More protests, more anger at Americans ... can I blame them? No, I cannot. We have to stand up and yell - make ourselves heard - stop the violence. Only when we practice non-violence can we honestly speak about peace.
I am desolate, depressed, scared, pissed off. Stop now!
t
Afghanistan
-
hester_prynne
Tilly, Judih, Whitebird, I heartily join you in this utterly amazing thread, and I too, will continue to spread the word, despite the protests about hearing it. I have no self-doubts about it, it has got to STOP NOW
I am also desolate, depressed, scared, pissed off.
But I will not stop spreading the word.
VIOLENCE MUST BE STOPPED! NOW!
H
I am also desolate, depressed, scared, pissed off.
But I will not stop spreading the word.
VIOLENCE MUST BE STOPPED! NOW!
H
-
Whitebird Sings
- Posts: 992
- Joined: February 18th, 2005, 1:51 pm
- Location: toronto
- Contact:
Thank you Hester for adding your voice...
I have just returned home... and am going on only a few hours sleep... more about why later. For now, an update...
There have been reports that Clementina may have been killed by those who took her hostage -- but government officials are saying that they have spoken to her and she is still alive.
The New York Times in this morning's edition included this in an article:
CARE International said in a statement that it had no way of knowing whether the claim of Ms. Cantoni's death was true. "We are in contact with the Cantoni family, and the appropriate government authorities in Afghanistan and Italy," it said. "We continue to hope for the best."
The relief agency was preparing a poster campaign around Kabul to ask residents to help with information and call a special phone line. Ms. Cantoni has worked for two years in Afghanistan, running a program providing food aid and economic assistance for 10,000 widows and 50,000 children in the capital.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/21/inter ... ?th&emc=th
In the same news article, there is also a story that an Aghani TV host has been murdered, and that her own brothers may have been involved in killing her... Here is a portion of that part of the article:
Shaima Rezayee, 24, who tossed aside her burka for Western dress and became a host on an MTV-style music show, knew her life was in danger, according to a radio interview she gave not long before she was shot in the head at her Kabul home on Wednesday.
PLEASE -- again, let's join together as we continue to pray for Clementina, the Afghani peoples and those who are there to work along side of them AND please please take action by sending and calling your politicians, signing petitions through Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and other organizations -- asking for help in releasing Clementina, asking that they support non-violent intervention, asking that they collectively find ways to support the work of NGOs who work side by side with the Afghani people, ask that they put pressure on our governments to join forces to wage PEACE!!
OUR VOICES DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE... peace begins with us!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dohiya (peace)
So it is.
Your friend,
WB
I have just returned home... and am going on only a few hours sleep... more about why later. For now, an update...
There have been reports that Clementina may have been killed by those who took her hostage -- but government officials are saying that they have spoken to her and she is still alive.
The New York Times in this morning's edition included this in an article:
CARE International said in a statement that it had no way of knowing whether the claim of Ms. Cantoni's death was true. "We are in contact with the Cantoni family, and the appropriate government authorities in Afghanistan and Italy," it said. "We continue to hope for the best."
The relief agency was preparing a poster campaign around Kabul to ask residents to help with information and call a special phone line. Ms. Cantoni has worked for two years in Afghanistan, running a program providing food aid and economic assistance for 10,000 widows and 50,000 children in the capital.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/21/inter ... ?th&emc=th
In the same news article, there is also a story that an Aghani TV host has been murdered, and that her own brothers may have been involved in killing her... Here is a portion of that part of the article:
Shaima Rezayee, 24, who tossed aside her burka for Western dress and became a host on an MTV-style music show, knew her life was in danger, according to a radio interview she gave not long before she was shot in the head at her Kabul home on Wednesday.
PLEASE -- again, let's join together as we continue to pray for Clementina, the Afghani peoples and those who are there to work along side of them AND please please take action by sending and calling your politicians, signing petitions through Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and other organizations -- asking for help in releasing Clementina, asking that they support non-violent intervention, asking that they collectively find ways to support the work of NGOs who work side by side with the Afghani people, ask that they put pressure on our governments to join forces to wage PEACE!!
