Judge : We can't legalise Marijuana

Marijuana

A Circuit Court judge has waded into the debate on the legalisation of marijuana started by the Narcotics Control Board Executive Secretary, Mr Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, last week.

Mr Francis Obiri, who presided over some drug-related cases Monday, suggested that instead of legalising the drug, which could make matters worse, the country would be better off, if the sentence for drug-related offences was reviewed.

Expressing his views on whether Ghana as a nation must legalise the use of marijuana, locally referred to as “wee”, in open court, the judge said, “Someone can embezzle so much funds and can be bailed but somebody who commits a narcotic offence cannot be bailed. It does not make sense.”
 

Alternatives to incarceration
He argued that much as he did not condone the use of narcotics, he saw it as unreasonable to convict narcotic offenders who had been arrested smoking maybe  half or full roll of marijuana with the same severity as someone arrested with hundreds of rolls or known to be a drug peddler or courier.

A fine of say GH¢100 per a roll of marijuana, for example, was more realistic, he said, adding that money could even be raised for the state through such fines.

Mr Obiri also suggested that those arrested for smoking or possessing marijuana could be made to do community service at a place where everyone could see them, so it would serve as a deterrent to others instead of handing them long sentences.

To him, long sentences, such as one, two or 10 years, burdened the state which had to ensure their upkeep while they remained in prison. 

“We can, for instance, put them on community service for one month to pick empty water sachet,” he suggested. 

In response to pleas for leniency, Mr Obiri later sentenced a first time accused person who told the court he had two pregnant wives, to a day’s imprisonment and a fine of 100 penalty units.
 

Why legalise marijuana?
Last week Wednesday, Mr Akrasi Sarpong said on Power FM, an Accra-based radio station, that the “war” waged on marijuana in the country stood to be lost because many people believed “what you are fighting is not crime”. 

He was sure that legalising marijuana, like some states in the US had done, would help to regulate its use and reap huge profits for the country.
According to him, the regulation of marijuana use was a headache which must be tackled as a country.
He, therefore, called for a national debate on the matter.

Editorial

Warning!

The security situation in Libya is getting worse and we can predict that sooner than later a full blown civil war would erupt in the country.

There are very clear signs that Eastern Libya is determined to break away to become a new Republic.

Reports available to The Insight confirm the claim that rebels in the East of Libya have been preparing for civil war over the last 12 months.

War could break out in Libya any time soon and the Government of Ghana has a responsibility to take immediate steps to safeguard the lives of all Ghanaians in Libya now.

If the Government of Ghana fails to act now, it may be too late.

 This is the time to ask all Ghanaians in Libya to return home.

 If need be, Government should provide assistance for the repatriation of all Ghanaians in Libya.

Politicians beware: Ghana yesterday, today, and tomorrow!!

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

My good friends, the discourse on our national affairs is full of interesting peculiarities. Those of us who have chosen to do the yeoman’s job of raising pertinent issues for comment are clearly aware of the implications and won’t lose any sleep regarding comments made by readers who see us as threats to their political ambitions. If they can’t take the heat, let’s leave them to fight the wind!

I have been particularly resolute and brazenly resilient in my stance and will continue to be so, regardless of whose ox I gore in the process or who bounces back to attempt intimidating me with verbal actions.

Those days are long gone when people like us might be bothered by vain threats. That is why I am particularly intrigued by comments on my opinion piece on the return of the NPP’s Akufo-Addo to Ghana after “hibernating” for 6 months in London, proving to me that he and his followers don’t have the capacity to contain dissension or to come to terms with the sorry Fate that befell him (Akufo-Addo) at Election 2012—and will befall him again at Election 2016 if he deceives himself that God has spoken to him to lead the NPP to the land of milk and honey. No elaboration.

His followers may deceive themselves that they have matured enough and sharpened their fangs to attack us when we comment on him. Here is a comment on Ghanaweb from one such follower: “Michael I don't know where you got your Doctorate degree from if any. When Nana Addo said he was going to seek the face of the God, it was a figure of speech, fool. He needed time to reflect on his political life. MORON!

My immediate reaction: A figure of speech? Who needs a “figure of speech” when the truth beckons in Ghanaian politics? I am really intrigued. So, is it a “figure of speech” that Akufo-Addo and politicians of his ilk rely on to do politics in Ghana?

A figure of speech? A metaphor or a simile? Or a trope? Deceptive!! Is that the depth to which these NPP people have reduced Ghanaian politics? No wonder they are so desperate in opposition.

