Afghan peace needs a human face III : Aziz the Afghan human person speaks
June 30, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Aziz the Afghan human person speaks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEzk4knM_WY
Salam ( peace ), Hakim.
Aziz, where do you live?
In Bamiyan, Blacksmith Village.
What’s the river behind you?
It’s the Blacksmith River.
Do you fish here?
Yes.
Do most people in Afghanistan like war?
No, all are keen to have peace.
In my opinion, we want peace. We do not want war.
Why? Because war brings misfortune to people and society.
When asked what his wish in life was,
Aziz had said “ I wish to love people.”
Abdulai the mountain boy
Raziq works
Aziz loves people and sheep
Do Abdulai, Raziq, Aziz and other humans matter at all in war?
The purchasing power of peace BBC News 4/6/09
Defence companies, whose main task is to aid governments’ efforts to defend or acquire territory, routinely highlight their capacity to contribute to economic growth and to provide employment.
Defence spending 2008
US $374bn
Asia $173bn
European Nato members $144bn
Source : International Institute for Strategic Studies
António Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister, has been UN High Commissioner for Refugees since 2005. Al Jazeera News 20/6/09
The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stands at more than 42 million.
Major countries of origin for refugees included Afghanistan (2.8 million) and Iraq (1.9 million), which together account for 45 per cent of all UNHCR refugees.
Just as the international community felt an obligation to spend hundreds of billions rescuing the international financial system, it should feel the same urgency to rescue some of the most vulnerable people on earth – refugees and the internally displaced.
And the amount needed is only a fraction of that spent on financial bailouts.
US admits Afghan airstrike orders BBC News 20/6/09
Failure by US forces to follow their own rules was the “likely” cause of civilian deaths in Afghan airstrikes last month, a US military report says.
Ex-detainees allege Bagram abuse BBC News 24/6/09
Allegations of abuse and neglect at a US detention facility in Afghanistan have been uncovered by the BBC.
Former detainees have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at the Bagram military base.
Interview with Marjorie Cohn, National Lawyers Guild president and Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor Marjorie Cohn, Truth Out 22/6/09
I have testified as an expert witness in military hearings on the illegality of today’s wars.
There is a duty to obey a lawful order, but also a duty to disobey an unlawful order.
An order to deploy to an illegal war is an unlawful order, so it is lawful to resist the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
You can write to Abdulai, Raziq or Aziz at journeytosmile@gmail.com