OUR VOICES DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE... peace begins with us!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dohiya (peace)
So it is.
Your friend,
WB
-
Whitebird Sings
- Posts: 992
- Joined: February 18th, 2005, 1:51 pm
- Location: toronto
- Contact:
"The Wounded Who Do Not Fight"
by Kate Richards O'Hare
The National Rip-Saw
Vol. XI No.8
St.Louis, October 1914
With bated breath the world is beginning to talk of the cost of the European orgy of blood and murder. Bankers figure the amount in dollars and cents, capitalists estimate the wasted labor and merchants reckon the ruined commodities. A few tender hearted are even counting the frightful waste of human life and attempting to reckon the toll of suffering and anguish.
The wise men disagree as wise men are wont to do, on details. The money changers wrangle as to whether the cost in the good coin of the realm is forty million or fifty-four million dollars per day, the capitalists argue over a few billions more or less of wasted labor and the merchants differ several billions as to the value of wasted commodities; but no statistics so far have been produced setting forth the cost of the European war to those who in the last analysis must bear the brunt and pay the toll-THE WOMANHOOD OF THE RACE.
A million men march out to the call of the bugle and three million women are left behind to mourn; for back of each soldier there is mother and sister, wife or sweetheart. The mother-heart stifles with the agony of dread for the son who has marched away; the wife-soul cowers in stunned misery for the father of her children, torn from her side and the maiden longs for the lover who never will be father to the children who never can be born.
Two mighty armies clash, in the roar of cannons and the rattle of musketry two groups of men hurl the messengers of death into each others ranks, and when the last cannon has belched forth its message of death and the last Mauser has sung its spiteful song of hate, one side declares it victory, the other admits defeat. Then each side goes to count its loss and bury its dead. Forty thousand fighting men are lost, costly implements of warfare are mere twisted bits of scrap steel, cities are razed, fields laid waste; homes are in ashes and the vineyards are red with the vintage from human veins. Out from the piled up masses of rotting carcasses comes the feeble babble of the wounded not yet dead.
Ruin and death and chaos prevail.
We can count the dead men and write their number in round figures; we can count the cost of making new implements of war and reckon the money value of the crops laid wasted, of the cities razed and of the homes in ashes. We may even speculate on the human agony represented by the dead men with faces cold and stark upturned to the sky or purpling under the autumn sun; we may shudder at the cry of dying men babbling in the delirium of gaping wounds and burning thirst- but who can or ever will dream of measuring the agony of the wounded who never fought- THE WOMEN WHO STAYED AT HOME!
For the men who march away there is the urge of the blood lust unleashed by the lure of cunning lies used to appeal to man's lowest passions. For the men who answer to the bugle call there is the impetus of crashing martial music and the hypnotism of being carried by the human flood. For the men who fall in the crash of battle there is the surge of elemental passions and the swift oblivion of death borne on a singing bullet. To the wounded entangled in the piles of festering dead, kind nature brings the forgetfulness of delirium and many a wounded soldier with his head pillowed on the torn body of his dead comrade, babbles of limpid brooks, ripening vineyards and a maiden's kisses. BUT WHAT OF THE WOMEN LEFT AT HOME?
For the WOMEN, THE WOUNDED WHO DO NOT FIGHT, THE DEATH STRICKEN WHO MAY NOT DIE, there is all of the seething hell of war and none of its lure and passion. For the womanhood of the race no martial music crashes; the human flood swells, ebbs, and leaves them stranded in the quagmires of despair; no singing bullet or roaring cannon brings the deep oblivion of death and no merciful delirium brings the sweet dreams of happier days. For the helpless victims of war's cursed madness there is only the agony of the damned, the unrelieved misery of suspense, hopelessness and dumb despair.
