in time the hostages had died. The Tunisia Prime Minister, Habib Essid, claimed that the security forces had killed two gunmen inside the museum but that there was a possibility that two or three accomplices could still be at large. The final death count boiled down to 17 foreign visitors – including Polish, Italian, Spanish, and German tourists – as well as two Tunisians, one of which a member of the security forces. At a minimum, 22 others were wounded. Prime Minister Essid advised national unity, claiming the attack as “the first operation of its kind ever to occur in Tunisia” because it targeted the crucial tourist economy. Although the gunman’s identities and motivations are not evidently clear, they are believed to the Tunisians themselves. Gunshots were heard in the area around 12:30PM as cruise ships loaded with tourists were docking in the harbor, the gunmen were believed to move swiftly through the crowds due to their uniforms.

Tunisia is the Arab world’s most successful democracy and recently completed it first free presidential elections and a peaceful rotation of political power. Within the recent changes, security forces have struggled to squash the occasional attacks by Islamist extremists. Tunisia has emerged as one of the largest sources of foreign fighters joining the ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The newfound democracy has provided a new freedom to the people of this old authoritarian system. Although evidence doesn’t link the museum attack to the Islamic State, it’s supporters circulated celebratory messages on social media, citing a video released online in December. Within this video, Boubakr Hakim, a Tunisian militant warned of attacks to come stating, “You will not live in safety as long as Tunisia is not ruled by Islam”. The bloodshed on Wednesday raised concerns that the new government might be tempted to trun back toward authoritarianism in an effort to stamp out terrorist threats.

I feel sorry for the people of Tunis, who have clearly been through a lot. It would be a nice change for them to actually be able to live in peace. It’s a shame that with tourism being to critical to this country, that now people will be too fearful to step foot inside their museums, or possibly even on their ground. Democracy will be a process for this country, but I wish them the best.

Brittany Schrum

03/19/15

5:04PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/world/africa/gunmen-attack-tunis-bardo-national-museum.html?ref=world 

U.S. Jury Convicts Man Charged in a Britain Bomb Plot

A 28-year-old Pakistani man, Abid Naseer, was convicted on Wednesday in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn of supporting terrorism and conspiring with Al Qaeda to bomb a shopping center in Manchester, England. The conviction of this man is enhancing the developing understanding of where current terrorists are coming from. Naseer was a middle-class student in Britain who became involved with Al Qaeda gradually over time. He was described as a well educated, charismatic man from a “wealthy” family. During the trial, prosecutors stated that he had helped organize a plot to bomb the shopping center in April of 2009 but was unsuccessful as he was arrested in Britain that month. It is believed that Naseer had communication with his Qaeda handler via email using code words such as “marriage” to refer to the plot, and using women’s names for specific types of bombs. To defend himself on this allegation, he stated that he was unsure of who he was communicating with, that he was just discussing his love life with an internet friend, however at the time of the email conversations he had broken up with his girlfriend so it was very unlikely that he was planning a real wedding. Also, the email address that he was contacting was the same one that Najibullah Zazi had written when he pleaded guilty in participating in a Qaeda plot to bomb the New York City subway system. Zazi claimed that the email address belonged to his handler and that he had been told to use the code word “marriage” when talking about the planned subway bombing; Mr. Naseer had no counter for the claim. Although he grew up in Pakistan, as the Al Qaeda group was gaining status there, he claimed that he had no opinion of them – seeming quite suspicious to the prosecutors.

In response to his rejection of representation by a court appointed lawyer, Naseer told the jury “I wanted the people to hear my voice and hear my story.” Representing himself, he was calm as he questioned witnesses, and during two days of testifying on his own behalf, was logical and focused. Lacking the legal training, he missed opportunities to highlight problems with witnesses or evidence and to emphasize those flaws for the jury. Mr. Naseer faces up to life in prison, as he listened to the verdict he gave no visible reaction, simply rose and clasped his hands together blinding frequently. James E. Neuman, his court-appointed legal adviser, claims that he plans to appeal the verdict. The United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Loretta E. Lynch, stated that the verdict should send a “powerful message” to terrorists.

As I read this article, my question was how did the United States convict this man who was from Pakistan and committing terror crimes in Britain? The very last paragraph explains that he was indicted in the United States in 2010, after being released after his 2009 arrest because of lack of evidence from the British authorities. Apparently there’s a law that allows the federal government to pursue terrorism cases even when they occur outside of the country, and he was extradited here in 2013. I assume that because he was in communication with the same Al Qaeda handler that Zazi was, and Zazi was plotting within the United States, that’s why we wanted to capture Naseer as well. Such an interesting piece, as well as the information that come’s with it!