Where is the reality, then? I am really pissed off by this Akufo-Addo fanatic who has given me a strong reason to continue to suspect this Akufo-Addo and all that he stands for. A figure of speech? Is that all his politicking is about? A subterfuge? Who else is doing politics this way?

Are Ghanaian politicians more interested in doing politics on the basis of figures of speech or the reality that the ordinary Ghanaian knows? The reality that has made life difficult to live in a country that has all the natural and human resources that a country needs to be on top of the lot in this mundane world, but which Ghana has but cannot utilize to be on its feet? A figure of speech misrepresents issues in this case!!

Folks, our country has just chalked 57 as an independent entity; but it is still deep in the woods as its citizens continue to live in narrow circumstances just because their leaders cannot manage affairs properly to use the country’s abundant human and natural resources to advantage.

There is every reason why we can’t afford to give our politicians a blank cheque with which to continue misbehaving.

There is so much happening on our political scene as to warrant a probe into the mindlessness with which our politicians do things.

We acknowledge the bitter rivalry between our politicians, especially those camped in the NDC and NPP considering themselves as game changers. The main problem for Ghana today is the unhealthy interplay of forces between the NDC and the NPP, clearly because the Nkrumahist front is either so emaciated as not to know its own worth or to give the NDC and the NPP the dual carriage on which to flex muscles for nothing.

Ghana won’t profit from that futile show of force all over the country.

You see, before the NDC was formed in May 1992, Ghana had been in existence. Before the NPP came to power, Ghana had been in existence. And the removal of the NPP from office in 2008 and 2012 hasn’t changed the dynamics as far as the status of Ghana is concerned. Countries often outlast their citizens!!

History has it all. Before the Great Osagyefo led the fight for independence, there had been several attempts to get rid of the British. The weaklings in the Joint Provincial Council of Chiefs and the United Gold Coast Convention or their anarchist National Liberation Movement successors couldn’t have operated outside the confines of the political dynamics. But they failed and couldn’t contain themselves, which was why they passed on that negative political genes to their forebears who are today our bugbear, overbearing and really irritating in all their configurations!!

Before all other governments that have ruled Ghana and messed up everything, there had been a country that many owed allegiance to. The country survives. It is the mortal citizens who vanish with time.

The main point now is simple: Are we Ghanaians so intellectually handicapped as not to know that we have no other country but this very Ghana to develop so life can be lived in comfort and our people given the chance to live their lives on this earth even before they die?

Why all this mad rush for political power as if that in itself is the panacea to all the problems that have bedevilled the country since its inception?

And why is it that when some get the chance to be in power, they behave as if this world is their permanent home? I can easily recall all the major figures that gave Ghana its stature. Where are they today? And what gives those in power today the assurance that they will remain in contention forever?

Who doesn't know what a cemetery is? A repository for dead people, skeletons and nothing more!!!

Interestingly, most of those who pioneered the struggle to establish the 4th Republic are in the twilight of their lives and cannot even do anything to change their own circumstances as they wait for the final moments of their lives.

Those in power today or those itching at the sidelines to be given power are themselves in that twilight of their political lives. It is not as if they are marching back into their lives to pick up the pieces. They are stepping forward in readiness to embrace Fate. No one can cheat Nature.

On that score, why this mad rush to behave as if there is no end to life? The Ghanaian politician is really pitiable!!

I shall return…

E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com

Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor to continue the conversation.

Tony Ben Is Dead

Tony Benn

Tony Benn, 50 years long MP in UK who refused to be a Viscount, former Cabinet Member, former National Chairman of the British Labour Party, President of Stop the War Coalition and Coalition of Resistance (initiating organization of the People's Assemblies Against Austerity in UK), supporter of Kilombo Centre for Citizens' Rights and Conflict Resolution, Peki, Ghana, and a dear friend as well as my political father in UK, died on 14th March 2014 at the age of 88 years. He was actually of the same age as my biological father who died last year.

I really cannot remember how I first met Tony Benn as it just appears to me as if he has always been there hosting or speaking whenever I made a request. I remember when Tony Benn came out of hospital after a heart operation and the news was all over the place that he had cancelled all his speaking engagements. I contacted Tony Benn, and he said it was true that he had cancelled his engagements but he was still honouring my invitation to him to speaks the Hammersmith Stop the War meeting. Many people thought I was telling lies until Tony Benn appeared at the meeting. Tony Benn was a man of his word.