All over Europe from the anguished hearts of mothers arises the wail of Naomi, "I am old and barren and there is no more fruit in my womb." Wives crouch in the shattered ruins of once happy homes or drag whimpering children out of the reek and stench of war and face the dreary problem of brooding fatherless fledglings amidst the bitter curse of poverty. Maidens fall prey to the rapine waged by men driven mad the blood and lust of war and are despoiled of the flower of their womanhood before it ever blossoms.
It is the women of Europe who pay the price while war rages, and it will be the women who will pay again when war has run its bloody course and Europe sinks down into the slough of poverty like a harried beast too spent to wage the fight. It will be the sonless mothers who will bend their shoulders to the plow and wield in age-palsied hands the reaphook.
It will be the husbandless women who will level the graves and replant the grapevines in the blood fertilized lands of Europe. It will be tiny hands of fatherless children who will wield the hoe and man the machines in the factories. It will be the maidens who will never know wife- or motherhood who will bear the burdens that should have lain upon the shoulders of the lovers sleeping in the unmarked graves of an alien land. Upon the shoulders of women and children will fall the grinding, blighting, blasting struggle of covering the scars of war while paying the debts piled mountain high by war.
AND THE PITY, THE TRAGEDY OF IT ALL IS THAT THE WOMEN WHO PAY THE TOLL OF AGONY, SUSPENSE AND BEREAVEMENT WHILE WAR RAGES AND WHO PAY THE PRICE IN POVERTY AND TOIL WHEN WAR HAS SPENT ITS FURY, HAVE NO VOICE IN THE PARLIAMENTS AND NO POWER TO DECLARE THAT WAR SHALL OR SHALL NOT RAGE.
by Kate Richards O'Hare
The National Rip-Saw
Vol. XI No.8
St.Louis, October 1914
With bated breath the world is beginning to talk of the cost of the European orgy of blood and murder. Bankers figure the amount in dollars and cents, capitalists estimate the wasted labor and merchants reckon the ruined commodities. A few tender hearted are even counting the frightful waste of human life and attempting to reckon the toll of suffering and anguish.
The wise men disagree as wise men are wont to do, on details. The money changers wrangle as to whether the cost in the good coin of the realm is forty million or fifty-four million dollars per day, the capitalists argue over a few billions more or less of wasted labor and the merchants differ several billions as to the value of wasted commodities; but no statistics so far have been produced setting forth the cost of the European war to those who in the last analysis must bear the brunt and pay the toll-THE WOMANHOOD OF THE RACE.
A million men march out to the call of the bugle and three million women are left behind to mourn; for back of each soldier there is mother and sister, wife or sweetheart. The mother-heart stifles with the agony of dread for the son who has marched away; the wife-soul cowers in stunned misery for the father of her children, torn from her side and the maiden longs for the lover who never will be father to the children who never can be born.
Two mighty armies clash, in the roar of cannons and the rattle of musketry two groups of men hurl the messengers of death into each others ranks, and when the last cannon has belched forth its message of death and the last Mauser has sung its spiteful song of hate, one side declares it victory, the other admits defeat. Then each side goes to count its loss and bury its dead. Forty thousand fighting men are lost, costly implements of warfare are mere twisted bits of scrap steel, cities are razed, fields laid waste; homes are in ashes and the vineyards are red with the vintage from human veins. Out from the piled up masses of rotting carcasses comes the feeble babble of the wounded not yet dead.
Ruin and death and chaos prevail.
We can count the dead men and write their number in round figures; we can count the cost of making new implements of war and reckon the money value of the crops laid wasted, of the cities razed and of the homes in ashes. We may even speculate on the human agony represented by the dead men with faces cold and stark upturned to the sky or purpling under the autumn sun; we may shudder at the cry of dying men babbling in the delirium of gaping wounds and burning thirst- but who can or ever will dream of measuring the agony of the wounded who never fought- THE WOMEN WHO STAYED AT HOME!
