The Dangers of Transnational Environmental Crime

In 2001, people all around the world were shocked by the Anthrax attack that killed and caused illness in over 20 Americans. This type of attack can be categorized as a specific type of terrorism—Bioterrorism. Bioterrorism is the use of biological agents such as, viruses and other bacteria to cause harm to people, animals, or the environment. Not only does bioterrorism fall under the scope of terrorism in general, but it can also take the form of transnational crime, which is an incident that occurs across national borders and is considered criminal by two or more states (Naim 187). In the case of Anthrax, the biological agents entered the country through the mail, crossing national borders-- a blatant transnational crime. A specific type of transnational crime that relates quite closely to bioterrorism is, Transnational Environmental Crime (TEC). Highly threatening elements of TEC are the illegal trading of plants and animals (often endangered), natural resources, the moving and dumping of hazardous waste, and the smuggling of pollutants from one country into another (Elliot 502). Unfortunately, due to various aspects of states’ self-interest, TEC often goes ignored. In my opinion, however, it is in the best interest of governments to increase awareness of TEC and punishments for the perpetrators, or else TEC will have the chance to escalate and be utilized for major acts of bioterrorism.

Despite the dangerous implications of TEC, states shy away from harsh penalties for TEC because of their own economic benefits. Even in the UN’s Convention against Transnational Crime, the activities of timber and wildlife smuggling have mild punishments such as, four years or fewer of imprisonment for perpetrators (Elliot 515). It is thought that over half of the European Union’s timber is illegal logged. Because of the illegal timber trade, legitimate timber prices have skyrocketed, thus without this source of timber, the EU would be paying much higher prices for this resource. Although the smuggling of timber into the EU is technically illegal, it is considered licit because of the positive implications it has for the state itself (Schendel 20). In the face of bioterrorism, the populace should be wary of state economic self-interest in relation to TEC, and question the acceptance of this activity as licit.

Additionally, governments are hesitant to admit that TEC poses the same the security threats as other types of transnational crime. The illegal trading of drugs and arms as well as human trafficking endangers human populations and can cause a state’s government to become largely insecure (Elliot 511). Because violence is almost always a direct effect of these illegal transnational crimes, governments pay close attention to these issues. In 2002, the countries involved in the Declaration of Parties in the South China Sea made cooperative measures to lessen the transnational crimes of arms and drugs trafficking. Unfortunately, this transnational crime declaration (as well as many others) leaves out TEC (Elliot 512). States view drug, arms, and human trafficking as direct security threats to their welfare, while they do not view ecological threats in the same light even though environmental terrorism has the potential to be equally as harmful.

It is puzzling as to why states do not fear TEC as much as other types of environmental crime. Perhaps environmental crime is more abstract than other types of transnational crime, as it is difficult to imagine that the illegal logging and smuggling of timber, animals, and hazardous waste is facilitated by “criminal gangs” and poses a major threat to humanity’s well-being (Elliot 504, 509). Yet, this is dangerous naiveté considering how closely linked the health of the environment is with the health of the populace. This abstract and behind-the-scenes nature of TEC causes there to be less attention given to TEC by states even though it plagues the future of global environmental and economic integrity and safety. Unfortunately, by not placing a greater emphasis on the security threats of TEC, terrorists have the potential to utilize this backhand, under emphasized trade to launch attacks on innocent people.

There are a variety of ways in which TEC can transform into bioterrorism. Globalization aids in the ease of this transformation, as

“the intersection of the power of globalization with the threat of international

crime appears to confirm the darkest fears of policy makers, law enforcement officials, and average citizens of industrialized countries” (Schendel 3).

In this global era of ease of communication and travel, if the technology and means of trading hazardous waste falls into the wrong hands, this could be fatal to humanity. Aside from the smuggling of environmental goods and animals from country to country, much of what TEC does, involves the trade of hazardous waste. Although not caused by terrorists or transnational criminals, in the late 1970s in Niagra Falls, New York, hundreds of families had to be evacuated from the town after toxic chemicals were found in the Love Canal area of the Niagara Falls. These chemicals found their way into schools and homes causing burns, birth defects, and miscarriages. It took 21 years and $400 million to revitalize the town, and the toxic waste site in which the chemicals were derived (DePalma).