In a tribute from my comrade in Counterfire (www.counterfire.org), John Rees, he wrote "In the end, that was the secret of his [Tony Benn's] popularity in every corner of the labour movement. He had the right friends, and the right enemies. Little known but his doctor once told him that a recurrent health problem was a long term result of an attempt to poison him." I have decided to highlight this bit attempt to poison Tony Benn because of (1) The naive attitude I come across with some people who think they are in struggle and (2) Some arrogant ones who cannot mobilize an ant but respond insultingly to people like Tony Benn.

Zaya Yeebo, former PNDC Secretary for Youth and Sports in Ghana, wrote "Tony Benn was a true comrade. He had time for every body and all progressive causes. He would acknowledge every letter. He was inspiring. May his soul rest in peace. Africa has lost a true supporter.”

The UK based Pan Africanist, Kwame Aboagye, stressed "Nani, it isn't a surprising that Tony Benn inspired you dearly, because the man spoke enough common sense. Tony as a left winger, stood up for the miners, Brother Nani, when he took on the greedy arrogant demons that were threating the lives as well as the future of the miners and their families. Tony tirelessly protested without ending especially against the war crimes in Libya, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq etc. Also at home, he wasn't happy with the so-called New Labour idea, when they won the elections, seventeen years ago. You agree or disagree with Tony Benn, but his legacy is so unforgettably phenomenal."

Yes, my brother Kwame Aboagye, Tony Benn inspired me greatly. It wasn't continuing the Left and non-establishment path in the difficulties of exile. I even thought of abandoning activism. If I hadn't met people like him, whose approach convinced me that activism is a way of life with its culture, I could not have remained committed.

Karim Bah of the Pan African Community Movement of Sierra Leone adds his voice " I saw Tony Benn speak several times when i was in London...he was very impressive ,.... a true friend of Africa."

Tokunbo Oke of the Socialist Workers' Party of UK and meber of Kilombo Pan African Community Journal Editorial Board also adds his voice as follows "One of the most sincere, if not the most sincere politician in Britain. He spoke at many meetings held under the auspices of ALISC / Kilombo. His diaries are a revelation. The general trend of Labour politicians in Britain is that they become more right-wing as they get older, Wedwood-Benn was the opposite..the older he became, the more his political sympathies shifted to the left. I also remember him speaking at many SWP events....RIP Tony.....".

PS: Attached are pictures from the last event Tony Benn and I participated in together on 30th November 2013 by courtesy of Amma Fosuah Poku.

EXPLO NANI-KOFI

INITIATOR AND COORDINATOR, KILOMBO INTERNATIONAL NETWORK.

El Salvador

Ex-guerilla leader Salvador Sanchez

Election officials in El Salvador have declared ex-guerilla leader Salvador Sanchez Ceren the winner of the country’s presidential election following a close runoff.

The Supreme Electoral Court made the announcement on Sunday after rejecting the opposition’s last challenges to the results from the March 9 vote.

The losing National Republican Alliance (ARENA) had filed a petition to annul the results due to alleged vote fraud.

The results of the election showed a narrow win by Sanchez Ceren, who received 50.11 percent of the votes compared to 49.89 percent for rival Norman Quijano of the conservative ARENA party.

Sanchez Ceren, of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), will take office on June 1 to serve a five-year term, making him the first former guerilla commander to hold the presidential post.

The former guerrilla leader, who has previously served as vice president, will succeed incumbent President Mauricio Funes also from the FMLN party, who was ineligible to run for a consecutive second term.

Sanchez Ceren was nominated as a candidate in a bid to shore up a country struggling with rampant crime and high poverty.

Tackling gang violence is among the challenges facing the new president. Across the country, criminal groups, with an estimated 60,000 members, control whole neighborhoods and run drug trafficking as well as extortion rackets.

The country is also facing a mounting government debt burden and a high poverty rate that stands at more than 40 percent of the population.

El Salvador was gripped by a bitter civil war between 1979-1992, in which Sanchez Ceren was one of the top guerilla commanders. The conflict left 76,000 people dead.

Iran sends aid to Chad

Misplaced children of Chad

The Islamic Republic of Iran has sent aid to refugees escaping the conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), which is forcing many of the country’s Muslims into neighboring states.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) sent its first consignment, 40 tons of aid, to CAR refugees in Chad on Saturday.

The shipment, which includes tents, blankets, and foodstuff, will be distributed at camps for the displaced people in CAR’s northern neighbor.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says ongoing violence has pushed most Muslims out of the western side of the country.

According to the UN, more than 950,000 people have been displaced and thousands more killed.