For the men who march away there is the urge of the blood lust unleashed by the lure of cunning lies used to appeal to man's lowest passions. For the men who answer to the bugle call there is the impetus of crashing martial music and the hypnotism of being carried by the human flood. For the men who fall in the crash of battle there is the surge of elemental passions and the swift oblivion of death borne on a singing bullet. To the wounded entangled in the piles of festering dead, kind nature brings the forgetfulness of delirium and many a wounded soldier with his head pillowed on the torn body of his dead comrade, babbles of limpid brooks, ripening vineyards and a maiden's kisses. BUT WHAT OF THE WOMEN LEFT AT HOME?
For the WOMEN, THE WOUNDED WHO DO NOT FIGHT, THE DEATH STRICKEN WHO MAY NOT DIE, there is all of the seething hell of war and none of its lure and passion. For the womanhood of the race no martial music crashes; the human flood swells, ebbs, and leaves them stranded in the quagmires of despair; no singing bullet or roaring cannon brings the deep oblivion of death and no merciful delirium brings the sweet dreams of happier days. For the helpless victims of war's cursed madness there is only the agony of the damned, the unrelieved misery of suspense, hopelessness and dumb despair.
All over Europe from the anguished hearts of mothers arises the wail of Naomi, "I am old and barren and there is no more fruit in my womb." Wives crouch in the shattered ruins of once happy homes or drag whimpering children out of the reek and stench of war and face the dreary problem of brooding fatherless fledglings amidst the bitter curse of poverty. Maidens fall prey to the rapine waged by men driven mad the blood and lust of war and are despoiled of the flower of their womanhood before it ever blossoms.
It is the women of Europe who pay the price while war rages, and it will be the women who will pay again when war has run its bloody course and Europe sinks down into the slough of poverty like a harried beast too spent to wage the fight. It will be the sonless mothers who will bend their shoulders to the plow and wield in age-palsied hands the reaphook.
It will be the husbandless women who will level the graves and replant the grapevines in the blood fertilized lands of Europe. It will be tiny hands of fatherless children who will wield the hoe and man the machines in the factories. It will be the maidens who will never know wife- or motherhood who will bear the burdens that should have lain upon the shoulders of the lovers sleeping in the unmarked graves of an alien land. Upon the shoulders of women and children will fall the grinding, blighting, blasting struggle of covering the scars of war while paying the debts piled mountain high by war.
AND THE PITY, THE TRAGEDY OF IT ALL IS THAT THE WOMEN WHO PAY THE TOLL OF AGONY, SUSPENSE AND BEREAVEMENT WHILE WAR RAGES AND WHO PAY THE PRICE IN POVERTY AND TOIL WHEN WAR HAS SPENT ITS FURY, HAVE NO VOICE IN THE PARLIAMENTS AND NO POWER TO DECLARE THAT WAR SHALL OR SHALL NOT RAGE.
Thank you, Whitebird Sings. I have shared this with my friends and colleagues in Afghanistan, Bulgaria and Nepal. it is a timeless piece and no less true today than it was in 1914.
We had the entire staff over for a BBQ today - it was a wonderfully fun event. the men danced and the women gossiped. We have 2 young women on our staff, just 20, and as I listen to them and what they talk about ... they could be anywhere in the world!
Peace,
We had the entire staff over for a BBQ today - it was a wonderfully fun event. the men danced and the women gossiped. We have 2 young women on our staff, just 20, and as I listen to them and what they talk about ... they could be anywhere in the world!
Peace,
-
Whitebird Sings
- Posts: 992
- Joined: February 18th, 2005, 1:51 pm
- Location: toronto
- Contact:
-
Whitebird Sings
- Posts: 992
- Joined: February 18th, 2005, 1:51 pm
- Location: toronto
- Contact:
from: http://www.counterpunch.org/random05262005.html
May 26, 2005
Afghanistan, the Forgotten Occupation
Karzai's Rude Awakening
By JACK RANDOM
Is there anyone who still believes in the independence of the American media? After the spectacle of embedded journalism, the evisceration of Dan Rather, the sordid saga of Judith Miller and the New York Times, and the emasculation of Newsweek Magazine, if you require further proof, look to the recent visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
By all appearances, President Karzai is an honest and sincere leader even though his presidency was made possible by the blessings and support of the White House warlords. At the initiation of the war in Iraq, Karzai wisely appealed to the United States Congress not to forget his nation, a nation already conquered and occupied by American led forces. Moved by his compassion, our congressional leaders posed for the cameras to give praise and a solemn promise: We will not forget.