If, for example, transnational criminals or terrorists used the Colorado River as a dumping site for hazardous waste, this would be one of the most harmful bioterrorist attacks ever completed. The Colorado River supplies water for 3 million acres of farmland and 30 million people in the US and Mexico, if infected with toxic chemicals, incredible amounts of farmland and farm animals would be damaged as well as the people all around the country receiving their drinking water from the Colorado River (Matalon). There is chance for disaster if states continue to look past the links between the environment and society, such as the reliance of US citizens on the Colorado River.

Moreover, the Asian Longhorned Beetle was accidentally carried into the United States via wood in cargo shipments in 1996. The beetle then proceeded to destroy trees up and down the northern east coast of the US ("Plant Health, Plant Protection and Quarantine"). Again, this incident was not purposeful, however, if terrorists were given the means to do so, the transnational smuggling of animals across borders could be utilized to infect important ecological aspects of the US economy and society. By placing weak punishments and little attention on TEC, governments fail to consider the dependent relationship of the people and their surroundings.

For the sake of the environment, people, and state safety, it is urgent that new and innovative legal and legislative measures are created to curb TEC. States must put their self-interest aside and reconsider the direct security threats that arise from TEC because allowing this type of transnational crime is allowed to flourish causes the chance of bioterrorist attacks to increase. Terrorism hones in on society’s fears, and in order to combat terrorism, preparedness is key. Currently, the US and other countries around the world are not ready for a terrorist attack on the environment that causes harm to a staggering percentage of the population. However, with more of a focus on TEC, countries around the world have a higher probability of stopping the transformation of TEC to a form of bioterrorism.

Works Cited:

"CDC Bioterrorism Overview." CDC Emergency Preparedness & Response Site.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Feb. 2007. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

.

DePalma, Anthony, and David Staba. "Love Canal Declared Clean, Ending Toxic Horror

- New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News &

Multimedia. The New York Times, 18 Mar. 2004. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. .

Elliott, Lorraine. "Transnational environmental crime in the Asia Pacific: an

'un(der)securitized' security problem?." Pacific Review 20.4 (2007): 499-522.

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

Matalon, Lorne. "Colorado River Water Rights." PRI's The World. 9 Apr. 2010. Web. 27

Oct. 2011. .

"Plant Health, Plant Protection and Quarantine." USDA - APHIS. 19 Aug. 2011. Web. 27

Oct. 2011.

.

Schendel, Willem Van, and Itty Abraham. Bloomington: Indiana University, 2005. Print.

"Transnational Organized Crime | National Institute of Justice." National Institute of

Justice: Criminal Justice Research, Development and Evaluation. Office of

Justice Programs, 15 Nov. 2007. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

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The Plague Maker

"There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history. It is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations."

- Claude Vorilhon 

     

       Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel. More than 95% of the victims who died in the research camps were either Chinese or Korean. There were several subsidiary units that practiced biological and chemical testing, however Unit 731 served as the headquarters. Together, all these units instigated atrocities that caused an appalling number of deaths. According to the 2002 International Symposium on the Crimes of Bacteriological Warfare, the number of people killed by the Imperial Japanese Army germ warfare and human experiments reaches around 580,000.  However, over 200,000 of these deaths came from the Unit 731 Headquarters alone. This sercret organization operated under an identity exactly opposite of what it represented, the Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Unit. However, today, we call it what it is... a Death Camp.     
       Although testing was done on plants and animals, a special project with the code name, Maruta, used human beings for experiments. The word Maruta literally means "logs of wood". Because of this, the human test subjects in the camp were referred to euphemistically as "logs". This term originated as a joke because the official location of the camp was in a lumber mill. So, the term spread and it became a common word used when addressing the victims. The test subjects were selected so as to provide a diverse experiment that could be as accurate as possible. They included common criminals, captured bandits, anti-Japanse partisans, political prisoners, and anyone who was taken in for "suspicious behavior". They also included infants, the elderly, and pregnant women.
        One of the experiments which prisoners were subjected to was live vivisection without anesthesia. Vivisections were performed on prisoners after infecting them with various diseases. Scientists performed invasive surgery on prisoners, removing organs to study the effect of the disease on the human body. These vivisections were conducted while the patients were still alive because scientists feared that the decomposition process would affect the results. Other vivisection practices included amputation in order to study blood loss. Those limbs were sometimes re-attached to the opposite sides of the body. Some prisoners' limbs were frozen and amputated, while others had limbs frozen then thawed to study the effects of untreated gangrene and rotting that resulted. Some prisoners had their stomachs surgically removed and their throats re-attached to the intestines. Parts of the brain, lungs, liver and other vital organs were also removed from some prisoners. These heinous acts were not only implemented among one certain group. The infected and vivisected prisoners included men, women, children, and infants. No one was exempt from the cruelty of these experiments.  
       Other experiments included things like weapons testing. In most cases, human targets were used to test grenades positioned at various distances and in different positions to find the most lethal trajectory. Flame throwers were tested on humans as well. Subjects were tied to stakes and used as targets to test germ-releasing bombs, chemical weapons, and explosives. The list of experiments goes on and on. In some cases, prisoners were subjected to other torturous acts such as being hung upside down to see how long it would take for them to choke to death. Another method used was injecting air into the victims' arteries to determine the time until the onset of embolism. There were even occasions where scientists would inject horse urine into the subjects' kidneys. Even more incidents include being deprived of food and water to determine the length of time until death, being placed into high-pressure chambers until death, having experiments performed on prisoners to determine the relationship between temperature, burns, and human survival. In case these aren't enough, victims were sometimes placed into centrifuges and spun until dead, had animal blood injected and the effects studied, exposed to lethal doses of x-rays, had various chemical weapons tested on them inside gas chambers, injected with sea water to determine if it could be a substitute for saline, and either burned, boiled, or buried alive.     
       However, of all the human testing executed by Unit 731, perhaps some of the most atrocious were germ warfare attacks. In these experiments, prisoners were injected with inoculations of disease, disguised as vaccinations, to study their effects. In order to study effects of venereal diseases, male and female prisoners were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea. Prisoners were infested with fleas in order to acquire large quantities of disease-carrying fleas for the purpose of studying the viability of germ warfare. Plague fleas, infected clothing, and infected supplies encased in bombs were dropped on various targets. The resulting cholera, anthrax, and plague were estimated to have killed around 400,000 chinese civilians. Unit 731 and its affiliated units were involved in research, development, and experimental deployment of epidemic-creating biowarfare weapons in assaults against the Chinese populace throughout World War II. Plague-infested fleas, bred in the laboratories of Unit 731, were spread by low-flying airplanes upon Chinese cities. This military aerial spraying killed thousands of people with bubonic plague epidemics.        
       So, my point by providing this information is to not only discuss a dilemma that took place in our innocent game of Diplomatic Risk, but to show an act of terrorism that seems so hard to grasp. Of course, we did not insinuate biological testing in our game, but the whole idea of bioterrorism is not as far-fetched as we may think. I am surprised to learn how many people are either misinformed or not informed at all about biological warfare and the experiments that took place in Japan during World War II. And even fewer know that these atrocities also took place in Russia, Britain, and, yes, even the United States. The U.S. has admitted to using open-air biological and chemical weapons tests in at least four of its states during the 1960s. I will admit, however, that I was extremely uninformed about this issue until I happened to pick up a book at my local library back home. Plague Maker by Tim Downs changed my entire perspective on World War II, transnational crime, international relations, terrorism, and the possibilities of pure evil in the world. 
       When someone mentions World War II, what are the initial thoughts? Is it Pearl Harbor,  the Nazis, the Jews, or the birth of the United Nations? Although these events are monumental in world history, many other events often get overshadowed. Much like how the Armenian Genocide fell behind the curtain of World War I, the same happens in regards to the devastation caused by Japanese biological testing. I am forever grateful that I decided to pick up Plague Maker because it allowed me to see the littler picture for once. I now view international relations and foreign policy as tools that often become misguided. I have questioned why certain human rights violations become more publicized than others. After all, through my 13 years of school, I was never once taught about the events that took place in Japan during the 1940s. This topic is simply not covered in American history books. So, because of this lack of knowledge, this book was a page turner unlike any other I had previously read. Although the novel was highly dramatized and infused with a fictitious story line, the background information was still there and, for the most part, all the knowledge I have about Unit 731 came from Tim Downs. In the novel, an FBI agent, Nathaniel Donovan, works with the CIA and a elderly Chinese survivor of the experiments to stop the threat of a July 4th attack on New York City. In the novel, Sato Matsushita, a notorious instigator of Unit 731, is planning to launch a bioterror attack by packing Bubonic Plague-infected fleas into a firework and launching in on the harbor, thus infection thousands of innocent Americans. In order to prevent this attack, all areas of U.S. national security must work together and share intelligence.         
       In the real world, some of the same processes would be necessary. However, more often than not, it does not work this efficiently. A bioterror attack is one of the hardest types of terrorism to track and prevent. For years, Unit 731 operated in secret buildings under secret identities. It was not until after thousands of Chinese, Korean, and American people had been brutally killed that the world began to gain knowledge about what was going on. The unit remained a secret until the mid 1950s, and even then, the world did not know how to react. The difference between the novel and the real world is that, in the novel, the U.S. was able to gain enough intelligence on its own and successfully prevented the terror attack. However, many countries have more knowledge on bioterror, and if this occurred today, it would be necessary to share intelligence internationally. Also, it is not likely that the U.S. could even prevent a bioterror attack at all. Although the U.S. is not currently facing a bioterror threat, it is something I believe could occur in the future. Regardless of the many regulations that have been placed on this matter, let Unit 731 serve as a warning that if it happened once in China, it can happen again anywhere else in the world. 