The atrocities take place despite the intervention of French troops in the former colony.

On December 5, 2013, France invaded the CAR after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

Many believe the French troops, known as the Sangaris, turn a blind eye to Christian militia, an accusation Paris rejects.

There are many mineral resources, including gold and diamond, in the Central African Republic. However, the country is extremely poor and has faced a series of rebellions and coups since it gained independence in 1960.

Resisting the Israeli wall of shame

By Catherine Shakdam

As British Prime Minister David Cameron so keenly celebrates his government’s “unbreakable bond” with Israel during his first official visit, having proclaimed his utmost devotion to the Zionist cause, the BBC interestingly chose to publish a Palestinian video commentary which exposes the realities of a life under siege.

At a time when the world has been taught to focus its attention on Crimea, media have failed once more to denounce Zionists’ long list of crimes as they tore and burn through Palestine, bent on eradicating a people from the face of the earth as their existence continues to pose a threat to Israel’s very survival.

Little has Israel ever understood that Palestine, as a people and a land, has long transcended its physical form; Palestine is so much more as it has come to embody the Muslim Ummah. Beyond all which has divided the Islamic nation, Palestine has been a rallying call, a common denominator and a powerful symbol of religious resistance against oppression.

Away from the headlines and political discourses, the village of Bil’in in the West Bank of the Jordan River - an area which Israel took control over after the 1967 war – has celebrated its ninth year of resistance against the Israeli occupiers.

Armed with only their courage and unshakeable resolve, Bil’in sons and daughters have weathered Israel’s raids, unlawful arrests, abuses and intimidation tactics with blind determination, intent on reclaiming the land of their forefathers no matter the cost.

“It is not an easy path that I have chosen… but it is my burden to bear. Bil’in is my land… I was born on this land and I will die on this land. I will fight, bleed and die a happy man for my cause as my cause is Palestine and there is no righteous cause than to fight for one’s home,” said Emad Burnat, the author of the Bil’in video documentary.

A farmer turned journalist through an unforeseen chain of events, Emad takes his viewers across time, recalling through five years of footage his personal experience of a life under Israel occupation.

A tiny dot on the world map, Bil’in has come to signify the suffering of Palestine in all its atrocity. So simple and uncontrived in its format, Bil’in documentary has managed to capture the very essence of Palestine struggle as its people have had to normalize the unbearable, seizing every scrap of happiness left in their lives as their last.

Mothers have been forced to stand powerless as Israeli soldiers struck their children, fathers have seen their sons dragged before their eyes by hordes of illegal settlers as the latter illegitimately claimed Bil’in farmlands their own, beaten to an inch of their life as the military stood watching, children have seen their uncles, fathers and grand fathers get shot for they dared oppose the oppressors and defend what is theirs.

It is in such an environment of never-ending violence, suffering and injustice that Palestine children are being raised. Born under occupation, those children have known of the world only fear and pain.

“Old wounds don’t have time to heal as new ones will cover them up,” such were Emad’s words when describing life in Bil’in. And indeed Bil’in’s wounds are many.

For nine years, Bil’in has opposed Israel wall of horrors; for nine years it has bled and suffered for its defiance. Just as its olive trees, whose roots run deep within the ground, Bil’in has withstood adversity with utmost stoicism; a beacon of hope and a model of peaceful resistance for the entire region, Bil’in has prompted neighboring villages to join forces together in order to push back the enemy. Committed to peaceful resistance, Bil’in villagers have never given up on their ideal.

But if villagers are committed to non-violence, Israel on the contrary is not. Quite the opposite…

With utmost disdain for human life and dignity, Israel’s soldiers, its arrogant armed forces, one of the founding pillars of its institutions, can be seen abusing children and women, threatening the young and the innocent at gun-point just so they could see the fear swell in their eyes. Disgraceful and utterly repulsive in their systematic abuse of power and force, Israeli soldiers stood exposed in Emad’s documentary, the butchers of Bil’in.

Over the past nine years, Bil’in has buried two activists, bandaged hundreds of wounds, shed tears for its stolen lands and called on the world to notice… but for every day that it stands, however, futile such resistance might look in the face of Israel’s military might, it is one more day that Palestinians got to cling on hope.

For in every struggle and every outcry of pain, Palestine’s fire will be reborn ever stronger, its light brighter yet in the face of evil.

Israel has committed all which is wretched and dark against Palestine. No matter how many countries will affirm its claim on Palestine, Israel has built its house on the blood of a people. A tar on Palestine history, Israel’s oppression weights heavy on all of the Islamic Ummah.

