141.6 - Update: South Sudan

Update: South Sudan

Next update is about South Sudan. I don't expect in the future I'll be spending a lot of time on this because I know it's something that, quite frankly, a lot of you won't care about except in a broad philosophical sense. And while it's something I think you should know about, I also realize that it's not something you can do a lot about. Even so, I do want to give this update.

Peace negotiations, if you can call them that, have opened between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebel forces lead by former Vice-President Riek Machar - with (please try to contain your surprise) each side wanting the other to make the first move.

The government rejected rebel calls for an immediate release of prisoners, political supporters of Machar, which the government accuses of being involved in a coup against Kiir. Meanwhile, Machar, whose forces have taken the city of Bor and are reputed to be on the way to the capital city of Juba, is saying that groups calling for an immediate ceasefire are "jumping the gun," an attitude often taken by whichever side feels it is on the offensive.

The UNHCR, the UN agency dealing with refugees, reports that the conflict, which is only three weeks old, has already displaced 189,000 people. The map to the right gives some indications of the numbers involved.

Although the fighting has mostly been along ethnic lines, the fact is it appears at root to be more a matter of political power than ethnicity. Put another way, it's another example of tribal fears and hatred being exploited for the benefit of the powerful.

Same as it ever was. Which is the saddest part of all.

Sources:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/07/us-southsudan-unrest-idUSBREA0607Y20140107
http://www.voanews.com/content/south-sudan-ex-vp-backs-agreement-to-end-violence/1823826.html
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/06/this-map-drives-home-how-bad-things-are-getting-in-south-sudan/

Left Side of the Aisle #102 - Part 2

Good news #2: UN treaty on arms sales

Another bit of good news, and something I doubt you heard about: On April 2, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the first international treaty to regulate the international arms trade, now etimated at $60 billion a year and rising rapidly.

The vote was 154-3, with 23 abstentions.

It will go into effect 90 days after 50 countries ratify it. It prohibits countries that ratify it from exporting conventional weapons if they violate arms embargoes, or if they promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes, or if the exporting country believes they would be used in attacks against civilians or schools and hospitals. Exporters must also evaluate whether the weapons would be used by terrorists or organized crime and must take steps to prevent the weapons from being diverted to the black market.

The treaty covers a wide variety of military equipment from tanks, artillery systems, aircraft, warships, right down through helicopters and missiles to small arms and light weapons.

It comes as the result of more than ten years of effort and the vote produced loud cheers in the General Assembly chamber when it was posted.

The only "no" votes were cast by Iran, North Korea and Syria.

The US, which is the world's largest arms exporter, with about 30% of the world market, voted yes. Russia, which is the world's second largest arms exporter, with about 26% of the market, abstained. So did China, which, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, now ranks number five on the list of arms exporters.

Germany and France, the second- and third-largest arms exporters, voted yes, as did the UK, which has dropped to sixth place behind China. India, Indonesia, and many Arabs states abstained.

What impact the treaty will actually have remains to be seen, of course. A lot of good words and even good intentions across history have melted under the pressure of expediency, and this could prove to be just another case. A lot will depend on which countries ratify it and which ones don't and how strictly those countries implement it.

Which brings up the question of what are the chances for ratification here. I don't really need to go into that, do I? Treaties require the approval of 2/3 of the Senate and they can't muster a 3/5 vote to move ordinary legislation.

Oh, and here's a big surprise: Even though this refers only to international trade, has no bearing on domestic law, and so has no impact on the Second Amendment and in no way relates to gun sales or ownership domestically, the NRA and the gun manufacturers fought against it. As a result, in one of the amendments to the Senate Budget last month, Senators, ever eager to lick the jack boots of the gun lobby, voted 53-46 to stop the US from joining the treaty.

In other words, the US helped negotiate the thing, helped to push the thing, was praised for its work on the thing, voted for the thing, but no way is going to ratify the thing. Because pleasing the Nutzoid Rabbit-brains of America is more important than keeping missiles and guns out of the hands of terrorists and war criminals.