Homelessness

As I was leaving Five Guys with my family in Dupont Circle, Saturday, I was met by a rather pleasant smile attempting to sell me a Street Sense newspaper. As the conversation played out and I realized what Street Sense does, I also realized that this may make a good, short blog post to provoke some thoughts and create some discussion.

“If you happen to pass the corner of Connecticut Avenue and L Street, or stroll past Metro Center, or walk through Dupont Circle, it's hard to miss the energetic, outspoken, charismatic Street Sense vendor by the name of L. Morrow,” the Vendor Profile in this week's edition reads. I did buy a copy and do every time there is a new issue out as I pass by one of the vendors.

Street Sense is a very good and interesting organization. It is a Washington, D.C.-based 16-page biweekly street newspaper that was founded in 2003. Its mission is to offer economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness in our community through a newspaper that elevates voices and encourages debate on poverty and injustice. It features news, editorials, poems, and art about homelessness and poverty and other social issues – all written by homeless people or people very concerned about the issue. Street Sense vendors pay thirty-five cents for each paper to cover publishing costs and then sell each paper for one dollar. According to their website, as of June 2009, Street Sense has about one hundred active vendors, selling sixteen thousand newspapers every other week, with the average vendor earning forty-five dollars a day. The vendors choose where to sell the papers throughout the city.

In the article the above excerpt comes from, L. Morrow is profiled as he has been selling the newspapers for a while now. In the article he is quoted as saying, “Homelessness is a state of mind; you don't have to look or smell bad. If you have self-respect and dignity, others will respect you. I live in a homeless castle; my ceiling is the sky and my bed is the soft sheets of heaven.” The article is ended with another quote from L. Morrow: “I want to spread the word that we've all got to help one another: spirituality, mentally and financially, if possible.”

