News: The new face of US humanitarian aid?
USS Mount Whitney at Poti (Georgia)[i-USS Mount Whitney at Poti (Georgia)]
The flagship of the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, the USS Mount Whitney, arrived at the Georgian port Poti, "with more humanitarian aid for Georgia". (Full)
Picture courtesy AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
News: Relief agencies criticize US military "humanitarians"
US sailors loading humanitarian cargo on the deck of guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul[i-US sailors loading humanitarian cargo on the deck of guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul]The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has felt first hand the heavy toll to be paid when humanitarians are targetted by violence. Just two weeks ago, three IRC female staff working in Afghanistan and traveling in a clearly marked vehicle when they were attacked and killed by Taliban.
A symbolic attack, further prompting humanitarians to distantiate themselves from any military forces in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.
No wonder that Non-governmental relief agencies are now criticizing the US decision to put the Pentagon in a prominent "humanitarian" role in Georgia. They claim the "militarization" of the humanitarian operation puts them, the aid workers, at risk.
"We are concerned about blurring the lines between who is an aid worker and who is a soldier," said Anne Richard, a vice president of the IRC. "If we are mistaken for soldiers, in very dangerous situations we can become targets," said Richard. (Full)
Picture courtesy AP Photo
News: Georgia - a tit-for-tat game between Russia and the US.
middle finger[i-middle finger]
The front page of the Russian Tvoi Den ("Your Day") newspaper today makes no secret of what it thinks of the West. "TAK YOU" means "F**K YOU"
The text below the picture reads: "For the first time in many years Russia has clearly shown to the West we are not going to live by its order."
Tensions between Russia and the US has been raising since a while. I wrote about this on The Road a year ago.
It seems after their battle of words on Iraq, Iran, the US missile shield, blabla, the two superpowers are now ready to rattle swords and have picked Georgia as their playing ground.
After the skirmishes between Georgia and its break-away or autonomous (depending who you ask) republics, Russia went in with full military force, knowing the US would take sides.
The US poked Russia by putting the US military in charge of "the humanitarian relief mission in Georgia" (more), and moved US warships with "humanitarian supplies" into the Black Sea.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev deepened the Georgia crisis yesterday by insisting that South Ossetia and Abkhazia should be independent nations, adding: "We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new Cold War."
Russia's NATO envoy then declared that military aid to Georgia for use against South Ossetia and Abkhazia would be seen as a "declaration of war". (Full)
Phew...
And you know what bugs me? Who will be the victim of this rattle of words or swords? The ordinary people. Some things never change.
Source: International Aid Workers Today
Pictures courtesy This Is London and San Francisco Sentinel Read the full post...