Thin silhouettes against Israel separation wall, Bil’in’s people continue to refuse defeat. Many have already said that while death is inevitable, surrender will and can never be an option.

So far Bil’in has successfully managed to garner enough public attention that Israel has been forced to return some of the villagers’ stolen lands, a victory many have celebrated as proof that tyranny can always be overcome.

But Bil’in’s greatest victory came in the way of its unassuming farmer turned film-maker, Emad Burnat, when in 2012 his work was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards. Subsequently a book documenting the village’s resistance movement was published, propelling Bil’in to the forefront of the media and into the public eye.

No longer just as speck of dust lost in between Israel illegal settlements, Bil’in has in the words of its activists “become a symbol for the Palestinian popular struggle – a place for joint, unarmed activism.”

Behind the Lies About Venezuela’s Protests

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

By Garry Leech

US Secretary of State John Kerry recently called on the Venezuelan government to end the “terror campaign against its own citizens.” Kerry’s words are just the latest in US and mainstream media efforts to portray the month-long protests in Venezuela as peaceful popular demonstrations against an authoritarian regime that has resorted to repression to quell the uprisings.  As a result, the Venezuelan government, as Kerry’s statement illustrates, is being blamed for most of the 28 deaths that have occurred. But is this portrayal accurate? A closer look at the reality on the ground paints a very different picture. From the beginning, the protesters have been armed, have conducted widespread arson and have been intent on achieving the unconstitutional overthrow of a democratically-elected government.

The protests in Venezuela have primarily occurred in middle and upper class neighborhoods in seven cities across the country. Most of these neighborhoods are governed by opposition mayors who support the protesters. In fact, protests of any sort have only occurred in 18 of the country’s 335 municipalities during the past month. This context is important because the media has created the impression that the protests constitute some sort of peaceful popular uprising against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. In reality, it is a relatively small number of people in opposition strongholds who have taken to the streets while the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans, particularly in the poorer barrios, continue to go about their daily lives unaffected by the disruptions.

From the first days of the protests in early February many of the demonstrators at the improvised street blockades in Merida and Tachira were armed with handguns. The first weekend of protests in Merida saw balaclava-clad protesters boarding buses and wielding guns as they forced passengers to disembark. Protesters were also observed throwing shrapnel at passing motorists. That same weekend, three protesters held a journalist at gunpoint and threatened to kill her. Meanwhile, protesters in Tachira beat another journalist with a lead pipe. Throughout the past month, protesters have also used petrol bombs against government targets. The principal targets have been government-run health clinics and food markets, resulting in more than $1.5 million in damage to these symbols of the revolution in the first two weeks of protests.

In one particularly heinous act of violence, 29-year-old motorcycle rider Santiago Enrique Pedroza was decapitated at a street blockade when he rode through a steel wire stretched across the road at neck height. This tactic was apparently inspired by the tweets of retired army general Angel Vivas, who is allied with the opposition.  Vivas promoted the use of wire at blockades to “neutralize” motorcyclists who were members of community collectives that supported the government. The day before the decapitation, he tweeted, “In order to neutralize criminal hordes on motorbikes, one must place nylon string or galvanized wire across the street, at a height of 1.2 meters.” The general tweeted recommendations for other tactics, including “to render armored vehicles of the dictatorship useless, Molotov cocktails should be thrown under the motor, to burn belts and hoses, they become inoperative.” The government ordered the arrest of Vivas the day after the decapitation.

While it is clear that the opposition protesters have utilized violence from the beginning, the government’s response has not been above reproach. Five of the 28 protesters are believed to have been killed by state security forces. The government has responded by arresting 14 police and National Guard officers for alleged abuses and use of excessive force. Additionally, President Maduro has repeatedly taken to the airwaves calling on government supporters not to resort to violence in response to the protests. In one speech, Maduro stated, “I want to say clearly: someone who puts on a red t-shirt with Chavez’s face and takes out a pistol to attack isn’t a Chavista or a revolutionary. I don’t accept violent groups within the camp of Chavismo and the Bolivarian revolution.”

Of the 28 people who have been died, nine were identified as opposition protesters, nine as government supporters or government workers, and the remaining ten were either innocent bystanders or of unknown political affiliation. Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by armed civilians allied with either the protesters or the government. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of the 1,602 people arrested in connection to the protests have been released without being charged, in fact, only 92 remain in custody on violence-related charges. The government’s response to the crisis hardly constitutes a “terror campaign against its own citizens,” as Kerry alleged.