I see a couple of parallels between the statements he made and some of the theories we have studied in class. For example, L. Morrow speaks about it being essential for everyone to help one another financially, if possible. This is generally a sentiment that is echoed on the local level and is carried, through politicians, to the national level and sometimes implemented as policy. Through this, politicians talk about the redistribution of wealth. Also, on an international scale, politicians talk about it in terms of foreign aid to other countries (something that the US does a lot, although it is only approximately a percentage point of the US Government's budget). This aligns with liberalism and its beliefs across the world.

The discussion of homelessness can also bring us back to our class discussions about statelessness. L. Morrow stating that homelessness is a state of mind is a very interesting aspect to bring into the conversation – the point that it depends on how you define homeless. The Augusta Chronicle did a profile on a fifty-eight year old man named Bill Johnson who lives in a tent, under a bridge in Augusta. He is quoted: “It depends on how you define homeless. I'm not homeless. I live in a tent under a bridge.” McManus writes that he would hitchhike to Florida and live with his mother, he could find his sister and live with her, but he just wants to stay in the city that he loves and cannot find a job in. In addition, homelessness does not only describe people sleeping on the streets – even if you have a roof over your head you may still be homeless. If your home is unsuitable for you to live in, or you have no right to stay in it you could be classified as homeless. Citizens being “rejected” by the governmental system, or those being evicted, feel homeless and feel a sense of detachment from the state that they know and love. Many stateless people, as Arendt points out, have no sense of self-identity, no feeling of belonging. This runs parallel with homeless people and can take a very interesting toll on their mind and how they contribute to society.

"I want to thank you for buying the Street Sense paper and listening to me. Keep up the kindness, because the world needs more of it." -- L. Murrow

I'm curious what everyone thinks about this homelessness topic...

Libya the Ever Shifting War

Libya the Ever Shifting War

In this week we talked about military force and terrorism. Within this we talked about countries will not pledge a large amount of troops to a campaign or they will not send it to a conflict where they predict a large amount of casualties from combat. As a result from this there are very few large combats with major powers, yet these same powers interact in conflicts with smaller powers. An example of this is of our invasion of Iraq in both 1990 and less so the 2003 invasion. In these events we greatly overpowered the opposing Iraqi Army, and as a result it was a complete and total victory for the Coalition Forces, in which we took close to 361 casualties while the Iraqi Armies took between 20,000 and 35,000 dead and up to 75,000 wounded. This was a complete and total slaughter in their terms, while it was just barely a nick to us. This leads to my main argument: from our perspective as parts of a major power, most of us do not experience it directly, but what happens when you look at the small power fighting that major power, another small power or in my case an internal conflict within the country.

In the past months there has been a series of unrests in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring. This is taking place in most of the countries in the contemporary Middle East, but on the other hand it has extended to North Africa. These events have happened for a various group of reasons including: rising unemployment, poor economic situations and in most of the states a lacking of political rights and their leaders usually have been in power for quite a while. The revolt started on December 18 2010 in the North African state of Tunisia, when a man who was facing financial difficulties, immolated himself in his village, which would set off a spark that would change the Middle East.

In the following months many countries in North Africa and the Middle East experienced protests, fighting, revolutions and even in one case a violent civil war. There was a revolution in Tunisia which toppled the Prime Minister Ben Ali who had ruled for a 24 year term since the Jasmine Revolution. In addition to this there was a revolution in Egypt which took down Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak after 30 years of rule. Yet through all of this there was more dramatic situation in Libya where opposition groups had risen to fight the despot Muammar Qaddafi.

Qaddafi was the longtime dictator of the oil rich, North African country of Libya. He ruled the country with an iron fist for the more than 40 years. Until recent times when the Arab Spring occurred, spurring revolts all across the Arab World. The same happened in Libya where revolts started appearing in the country most noticeably in Tripoli, Misrata, and Benghazi. Soon after this the Libyan government mounted a campaign against the dissidents, capturing most of Western Libya, and pushing the rebels all the way back to Benghazi. At that moment it seemed like the revolt was about to be completely crushed, NATO intervened initiating a no-fly zone over Libya, launching air strikes against the government forces, destroying most of the air force, and a large amount of the land forces. This gave the rebels a significant advantage, allowing them to fight back and eventually defeat the government and kill Qaddafi.