Three years later, the forgotten occupation still seethes with civil unrest. Thousands have taken to the streets in protest. Afghani citizens still fall to American bombs, missiles and renewed military offensives. Tribal warlords still rule most of the country and protect the opium fields upon which Afghanistan still depends for survival.
Against this backdrop, it should not have been surprising that President Karzai had some harsh criticism for his American sponsors. It was time, he argued, for the Afghan government to gain control of military operations. It was not, he observed, the article in Newsweek concerning the desecration of the Koran that led to mass demonstrations across Afghanistan in which dozens of protesters were shot down for exercising their democratic rights; it was the conditions of occupation, a desperate economy, and a lack of progress under virtual military rule.
What was the administration response? The Department of Defense issued stern rebuke of President Karzai and his government for failing to control the opium trade.
What was the story in American media? The failure of the Afghan government to control the opium trade.
It is somehow assumed that the president of Afghanistan is misinformed or not familiar enough with his own people to rewrite a story that has already gone forth as an example of media malfeasance. After all, Newsweek has already accepted the blame. Newsweek has already taken the blood of the innocent on the hands of its reporters. Who is the president of Afghanistan to reassign culpability?
Now that Newsweek (a publication that might have been considered liberal a decade ago) has joined CBS in being humbled before the eyes of the meta-media world, President Karzai must also be bent to his knees by accepting blame for the Afghan opium trade.
Has it occurred to anyone in America's free press that without control of the military there is absolutely nothing Karzai can do about the opium trade? Has it occurred to any mainstream journalist that without the opium trade there is no Afghan economy?
Where is Christianne Amanpour when we need her? Would CNN even allow her to file a report?
Where are those congressional leaders who vowed never to forget? Does it occur to none that the welfare of Afghanistan is now America's burden? Under the circumstances, it was imperative for Karzai to submit the solemn truth: They do not need covert operations on the Pakistani border. They do not need military prisons filled with uncharged suspects. They need basic security and the rule of law. They need a well-supplied Afghan army and the disarmament of the warlords. Most critically, in the absence of the opium trade, they need massive economic assistance.
What Karzai foresaw three years ago, he must now accept in despair: That assistance, along with the dream of a free and peaceful Afghanistan, is not forthcoming.
Before he was muzzled and escorted from Washington, Karzai spoke the truth: The bare minimum a sovereign democratic government can expect is control over military operations within its own borders. If it is denied that minimal authority, it is nothing more than a figurehead for the occupying forces.
It is a rude awakening for a proud man who sincerely cares about the future of his people. The lesson he has learned is familiar to many throughout the world: America may be a partner but it is not a friend.
Jack Random is the author of the Jazzman Chronicles, the War Chronicles (Crow Dog Press) and Ghost Dance Insurrection (Dry Bones Press). He can be reached through his website: www.jackrandom.com.
May 26, 2005
Afghanistan, the Forgotten Occupation
Karzai's Rude Awakening
By JACK RANDOM
Is there anyone who still believes in the independence of the American media? After the spectacle of embedded journalism, the evisceration of Dan Rather, the sordid saga of Judith Miller and the New York Times, and the emasculation of Newsweek Magazine, if you require further proof, look to the recent visit of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
By all appearances, President Karzai is an honest and sincere leader even though his presidency was made possible by the blessings and support of the White House warlords. At the initiation of the war in Iraq, Karzai wisely appealed to the United States Congress not to forget his nation, a nation already conquered and occupied by American led forces. Moved by his compassion, our congressional leaders posed for the cameras to give praise and a solemn promise: We will not forget.