Despite the reality, the opposition’s Democratic Unity Table (MUD) coalition has repeatedly blamed the government for the violence, declaring that “State security forces, accompanied by paramilitary groups, have cruelly attacked peaceful and defenseless protesters…leaving a lamentable tally of citizens assassinated, seriously wounded, tortured and disappeared.” Delegitimizing the government is an essential component of the opposition’s strategy because the protests are not merely an exercise in free speech to criticize specific state policies but rather they are an orchestrated campaign to achieve the unconstitutional overthrow of a democratically-elected government by forcing what they have called “la salida” (the exit) of President Maduro.

Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is currently in jail for inciting violence in the early stages of the protests, has declared, “The ‘exit’ will only happen when people organize in the streets to make the dictatorship retreat.” He also asked protesters “not to leave the streets until Maduro is kicked out.” In other words, the opposition is trying to achieve through violence and propaganda what it has repeatedly failed to achieve through the ballot box in free and fair elections.

President Maduro has responded to the protests by calling on the National Assembly to establish a Truth Commission to investigate the violence and by announcing a National Peace Conference involving community groups, students, and business and religious leaders. The opposition coalition MUD has refused to participate in the talks to resolve the crisis with former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles explaining his boycott by stating, “This is a dying government. I’m not going to be like the orchestra on the Titanic.” In other words, there is nothing to negotiate for the opposition other than the removal of the government from power.

On March 7, the 32 member nations of the Organization of American States (OAS) took up the issue of the protests in Venezuela. After two days of debate, a declaration was issued expressing solidarity and support for the Venezuelan government and calling for dialogue between the government and the opposition. The declaration also rejected any intervention or sanctions by member states. Twenty-nine countries voted in favor of the declaration, the three who opposed it were the United States, Canada and Panama.

The US vote against the OAS declaration is not surprising given that it has provided tens of millions of dollars in funding to Venezuelan opposition groups through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). According to a US embassy cable released by Wikileaks, the United States has worked with “local NGOs who work in Chavista strongholds and with Chavista leaders … with the desired effect of pulling them slowly away from Chavismo.” And it has spent millions of dollars funding university programs and workshops for youth, no doubt with the objective of also “pulling them slowly away from Chavismo.” The prominent role of university students in the current protests suggests that the US strategy may be paying dividends.

Ultimately, US officials such as Secretary of State John Kerry and the mainstream media have seriously distorted the reality of the protests in Venezuela. It is clear that the majority of Venezuelans do not support the opposition protesters in their effort to destabilize the country in order to achieve the unconstitutional overthrow of the country’s democratically-elected government. Faced with five more years of Maduro’s presidency, the opposition, with US backing, appears to have abandoned democratic politics and resorted to violence to achieve its goal of ending the Venezuelan revolution.

Garry Leech is an independent journalist and author of numerous books including Capitalism: A Structural Genocide (Zed Books, 2012); Beyond Bogota: Diary of a Drug War Journalist in Colombia (Beacon Press, 2009); and Crude Interventions: The United States Oil and the New World Disorder (Zed Books, 2006). ).

Double Standards and Hypocrisy: Where are the Sanctions against the West?

US President Hussein Obama

By Iskandar Arfaoui

As the US and the European Union impose sanctions on 21 officials from Russia and Ukraine for helping the people of Crimea to make a democratic choice to become a part of the Russian Federation, one specific question arises – where were all the sanctions when the West was carrying out genuinely illegal wars and interventions that resulted in destruction and thousands of innocent civilians being killed?

Unlike Russia, which has not fired one single shot in Crimea, nor has been seen as an invader by the people of Crimea, the West, primarily the United States and NATO countries, have caused havoc and destruction all over the world with little or no repercussions. Below are just three examples which warrant toughest sanctions to be imposed on Western powers.

The Iraq War 

The Lancet journal in 2006 published an estimate of 654,965 excess Iraqi deaths related to the war of which 601,027 were caused by violence. In terms of financial costs, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service estimates that the US will have spent almost $802bn (£512.8bn) on funding the war by the end of fiscal year 2011, with $747.6bn (£478bn) already appropriated. The dire consequences of Western invasion continued way beyond 2003. Sectarian violence in the conflict began to grow from early 2005. But the destruction of an important Shia shrine in February 2006 saw attacks between Sunni and Shia militias increase dramatically. This caused many Iraqi families to abandon their homes and move to other areas within the country or to flee abroad. The International Organization for Migration, IOM, which monitors numbers of displaced families, estimates that in the four years 2006-2010, as many as 1.6 million Iraqis were internally displaced, representing 5.5% of the population.

