Showing 1-5 of 5 results
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Gitmo no cause for celebration
News, Published on 15/01/2012
» Last Wednesday was the 10th anniversary of the opening of the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention centre for those deemed to be foreign combatants in the nebulous US-led war on terror. Riding a wave of popular outcry against the centre internationally and at home, then-candidate Barack Obama made a pledge to close the facility a keynote of campaign speeches, and soon after he was inaugurated in January 2009 he signed an executive order calling for its closure. Yet in December the US Congress passed a defence funding appropriation bill with a provision that established the legal framework to keep the detention centre open indefinitely. Mr Obama did make some efforts to keep his promise. Not long after US Attorney General Eric Holder announced a plan to hold trials for detainees in US federal courts. To be sure there were considerable obstacles to carrying this out, not least the vehement opposition in communities near where the detainees would be imprisoned while awaiting trial. But despite the difficulties, Mr Obama's first impulses were correct. Guantanamo should have been closed long ago.
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Joss stick would be fine in UK
News, Published on 15/01/2012
» Thankfully Thailand does have a few really good journalists, among them Voranai Vanijaka. He always offers a reasoned and fair appraisal of his subject, as in his column last Sunday, ''Witch hunt for red Joss Stick''. The behaviour outlined in the article illustrates to an unnerving degree the medieval bigotry that still exists in this country, not from ordinary people but from those with influence.
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The spy who came in from the murk
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 15/01/2012
» In the mid-1970s, while travelling on the slowest train in the world from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, I recall ploughing my way through John Le Carre's spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
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Wake-up smack for a changing society
News, Voranai Vanijaka, Published on 15/01/2012
» The slapping was a symptom of an outdated mentality that still permeates society.
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Peace hopes real, but Karen remain wary
News, Published on 15/01/2012
» It was a heart-pounding moment for many Karen around the world waiting to hear the outcomes of Thursday's peace talks between the Karen National Union and the Burmese government. It was a moment of hope _ at last thoughts of a peace that we have been longing for for decades. The results of the talks are so far, confusing for many Karen _ do we have a peace deal or not? Ceasefire agreements in the past between military-backed Burmese governments and the KNU have always ended in tatters.
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