Three years later, the forgotten occupation still seethes with civil unrest. Thousands have taken to the streets in protest. Afghani citizens still fall to American bombs, missiles and renewed military offensives. Tribal warlords still rule most of the country and protect the opium fields upon which Afghanistan still depends for survival.
Against this backdrop, it should not have been surprising that President Karzai had some harsh criticism for his American sponsors. It was time, he argued, for the Afghan government to gain control of military operations. It was not, he observed, the article in Newsweek concerning the desecration of the Koran that led to mass demonstrations across Afghanistan in which dozens of protesters were shot down for exercising their democratic rights; it was the conditions of occupation, a desperate economy, and a lack of progress under virtual military rule.
What was the administration response? The Department of Defense issued stern rebuke of President Karzai and his government for failing to control the opium trade.
What was the story in American media? The failure of the Afghan government to control the opium trade.
It is somehow assumed that the president of Afghanistan is misinformed or not familiar enough with his own people to rewrite a story that has already gone forth as an example of media malfeasance. After all, Newsweek has already accepted the blame. Newsweek has already taken the blood of the innocent on the hands of its reporters. Who is the president of Afghanistan to reassign culpability?
Now that Newsweek (a publication that might have been considered liberal a decade ago) has joined CBS in being humbled before the eyes of the meta-media world, President Karzai must also be bent to his knees by accepting blame for the Afghan opium trade.
Has it occurred to anyone in America's free press that without control of the military there is absolutely nothing Karzai can do about the opium trade? Has it occurred to any mainstream journalist that without the opium trade there is no Afghan economy?
Where is Christianne Amanpour when we need her? Would CNN even allow her to file a report?
Where are those congressional leaders who vowed never to forget? Does it occur to none that the welfare of Afghanistan is now America's burden? Under the circumstances, it was imperative for Karzai to submit the solemn truth: They do not need covert operations on the Pakistani border. They do not need military prisons filled with uncharged suspects. They need basic security and the rule of law. They need a well-supplied Afghan army and the disarmament of the warlords. Most critically, in the absence of the opium trade, they need massive economic assistance.
What Karzai foresaw three years ago, he must now accept in despair: That assistance, along with the dream of a free and peaceful Afghanistan, is not forthcoming.
Before he was muzzled and escorted from Washington, Karzai spoke the truth: The bare minimum a sovereign democratic government can expect is control over military operations within its own borders. If it is denied that minimal authority, it is nothing more than a figurehead for the occupying forces.
It is a rude awakening for a proud man who sincerely cares about the future of his people. The lesson he has learned is familiar to many throughout the world: America may be a partner but it is not a friend.
Jack Random is the author of the Jazzman Chronicles, the War Chronicles (Crow Dog Press) and Ghost Dance Insurrection (Dry Bones Press). He can be reached through his website: www.jackrandom.com.
-
Whitebird Sings
- Posts: 992
- Joined: February 18th, 2005, 1:51 pm
- Location: toronto
- Contact:
Please continue to pray for Clementina...
pray for her safety and her release --
and ask that it happen now.
Please send out love and energy
across the miles to her.
Imagine her fear,
how alone she feels --
pray for her, her family, her friends and her co-workers.
Pray for the peoples of Afghanistan
and the peoples who are there working side by side
with the peoples of Afghanistan.
Peace begins with us.
Namaste
Janette (Whitebird Sings)
Afghan tribal elders appeal for kidnapped Italian
26 May 2005 13:47:42 GMT
Source: Reuters http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL12036.htm
KABUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Afghan tribal elders and Muslim clerics are appealing to the kidnappers of an Italian aid worker, telling them what they have done is wrong and they should release the woman, the government said on Thursday.
Clementina Cantoni, 32, a worker for the CARE International aid agency, was kidnapped by four armed men who stopped her vehicle on a Kabul street on May 16.
"We are trying to appeal to the kidnappers through religious leaders and tribal elders," Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said in a statement.