Libyan Bloody intervention 

The intervention in Libya was supposed to be about saving lives and protecting civilians from the murdered Colonel Gaddafi. Instead it quickly became a catastrophe. Firstly, it is important to note that NATO acted completely outside its mandate. Secondly, just as currently in Syria, the West supported vile and blood thirsty rebels who took it upon themselves to create massacre after massacre. Amnesty International has produced compendious evidence of mass abduction and detention, beating and routine torture, killings and atrocities by the rebel militias Britain, France and the US have backed. Throughout that time African migrants and black Libyans have been subject to a relentless racist campaign of mass detention, lynchings and atrocities on the usually unfounded basis that they have been loyalist mercenaries. What is now known, is that while the death toll in Libya when NATO intervened was perhaps around 1,000-2,000 (judging by UN estimates), eight months later it became more than ten times that figure. Estimates of the numbers of dead range from 10,000 up to 50,000. The National Transitional Council puts the losses at 30,000 dead and 50,000 wounded. Currently, Libya continues to be in a state of anarchy with frequent assassinations, complete lack of security and towns controlled by aggressive militia.

 US Drone Strikes 

The impact of President Barack Obama’s drone strikes has been devastating to many communities in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan. In Pakistan alone, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reports that from June 2004 through mid-September 2012, available data indicate that drone strikes killed 2,562-3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom 474-881 were civilians, including 176 children. TBIJ reports that these strikes also injured an additional 1,228-1,362 individuals. Where media accounts do report civilian casualties, rarely is any information provided about the victims or the communities they leave behind. Furthermore, current US targeted killings and drone strike practices undermine respect for the rule of law and international legal protections and may set dangerous precedents. There is clear doubt on the legality of strikes on individuals or groups not linked to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and who do not pose imminent threats to the US. The US government’s failure to ensure basic transparency and accountability in its targeted killing policies, to provide necessary details about its targeted killing program, or adequately to set out the legal factors involved in decisions to strike hinders necessary democratic debate about a key aspect of US foreign and national security policy.

Typical double standards and hypocrisy 

The above three examples clearly illustrate that the West, and especially the United States, has engaged in actions which undoubtedly warrant severe sanctions and even trials in the International Criminal Court. However those involved, such as George Bush, Tony Blair and current British Prime Minister David Cameron have been left untouched. Meanwhile these leaders have been the first to condemn and criticise the actions of Russia that cannot be compared to the atrocities committed by the West. The hypocrisy and double standards are perhaps cliché terms regularly attributed to the West, nevertheless, it is crucial to point out once again the lack of moral ground that the West can stand on when condemning Russia. Until sanctions are imposed on the Western countries that have engaged in atrocious and illegal activities over the last decade, Western powers have no right to speak out against the current crisis in Ukraine.

Iskandar Arfaoui is the founder of Global Political Insight, a political media and research organisation. He has a Master’s degree in International Relations. Iskandar works as a political consultant and frequently contributes to think-tank and media outlets.

Where there is riot - There is gas

By Jim Jones

Poor Ukraine, they have no idea where they are being lead. Blinded by the rose coloured bifocal spectacles of Democracy and Freedom they cannot see the manoeuvring of the business cartels who with the active assistance of the IMF and World Bank are intent on reducing their country to bankruptcy and the people to eternal servitude; back to the Middle Ages and Serfdom.

So determined to rid themselves of the corruption of a democratically elected President, they can't wait to whore themselves to the EU pimp who plies Euros in exchange for souls. They are convinced that somehow the West is going to offer a solution to their perceived hardship and corruption that they have suffered. Corruption that has been unleashed by the West on the former Soviet Union through the dismantling of the Soviet System and the ensuing vacuum that allowed the cartels to flourish and take power.  The corruption will continue even after the illegitimate government is installed; it will just be more insidious, pervasive and suffocating and this time - impossible to escape from.

There is no immediate panacea for the malaise Ukraine is undergoing [or some other former Soviet States for that matter]  - in truth, they were better off under Soviet control; at least their welfare was secured. But no, they wanted their Freedom!  Freedom is allowing the business cartels to do what they want in your country - that is Western freedom.

