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  One after the other political leaders from the west, especially Britain and France, rushed to the island to show their humanitarian concern for the displaced Tamils who were used as human shield by the now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, LTTE, which claimed to fight for the interest of this very same people.    However, these Western politicians’ …

Israel’s ability to wage another war against the militant Shia movement Hezbollah may have been compromised by an unprecedented wave of arrests of people in Lebanon alleged to have been spying for the Israelis. Experts say the arrests appear to add up to a major strategic blow to Israel. Mobile phone footage circulating in Beirut shows one of the suspected …

The Europeans who are now championing the cause of human rights ought to remember that in their original conception in the West they were not meant to apply to all human beings. By and large they covered only the human beings of European extraction. Even James Mill, the English philosopher (1806-73) who is often quoted as the great thinker in …

by BBC world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds. Paul Reynolds, BBC world affairs correspondent, says (Introduction): “President Obama’s speech is divided into a number of sections. He starts by urging greater mutual understanding between the United States and Islam. He then considers seven issues that have to be, in his view, confronted. “These are violent extremism, the Israeli/Palestinian dispute, nuclear weapons …

Another standard pretext for torture is the context: the “war on terror” that Bush declared after 9/11. A crime that rendered traditional international law “quaint” and “obsolete” — so George W. Bush was advised by his legal counsel Alberto Gonzales, later appointed Attorney General. The doctrine has been widely reiterated in one form or another in commentary and analysis. The …

Atricle Continuation from New Dream for Tear Drop Island. Regrouping Under the circumstances, it is impossible for the LTTE   to regroup.  Numerous factors that favoured the LTTE in their early stages  had turned against them  today. The changing regional and international political scenarios virtually crippled the LTTE with India, Pakistan China and Russia standing behind Sri Lankan government while   …