The elders are telling the kidnappers that what they have done is against Afghan and Islamic law, and also runs afoul of Afghan culture, he said.
"It can only be righted by the safe release of Clementina," he said. He did not say how the elders and clerics were contactng the kidnappers.
Cantoni's abduction has raised fresh fears among Kabul's 2,000-strong foreign community of Iraq-style kidnappings by anti-government insurgents or criminals.
Officials say that they believe her kidnappers are criminals, not Islamic militants.
Mashal said Afghanistan and Italy were working as partners for the safe and speedy release of Cantoni and were sharing information, resources and personnel.
"Progress is being made every day, and that is a testament to the teamwork," he said. "Lines of communication remain open, and we remain optimistic."
Authorities have declined to discuss the kidnappers' identity. The Italian embassy and Care International have refused comment on efforts to free Cantoni.
Three foreign U.N. election workers were kidnapped in Kabul in October and held for 27 days before being released unharmed.
Their kidnappers were believed to have been criminals linked to a Taliban splinter faction and officials initially said Cantoni's kidnappers were suspected of belonging to the same gang.
More than 100 of the widows Cantoni used to help rallied in Kabul on Thursday to appeal for her freedom.
"Please free her. Clementina is a good girl and she helps us," one widow said from behind a burqa.
AlertNet news (Reuters)
pray for her safety and her release --
and ask that it happen now.
Please send out love and energy
across the miles to her.
Imagine her fear,
how alone she feels --
pray for her, her family, her friends and her co-workers.
Pray for the peoples of Afghanistan
and the peoples who are there working side by side
with the peoples of Afghanistan.
Peace begins with us.
Namaste
Janette (Whitebird Sings)
Afghan tribal elders appeal for kidnapped Italian
26 May 2005 13:47:42 GMT
Source: Reuters http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL12036.htm
KABUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Afghan tribal elders and Muslim clerics are appealing to the kidnappers of an Italian aid worker, telling them what they have done is wrong and they should release the woman, the government said on Thursday.
Clementina Cantoni, 32, a worker for the CARE International aid agency, was kidnapped by four armed men who stopped her vehicle on a Kabul street on May 16.
"We are trying to appeal to the kidnappers through religious leaders and tribal elders," Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said in a statement.
The elders are telling the kidnappers that what they have done is against Afghan and Islamic law, and also runs afoul of Afghan culture, he said.
"It can only be righted by the safe release of Clementina," he said. He did not say how the elders and clerics were contactng the kidnappers.
Cantoni's abduction has raised fresh fears among Kabul's 2,000-strong foreign community of Iraq-style kidnappings by anti-government insurgents or criminals.
Officials say that they believe her kidnappers are criminals, not Islamic militants.
Mashal said Afghanistan and Italy were working as partners for the safe and speedy release of Cantoni and were sharing information, resources and personnel.
"Progress is being made every day, and that is a testament to the teamwork," he said. "Lines of communication remain open, and we remain optimistic."
Authorities have declined to discuss the kidnappers' identity. The Italian embassy and Care International have refused comment on efforts to free Cantoni.
Three foreign U.N. election workers were kidnapped in Kabul in October and held for 27 days before being released unharmed.
Their kidnappers were believed to have been criminals linked to a Taliban splinter faction and officials initially said Cantoni's kidnappers were suspected of belonging to the same gang.
More than 100 of the widows Cantoni used to help rallied in Kabul on Thursday to appeal for her freedom.
"Please free her. Clementina is a good girl and she helps us," one widow said from behind a burqa.
AlertNet news (Reuters)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tillyreed ... /my_photos
the above link will take you to photos of the BBQ we had at our house for our staff. It was so much fun for everyone. The men all danced with each other, and the women sat and talked about things women talk about all over the world.
Things have quieted down a bit here, but there is still no news about Clementina. Text messages have gone out over both mobile phone companies, posters have been posted all over town, women are especially crying out for her release. We continue to do all that we can to free her.