According to Themner and Wallsteen, modern states preferably do not want to engage another state, or participate in a way which would cost a lot of resources or risk a large amount of casualties. They also talk about how in modern wars today the competitors are usually much outmatched. Yet in this case the Libyan Government, engaged full force against the rebels, were willing to use a large amount of resources and tough it through the casualties of war. This is the opposite of the Themner and Wallsteen’s idea, was it because it was an internal conflict where in most cases only one can exist? The idea of overmatching was also an issue, in that power shifted constantly between the government and the rebels. At one point Qaddafi was almost completely victorious, yet the rebels were able to push back, and then stalemated on the eastern coast. Why is this, is it just because of NATO’s support, or was it the popular support by the people?

Sources

Reuters.com

Journal of Peace Research: by Themner and Wallsteen

NewYorkTimes.com

CNN.com

BBC.com

Tibetan Youth Congress is moving towards to Terrorism?

There have been nine young Buddhist monks self-immolated in Sichuan Province, China this year. The ninth self-immolation happened to be a Buddhist nun who is only twenty years old. This string of self-immolations by young Buddhist monks is all aim at the Chinese rule. They claimed that Chinese government deprived their freedom to pursuit their own beliefs and religions. After these such violent protests happened, Beijing censured Dalai Lama for supporting and even encouraging these young monks to self-immolate; Beijing considers this as “Terrorism in Disguise.” On the press conference, the foreign ministry spokeswoman of China, Jiang Yu, condemned the Overseas Tibetan independence forces and the Dalai Lama Group for not criticizing. And instead, they glorified and emphasized this issue, which will probably encourage more and more young monks to imitate this practice. From what the members of the Tibetan Youth Congress have done in the past, can we assume that this group is walking towards Terrorism? Will the Tibetan independence activities be more and more intense?

In order to find out the direction the Tibetan Youth Congress is growing towards, we have to look back to its history.

“The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) is an international non-governmental organization that advocates the independence of Tibet from China. With around 30,000 members in the Tibetan diaspora, it is the largest of the pro-independence organizations of Tibetan exiles. The organization claims no particular religious or party political affiliation.” (Wikipedia)

Tyc was founded on October 7^th, 1970 in India by the Dalai Lama’s secretary-- Tenzin Geyche Tethong and three other people--Lodi G. Gyari, Sonam Topgyal and Tenzin N. Tethong. TYC then started to set up branches in different regions, and now they are mainly distributed in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Britain, Canada and the United States. The purpose of the organization is to pursuit the independence of Tibet; therefore Dalai gathered the Tibetan youths from outside of the country and use their enthusiasm for Tibet to achieve his goal. Dalai even introduced the backbones of TYC to work in the Tibetan Government in exile.

Violence is one of the ideas the TYC advocates for. Not too long after the organization was established, the members of the organization schemed a rebellion in Bhutan and the purpose was to turn Bhutan to the counterattack position for Tibet. They planned to burn the palace and assassinate the king. However, when the plan was about to take place, twenty-eight suspects were arrested by the police after they detected the plan. On a secret meeting of the TYC in India in 1989, the organization decided to solve the “Tibet Problem” with violence.

In the 1980s, after Dalai Lama brought up the "five-point peace plan" and "Strasbourg Proposal", the backbones of the TYC start lobbying in different countries and tried to prove the inefficiency of peace plan. Some of the members even claimed that they would be using violence constantly.

TYC was involved in 1987, 1988 and 1989 Lhasa riots. In 1987, the Tibetans went on the street to protest. And while the police came to stop the protest, a conflict happened between the protesters and the police. The protesters started to throw stones at the police and they even stole a pistol from them, chaos was resulted. The second riot happened on the last day of a religious meeting in 1988. The governors of the autonomous region were threatened to release the separatists who were arrested earlier. Many casualties were caused; a policeman was killed and twenty-nine were injured. Almost a hundred thugs with iron, sticks and stones attended the riot. They even destroyed the shops, clinics and restaurants on the way. The third riot was led by eight nuns and 3 monks in 1989. The thugs spread out wrong ideas to the public. They caused eleven deaths and one hundred injuries. Also, nine hundred shops were destroyed; twenty-four government agencies, companies and schools were affected; and twenty cars were smashed. The riot resulted an economic loss of ten million yuan. The most recent riot took place in 2008. During this riot, eighteen innocents were killed, 382 were injured, and 242 police were either killed or hurt. Besides, thousands of shops were smashed.