Russia is fighting her way out of the corruption and problems left behind from the collapse of the Soviet system and the treachery of Gorbachev. Putin has been fighting the criminal Jewish oligarchs and slowly dismantling their corruption and hold on power; but this is not an over-night fix. It is a slow fight and one that Putin is winning, against much pressure from the West and within.  Ukraine need(s) to understand that the offer of assistance from Russia, without the austerity package that goes with the EU Europe loan, was really the best deal for Ukraine. Russian sentiment for the Ukraine is fraternal - the EU's sentiment for the Ukraine simply commercial.

I wrote an article - The Ukraine Fireman and "outed" just who was behind the current problem in Ukraine. The article attracted the usual anti Russian commentators including the PRAVDA troll Hjelpsom Mann who pontificated as following:

So the stupid coward who wrote all this nonsense, hateful, nationalistic, disgusting propaganda rubbish does not even dare to tell his or her name...  The Pravda blog is sinking deeper and deeper into rubbish.

I usually refrain from replying about comments but this rant really is not only over the top, it is also outright untrue. From someone who professes to abhor hate speech, this guy certainly spouts his fair share of hate and vitriol toward PRAVDA and Russia. He also engages in presenting ideas of his as facts.  The truth is, I have no problem at all identifying myself and have done so in all the articles I have written for PRAVDA; it just so happened that this time the Editor was so busy that he inadvertently omitted my credit.

As for the inconsequential comment that PRAVDA, unlike CNN, doesn't have reporters on the ground - I've seen CNN reporters on the ground; two of them supposedly across town from each other but both having the same bus and car pass by in the background as they both stood in the same car park!  Or reporting from the "War Zone" in Syria only to be in a made up studio and playing war sounds in the background - yeah, that's real reporting!  PRAVDA offers an alternative to the manipulated News coming from the likes of CNN/VOA and thank God for that!  Bless those Americans who can see the problem and speak against it.

Now for those in the West who should know and for those in Ukraine who need to know, I will outline the game being played here.

Wherever energy is involved, so too is big money and big corporations and big countries - Western countries are corporations, they are businesses listed on the stock exchange so forget any notion of democracy or patriotic loyalty to your country - they are a for profit organisation.

Current turmoil is all based on gas - getting gas to Europe to remove the European dependency on Russian gas and thus Russia's bargaining power over Europe.  Reducing the European market also may well have the effect of reducing Russia's foreign exchange and therefore, wealth of the country.  A weaker Russia, a poorer Russia will be easier for the West to control.

A very large gas find has been made off the coast of Syria, the Leviathan field - which in effect extends outside the Zionist occupied land and Lebanon. Bashar Al Assad was prepared to grant concession to Gazprom and the Russian interests would have controlled this completely.  Guess who had to go - Bashar Al Assad needed to be replaced with a "Free Syria" [euphemism for Western Puppet government].  The Zionists had a vested interest in this, so too Turkey and the Saudis' and a large conglomerate of "International" companies, headed by an American company with a 30% stake would develop the huge gas field and the gas was to be shipped into Europe via Turkey.

But oh dear, Bashar Al Assad was stronger than they though and the people of Syria were prepared to fight - into the third year and the Free Syrian criminals are on a hiding to nothing. Syria will likely get to develop the gas field if they can rid themselves of the infestation of foreign mercenaries and takfiri terrorists.  So an alternative plan needed to be hatched.

The Zionists are going to develop the field with the help of the "international conglomerate".  Pushing aside claims by Lebanon and Cyprus to the field, these penny pinchers of the world are now looking to how they can get "their" gas into Europe. They plan to  by-pass Turkey - notice lately how Turkey has seemingly started to turn against the Free Syrian terrorist; wouldn't have anything to do with them missing out on the gas pipeline now, would it?

The Ukraine already has the gas pipelines crossing it's country which feeds much of Europe and the four puppy states so concerned about the possible gas crisis. The logical solution is to connect the Mediterranean gas with the existing pipeline and get it into Europe quickly. But there is a problem for them here too - Ukraine has a President sympathetic to Russia and reliant on Russia for gas and trade. No problem however for the Neocon psychopaths; just stage yet another coloured revolution, kill innocents, cause confusion,  sow their propaganda message of democracy and freedom and in the confusion, oust the elected leader and install their puppets. With their puppets in place, they can complete the gas pipeline AND the IMF/World Bank gets another victim.  It's a win-win for all concerned and a total loss for Ukraine.

Wake up people - Ukraine - wake up!

I ask anyone, rather than printing your churlish and puerile anti Russian rhetoric, try arguing the facts. Let's see your true IQ Hjelpsom Mann - try thinking of something worthwhile to say.