So we have to celebrate the treaty for what it is: a first step, a small step, a baby step, a declaration of principles in an area when many don't have any. In the words of Anthony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it is

a noble gesture that may over time acquire the kind of precedence or enforcement that would give it meaning.

And then, after the immediate celebration, we have to ask ourselves how we can morally tolerate being the world's biggest dealer in death.

Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/un-adopts-arms-treaty-global-weapons-trade_n_2999505.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/u_n_adopts_arms_treaty/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/worlds-top-5-arms-exporters_n_2899052.html

Left Side of the Aisle #102

Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of April 4-10, 2013

Good news #1: Not-so-secret drones
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/federal_court_cia_cant_ignore_foias_on_drones/?source=newsletter
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/dc-appeals-court-rejects-cias-secrecy-claims-aclus-targeted-killing-foia-lawsuit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/14/cia-aclu-drone-secrecy

Good news #2: UN treaty on arms sales
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/un-adopts-arms-treaty-global-weapons-trade_n_2999505.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/u_n_adopts_arms_treaty/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/worlds-top-5-arms-exporters_n_2899052.html

Good news #3: SCOTUS says "Down, boy!"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/drug-sniffing-dogs-unconstitutional-search_n_2956079.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Good news#4: Same-sex marriage continues to gain
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/mark-kirk-gay-marriage_n_2999668.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/0330/Gay-marriage-opinion-shift-conservative-lawmakers-pundits-left-scrambling/%28page%29/2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/supreme-court-proposition-8_n_2950615.html
http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/05/12/oreillys-ark-gay-marriage-could-lead-to-goat-du/150069
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/bill-oreilly-gay-marriage-thump-bible_n_2962110.html
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/alan_keyes_gay_marriage_is_the_archetype_of_all_crimes_against_humanity/
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/baptist_pastor_calvin_butts_marriage_equality_is_the_freedom_god_has_given_you/

Clown Award: Georgia GOP chair Sue Everhart
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/01/sue-everhart-gay-marriage_n_2991860.html

Outrage of the Week: Wal-mart will brook no opposition
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/cvs-workers-insurance_n_2915006.html
http://ehbs.kff.org/pdf/2012/8346.pdf
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/25/us-walmart-trespass-lawsuit-idUSBRE92O0W820130325
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/295341.html
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-03-26/news/os-walmart-sues-orange-protesters-20130326_1_wal-mart-workers-wal-mart-employees-wal-mart-stores
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SLAPP
http://www.anti-slapp.org/
http://www.anti-slapp.org/recent/in-a-new-aisle-energy-drinks-sidestep-some-rules/

Update #1: More transparency reports
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/us-law-enforcement-gets-most-customer-data-from-microsoft/

Update #2: Keystone XL pipeline
http://www.salon.com/2013/03/26/states_keystone_report_authors_also_okayed_explosive_caspian_pipeline/?source=newsletter

Inch by inch...

Sometimes it seems that this is the only bright spot in the future. So with, I freely note, credit where it's due, I'm glad to be able to report that

[t]he United Nations endorsed the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people for the first time ever Friday, passing a resolution hailed as historic by the U.S. and other backers and decried by some African and Muslim countries.

The declaration was cautiously worded, expressing "grave concern" about abuses because of sexual orientation and commissioning a global report on discrimination against gays.

But activists called it an important shift on an issue that has divided the global body for decades, and they credited the Obama administration's push for gay rights at home and abroad.

Like I said, credit where it's due.

The vote was close - 23 in favor, 19 against - amid the usual railings about "unnatural" rights and there is no enforcement mechanism, but

it also established a formal U.N. process to document human rights abuses against gays, including discriminatory laws and acts of violence. According to Amnesty International, consensual same-sex relations are illegal in 76 countries worldwide, while harassment and discrimination are common in many more.

Perhaps most important, it is, in the words of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Baer, a sign to all the bigots everywhere that "change will come." Not soon enough, but it will come.