Monthly Archives: August 2008
Child Kidnappings in Haiti on the Rise
Three more young girls have been kidnapped in Haiti over the past week, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the impoverished Caribbean country reports, amid mounting UN concern about the continuing spate of child abductions.
An eight-year-old girl was kidnapped in the capital, Port-au-Prince, last Thursday, and the following day a seven-year-old girl was abducted in the town of Arcahaie, according to the UN mission (known as MINUSTAH).
On Saturday, a three-year-old girl who had been kidnapped two days earlier was found in Arcahaie and brought to hospital after being injured with a razor blade.
While both boys and girls have been kidnapped, it seems that females are a large target, and often raped and sexually abused. The criminal gangs who are kidnapping the children (while on their way to and from school) also frequently end up killing them, despite the family paying their requested ransom. Massimo Toschi, a child protection adviser with MINUSTAH, says that while successfully decreasing the prevalence of adult kidnappings may have led the gangs to move on to target children in response.
MINUSTAH, the Haitian police and the military have been working diligently to curb this devastating trend, and now have a new victim to protect.
UN Photo/Sophia Paris
A Decade to End the Dependence
I just want to highlight the fact that Obama said this last night:
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
The desire to truly repeat Kennedy’s call to reach the Moon within a decade has long been a dream of politicians, actual and fictional.
The end goal, in this case, is undeniably admirable (and politically savvy). It is somewhat broader than Gore’s call for clean electricity within the decade and more clearly beneficial to our economy and foreign policy than Bush’s call to reach Mars. As Obama says, it is securely at the nexus of economic, foreign policy, and environmental concerns. (I would also add humanitarian.) I’m sure I don’t need to rehash to this audience why such an action helps us reach major goals in each of these areas.
Only time will tell whether Obama will be able to do so. It is a major challenge. As Governor Schweitzer so entertainingly laid out on Tuesday, we currently consume 25 percent of the world’s oil output and only 3 percent of the reserves.
His strategy?
As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I’ll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I’ll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I’ll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can’t ever be outsourced.
The $150 billion is a good start. Hopefully, in the near future, we’ll see more details.
Obama’s foreign policy section
I’ll leave deeper analysis of the speech to those more partisan, but, as a piece of rhetoric, it was one of the most complete convention performances I’ve seen. It’s worth a watch regardless of your politics (or nationality).
The foreign policy section begins about 28:55 in (ful text of this section after the jump). He makes the big call for energy independence in 10 years (which echoes Al Gore’s call for clean power in a decade) and talks about finding Bin Laden, ending the war in Iraq, international terrorism, Afghanistan, Russia, and Georgia.
He didn’t delved deep into specifics here, but, near the end, we see what I hope will be the glue that holds together his foreign policy agenda:
But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.
Let’s hope we hear something similar out of Senator McCain next week.
DNC Dispatch: Day Three Wrapup
by Travis Moore, reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Denver (cross-posted at On Day One)
The Convention marches on…
- Colorado is the key: Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe says internal polling shows that Swing voters favor Obama, and that, if Obama wins Colorado, McCain has a “5% chance of winning the election.”
- Don't Go it Alone: New polling from the Better World Campaign shows that 66% of the public supports the U.S. "doing its fair share in the world."
- Already thinking about 2012? The RNC has changed their primary calendar to allow at least one month of campaigning between the first round of states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina) and the rest.
- Richard Haass: this is a sobering moment for international relations. The next president will face one of the most difficult tests of the past 200+ years.
- Great political theater: Hillary has her name put on the Convention ballot…and then she yields New York's delegates to Obama to put him over the top.
- From the Pepsi Center:
- Bill backs Barack.
- Floor so croweded people are fainting left and right.
- John Kerry's best speech ever? Too bad the networks didn't cover it.
- Mama Biden steals the show.
- Obama makes a surprise appearance and declares that "Hillary rocked the house last night."
DNC Dispatch: What Keeps You Up at Night?
by Travis Moore, reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Denver (cross-posted at On Day One)
That was the question–with respect to the global problems we currently face–that Tom Brokaw posed to the spectacular panel at "Enhancing the U.S.'s Role in the World," sponsored by the National Democratic Institute, the Rocky Mountain Institute, and the Better World Campaign. Some of the participants biggest nightmares?
- Richard Holbrooke: Indonesia's assertion of viral sovereignty. Though the dangers of Indonesia's embrace of such a concept are scary enough, the Non-Aligned Movement is looking to take up the issue later this year. The consequences of other nations following suit could be disastrous should a global pandemic breakout within their borders.
- Jessica Matthews: Our worsening climate. I don’t think this country is anywhere near confronting its energy use. The choice being presented is one of oil vs. renewables. That's not the choice. We must confront demand, and energy use, and we are frighteningly close to serious consequences with our climate already.
- Vin Weber: That Israel might strike Iran. There is no such thing as a quick and precise air war against Iran. Any action against Iran would lead to a protracted war. Whether the United States would be supportive of Israel in this action, Iran has the capability to reach U.S. soil with its missiles.
- Richard Haass: We’ve all been asked the question–what’s the most important thing to do?–but the issues that are going to bite us are all ones that are going to take some time to work out. There are a stunning number of problems of significant scale and complexity, for which we are not prepared economically or militarily, and for which we don't have the international credibility to take on alone. This is a sobering moment in International Relations. The next president will face one of the most trying moments of the past 200 years-plus.
Call it “Resurection Wednesday”
Starring Bill Clinton and John Kerry
I would think that these two went a long way last night toward erasing any bad taste left in the mouths of Democrats after their recent campaign performances. Both speeches were rhetorically masterful.
More importantly, they sold the foreign policy responsibilities of the next president.
Clinton, who is gearing up for CGI (we’ll be live-blogging), left these highlights:
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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