News Roundup - Hour 2
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-09-10/news-roundup-hour-2
Afghan President Hamid Karzai seeks to limit U.S. involvement in corruption probes; the first American soldiers are killed in Iraq since the combat mission ended; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Mexican drug violence is like Colombia's two decades ago. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.
Guests
Susan Glasser
editor-in-chief, Foreign Policy.
Martin Walker
foreign affairs writer, United Press International.
Nancy Youssef
Pentagon correspondent, McClatchy newspapers.
Comments
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On the deaths of the two fine soldiers in Iraq--
President Bush and the Republican party's war of agression in Iraq lacks a logical basis and moral fortitude so each death there is even more tragic. The Iraqi's have their own plans for their country and their own way of doing things. No amont of sacrifice on the part of our brave uniformed serivices will sway their cultural destiny. Their cultural norms are more violent and hold life less sacred than ours. So we cannot view thier "political process" through the prism of our ideals. The founding of our own country involved an insurgency and terrorist acts. America's armed forces have delivered amazing results to us and the Iraqi people even though they were given a truly impossible task. Let's honor their sacrifice and get all personell out of harm's way--whatever that takes.
Andrew, Fort Gibson, OK
At this time two millennia and one year ago, the Roman Empire suffered a stinging defeat at the hands of Germanic insurgents in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. Will Hamid Karzai turn into a modern-day Arminius, undermining the Allied effort in pursuit of his own interests?
Read more here:
http://brainmindinst.blogspot.com/2010/09/teutoburg-forest-mind.html
Nancy Youssef had some harsh words criticizing Afghan President Karzai. Can you, Diane, and your guests in the media have the same harsh words for the United Nations MONUC forces in the Eastern DRC?
500 women and CHILDREN were raped less than 10 kilometers from where international peacekeepers were stationed. This is not a first time such a gross failure to protect has occurred. It is true the perpetrators of this vicious crime are ultimately to blame but the MONUC forces are also CRIMINALLY responsible--either for gross negligence or complicity.
Again I plead, can you as contributors to the media, launch a campaign of accountability against MONUC forces. The forces' officials should be named and disgraced.
Your guests today, have said that the pastor has manipulated the media and wondered why America has given him a national platform when he doesn't represent "mainstream America." One also mentioned that other similar events have been proposed but without receiving such wide media attention. It seems to me that the Jones' issue isn't about Jones himself, regardless of his desire for media attention. The media grabs onto whatever person or event it feels will generate the most controversy, and therefore "sell" whatever benefits themselves. Clearly, many Americans agree with Jones' views of dissatisfaction with our government's responses to those who continually attack America, both violently and verbally. I think this situation shows America's ability to publicly discuss opposing points of view and our desire to give everyone the right to free speech, including the media. We are not a nation that stifles the minority viewpoint, but rather engages it.
Near the end of the News Roundup, Hour 2 for 10 Sept. 2010, Diane Rehm moved with impressive speed away from Martin Walker's hint of a suggestion that legalization of at least some drugs currently illicit in the USA might be an idea to consider.
It's an idea to consider.
Indeed, it would be a good topic for a series of DR SHOWS, or at least two Friday shows, one domestic, the other with an international focus.
And we need some radical thinking -- from the roots -- and some holistic thinking, considering the *system* of drug use, advertising, and marketing from aspirin to beer to antibiotics to heroin to Viagra.
A few hours watching US TV will make clear that the answer to one's problems is probably a pill or a properly fashionable beer brand. A moment's serious consideration will make clear that there's something seriously wrong when industrial cattle or hog or chicken or fish "ranchers" can help produce antibiotic-resistant pathogens by putting antibiotics into animal populations and the environment by the kilo, while some kid goes to jail for dealing (illicit recreational) DRUGS!!! by the ounce.
We need to aim for net systemic harm reduction from all manner of drug use in America.
Genly Al had some great thoughts. I too was deeply offended by how fast Martin Walkers ideas were dismissed.
There is no discussion of real problems or real solutions anywhere in the US media these days. This would have been a great opportunity. Diane, are you listening? Please have more shows on drug and corruption issues and focus on real solutions not SB 1070.