Brittany Schrum

03/04/15

4:57

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/nyregion/abid-naseer-terror-suspect-found-guilty-on-all-counts-in-2009-bomb-plot.html?src=xps 

Retreating Soldiers Bring Echoes of War Chaos to a Ukrainian Town

Ukrainian soldiers wreaked havoc as they meandered into the town of Artemivsk in eastern Ukraine, griping about incompetent leadership and recounting desperate conditions and gruesome killing as they beat a chaotic retreat from the strategic town of Debaltseve. As the soldiers started to heavily drink, gunshots rang out while others were seizing taxicabs without payment. It wasn’t clear that all the soldiers had been given places to rest their heads and one group stood silently, trembling on a street outside the Hotel Ukraine. Meanwhile at an upscale restaurant, Biblios, others were stomping through the dining room firing shots into the ceiling and ordering brandy that they couldn’t afford. One visibly drunk soldier, who was still in his muddy uniform that he wore escaping from Debaltseve, stated “The guys are unwinding. What do you expect after a battle?” More than 5,000 people have lost their lives due to conflict within the Ukraine however the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France negotiated to cease-fire last week. None of the provisions of the peace treaty have been accomplished according to the agreement’s terms and timeline. There has been no termination in fighting, a deadline for the extraction of heavy weaponry came and went and there has been no evident movement toward a release of prisoners.

Although Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have made a commitment to cease-fire, this doesn’t seem to bring any peace of mind to these soldiers who just spent who knows how long in Debaltseve. Honestly – how could it? Though I don’t think that their behavior is necessarily level headed, I do think that we see the mistreatment of soldiers far too often. Why is it that those who risk their lives at war can’t come home to a place to rest? Even in the United States, we see our soldiers being taken advantage of where it should be our duty to take care of them since they were taking care of us.

Brittany Schrum

02/20/15

12:07

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/world/europe/leaders-speak-by-telephone-to-try-to-impose-ukraine-cease-fire.html?ref=world&_r=0 

With Proof From ISIS of Her Death, Family Honors Kayla Mueller

Kayla Mueller, described by her family and friends as someone deeply committed who refused to avert her eyes from the suffering of others has been pronounced dead. Mueller graduated college in 2009 and moved to India, and soon after to Israel. On August 4^th, 2013 she disappeared in a northern Syrian city, Aleppo; arriving just a day earlier with a Syrian man described as her boyfriend. Syria was then a no-go zone for many international aid workers and on her drive back to the bus station her car was ambushed, and she and her Syrian companion were abducted. Although he was later set free, he refuses to speak of what happened. While many of the male hostages were tortured, the females were treated relatively well.

The Islamic State had held Kayla captive since August of 2013, but they contacted her family privately with proof of her death. They claimed that Kayla was killed in the rubble of a flattened building, but the photographs provided remain unclear as to whether or not her injuries were consistent. The ISIS stated that the building Mueller died in had been demolished by Jordanian airstrikes; a claim that both the White House and Jordan’s government said was unsubstantiated. An American official stated, “We have no definite evidence of how, or when, she died”.

I must be honest; I’ve never been much of a newsperson. I just recently started watching local news, so now that I’m expanding my horizons and learning of global news as well its terrifying! My heart aches for Kayla Mueller and her family, she seemed to be such a kind hearted person. From all the statements of people from college peers to family, it looks like she dedicated her life to improving the lives of others and to see her lose her life this way is heart wrenching. It’s yet another instance of civilians being punished for being a citizen of a certain country, and just in this instance, it happened to be a fellow American. Such a shame.

Brittany Schrum

02/12/2015

6:47PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/world/middleeast/parents-of-kayla-mueller-isis-hostage-confirm-she-is-dead.html?ref=world 

At least 5 killed in Ukraine, result of shelling

After a month of moderate peace, the battle between Russia-backed rebels and government troops in eastern Ukraine resumed in January, with more than two hundred people being killed in the past three weeks. On Wednesday, February 4, 2015, substantial shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine killed at least five people. Not only were five lives taken but the shelling also caused damage to a hospital, six schools and five kindergartens. The casualties have not been confirmed from the west part of Donetsk but a rebel-ran Donetsk News Agency reported five deaths in and around a hospital in the Tekstilshchik district. A witness to the shelling reported six or seven explosions, describing the attack as extremely terrifying. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini  has ordered the extraction of heavy weaponry from Ukrainian cities and a truce for at least three days to guarantee the safe evacuation of civilians from the conflict zone. Although there have been several cries for a truce in eastern Ukraine in the past week, the communication collapsed on Saturday. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is reaching out to U.S. President Barack Obama in hopes that the United States will aid the Ukraine by sending weapons. Poroshenko will have the opportunity to present his case to U.S.  Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday.

The report also states that four civilians lost their lives in the days prior to Wednesday’s shelling. Something that I will never understand is why innocent civilians have to lose their lives within these conflicts. As the conflict rises, the number of civilian casualties is skyrocketing. Bombing hospitals, schools, and kindergartens is attacking the weak. How are children supposed to defend, protect, or even know what is going on?

Brittany Schrum

February 4, 2015

2:40PM 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/04/ukraine-president-says-has-no-doubt-us-will-send-his-forces-weapons/