Looking at what the TYC have done. It’s obvious that the idea of being independent drove all these young people together and caused destruction to the public and the society. They used the media to spread out their ideas to the world and try to gain sympathy and support. In order to protect their transnational rights, they removed the programmatic rights. This organization is hurting the innocent to achieve their goals. They are just acting like terrorists.

Also, there are changes of their terrorist activities as the time goes along. Every time the riot happened, the effect resulted from it gets more and more serious; more casualties were caused and larger economic loss to cover. The weapons change too. The first riot started out with only stones but then the riots after, the thugs used sticks, iron and other tools to make the riot more intense. And now, the TYC is trying to get benefits from the media. The young monks and the nun used the one of the most painful ways to commit suicide. They wanted to show the world how they sacrificed for their beliefs and even show how they were suppressed by the government. All they want is attention from the world. They are just trying to make the world misunderstand Chinese government and stand on their side. Media plays a significant role in international affairs; a tiny piece of news can be received from every corner of the world. And the TYC is taking the advantage of it.

Nowadays, the young Tibetans of the TYC are not really following what Dalai Lama taught them about nonviolence, which means they are walking closer and closer to Terrorism. If the world is not in favor of terrorism, why do most of the countries stand on the Tibetan’s side? Even though China is not a democracy country, there are laws protecting people’s rights to pursuit their religions or beliefs. Democracy does not work in all the countries and I think before China change to be a democracy country, it’s more important to prevent the existence of terrorism.

Works Cited

沈雅雯. 中央广播电台. 20 october 2011. .

环球时报. 台湾网. 19 04 2008. .

中国战略网. 中国战略网. 20 october 2011. .

人民网强国社区. 人民网强国社区. 27 04 2008. .

Branigan, Tania. Theguardian . 19 October 2011. .

Demick, Barbara. Los Angeles Times. 23 October 2011. 2011 .

wikipedia. wikipedia. 23 02 2011. .

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna

Basque Homeland and Liberty

On the October 21st Spanish Prime Minister Luis Rodriguez Zapatero congratulated citizens with a "victory of democracy, law and common sense." That is how the Spanish authorities have characterized the final failure of Basque terrorist organization ETA armed struggle. For 40 years ETA, fighting for the independence of the Basque republic, organized assassinations and bombings that killed 800 people. (Solyanskays)

Few days ago the ETA leadership issued a video message, which stated that an armed confrontation ceased to be an effective tool for achieving the independence of the Basque lands. The video was distributed by a number of European media.

On the video it is possible to see three men dressed in all black with the traditional Basque berets on their heads. Their faces were covered with white caps with slits for eyes. On the wall behind the men - a poster with the symbol of ETA: a snake winding around an ax. A speakert sitting in the center (judging by his voice on the recording, it was a woman) said that a decision on a cease-fire was made on the results of a conference held last week in the "Euskal Herra" (translation - "Basque Country", the territory on the border of France and Spain). (TV)

Previously, the Spanish authorities ignored the statements about the world ETA - the Basque organization has repeatedly declared a truce, and then again took up arms. This time Zapatero himself announced that he supports the decision of the Basque separatists. According to the Spanish prime minister, the country will never forget 40 years of brutal attacks and murders, "which should not have happened and should not be repeated."

ETA (an abbreviation of Basque translation "Basque Country and Freedom") was formed in 1959, when there was was still a fascist regime of General Francisco Franco in Spain, in which the Basque language was banned. Initially, the Basque nationalists were focused on the movement against the regime. However, in the 1960s, Marxism-Leninism went to ETA аs the main ideology, and the main ideological component of the movement was extreme nationalism. (Zulaika)

ETA began with targeted assassinations of police and government officials. In 1973 the organization was already strong enough to make one of the most severe of his attacks - eliminating the heir to Franco Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. ETA blew up his car, breaking an underground tunnel, who led by one of the houses of Madrid to the motorway. Two years later, through the actions of ETA Basque lands have the widest autonomy, but it is still not satisfied with the terrorists. (Clark) (Zulaika)

In 1988, ETA announced a temporary cease-fire, 10 years later - an indefinite truce. However, in 1999, the organization resumed its terrorist activities, causing harassment by the authorities.
In the late 2000s, ETA was going through hard times. Police operations were beheaded movement. Most of the arrests took place in 2008-2009 in France, where the military trops of ETA leaders hided. (Aljazeera)
Obviously, this was not the last argument in favor of the truce between the Spanish government and Basque separatists.

The Basque separatist organization ETA announced the "final truce" and intentions to continue to fight for the independence of the Basque Country applying only democratic and peaceful means. However, the Spanish authorities, already accustomed to such allegations, insisting on complete disarmament and the dissolution of the ETA terrorists as a condition for resuming negotiations. (News)

"In the past few months, both international and Basque leaders stressed the necessity of a just and democratic resolution of the old problem (the independence of the Basque Country), - said the report, duplicated in Basque, Spanish and English. Roller announced on its website the Basque newspaper Gara. The task of the Basques - to reach agreement on the formula of recognition of the Basque Country, which would guarantee the possibility of independence " (Solyanskays)

Now, as the state militia, they will fight for the independence of the Basque Country within the "democratic process" through "dialogue and negotiation," and hopes to achieve "long-term agreement," which will allow "the authoritiesof Spain and France to stop the repression of the Basque Country." Other countries may "test" intentions of the ETA, however, authors of the statement did not specify exactly how. (ProFile)

The Basques are not in vain emphasize that this decision "solid", because for the last five years is at least third application of terrorists to cease fire. Last was made in September 2010 as a prologue to the Spanish government negotiations with the representatives of the organization.
After the last attack by ETA - explosion at Madrid's Barajas airport in 2006, when two people were killed, another 30 were injured - the Spanish authorities interrupted regular talks with the separatists. Over the next few years the authorities of Spain managed to hold at least five leaders of the separatist movement, and all have been behind bars for more than 60 members of the movement for the independence of the Basque Country, which has long had broad autonomy. In a recent campaign were involved not only the forces of France and Spain, on whose territory is situated the Basque Country, but also Portugal and the UK. (ProFile)

Representatives of the Spanish authorities quickly and traditionally reacted to the statement of Basque separatists. Minister of the International Affairs Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba of Spain named their treatment is "arrogant" and said that it has a "distorted view of reality." These statements are not waiting for the next cease-fire and disarmament and the voluntary dissolution - this is the only option for the Spanish authorities, said Rubalcaba. But these words in the new statement of the separatists there, he said: "We still have to deal with all the same purposes the ETA has. We see that the intentions of the ETA has not changed. " (Sebastian)

Works Cited

Clark, Robert. The Basque insurgents: ETA, 1952-1980. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984.

"Negotiators urge ETA to end violence." Aljazeera Europe 18 Oct 2011.

News, Taiwan. Spain hails ETA end to Basque separatist violence. Bilbao: Associated Press, 2011.

ProFile, Washington. Terrorist organization of Europe and Latin America. Washington, 2001.

Sebastian, San. "World leaders urge ETA to declare end to conflict." Reuters 17 Oct 2011.

Solyanskays, Ksenuya. ETA wants peace. translated. Moscow: Gazeta.ru politics, 2011.

TV, Libertad Didital. "Comunicado de ETA: ni disolución, ni arrepentimiento ni perdón." 10 10 2011. Youtube.com. 23 10 2011 .

Zulaika, William A. Douglass and Joseba. The Politics of Terror. On the Interpretation of Terrorist Violence: ETA and Basque political Process. Reno: Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History, 2009.