Peace,
t
the above link will take you to photos of the BBQ we had at our house for our staff. It was so much fun for everyone. The men all danced with each other, and the women sat and talked about things women talk about all over the world.
Things have quieted down a bit here, but there is still no news about Clementina. Text messages have gone out over both mobile phone companies, posters have been posted all over town, women are especially crying out for her release. We continue to do all that we can to free her.
Peace,
t
God is with you, and we all too.
How God or Allah can let to happen such things to such a good and nobile person?
We are all praying for you Clementina.
http://www.geocities.com/freekidnappedpeople/
God is with you!
Please release innocent italyan aid worker Clementina Cantoni(32), "daughter of Afghanistan", "Force of good"![/img]
Last edited by el macho on June 2nd, 2005, 5:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hi El Macho! I thought you would like to know that yesterday there was a signing of a petition for the safe release of Clementina. It was held at one of our partner organization's office compound and the press was there to cover the event and talk to us all and especially her colleagues from CARE and the Italian Embassy. It was such a moving event, flip chart paper was hung all along the walls of the garden area and the thumb prints of many of the women that Clementina has helped covered many of the sheets. We all silently lined up and added our signatures. It was not only a cry for Clementina's release, it was also an exhibition of our solidarity and our determination to stay in Afghanistan and continue to work for the people, work for a civil society in which people can have a voice in their future and lead a peaceful life.
It is said that the police know exactly where she is, but that because the government is composed of warlords and other factions, they are not being allowed to rescue her. There is also rumor that the Italians have agreed to pay the ransom, which is good for Clementina but may incite others to do the same. It is such a difficult situation.
I have to believe in people, El Macho, else I die. And I can tell from your concern for Clementina that you believe too. If all of us join together and work for peace, then it will happen. I get so discouraged sometimes and think that there is no end to this violence and injustice, but then I look around and see there are those that think as I do and it is us that can and will make a difference.
All peace,
t
It is said that the police know exactly where she is, but that because the government is composed of warlords and other factions, they are not being allowed to rescue her. There is also rumor that the Italians have agreed to pay the ransom, which is good for Clementina but may incite others to do the same. It is such a difficult situation.
I have to believe in people, El Macho, else I die. And I can tell from your concern for Clementina that you believe too. If all of us join together and work for peace, then it will happen. I get so discouraged sometimes and think that there is no end to this violence and injustice, but then I look around and see there are those that think as I do and it is us that can and will make a difference.
All peace,
t
Freedom & Peace!
I'm really happy to hear about signing of a petition. It's good to hear that solidarity works, our souls are with you!
To pay or not the ransom is really a difficult situation. But really, there was a ransom? Because we don't know about that nothing... I saw the video, but there says nothing about that.
So, they kidnapped a woman to get money.... what a world...
They know where she is?? Okay say that government ... and police can't rescue her... but the US troops? there are, no?, some other troops too.
I read all your comments, it's a great thing what you do there keep it doing, I said not to beleive in nobody in way "take care of you, so, you minimize the threat to happen something with you.". But, sure, you know all theese things better... maybe I won't have the courage to go there. I admire you for this.
So, keep telling us your stories... from now I'm watching all you write here, thanx to LightningRod
Sincerily, the violence must stop, but I don't know when this will be. I'm watching the news from Iraq, Afghanistan ... and see that tens of people dies every days due to bombings, shooting, kidnappings.... I think that violence can't be stopped with violence, that's why your mission is so important, all my admiration to you. Violence can't be stopped by violence, that's why we fight here in romania, to withdraw the troops. Maybe someone will not agree with me, but I think that this war done lot's of casualities, and maybe it was a bad thing that it was started. I'm not saying that now all the troops needs to be called back, that's impossible.
Please, keep telling your stories
Thank you for all tilly
sorry about my english,
To pay or not the ransom is really a difficult situation. But really, there was a ransom? Because we don't know about that nothing... I saw the video, but there says nothing about that.
So, they kidnapped a woman to get money.... what a world...
They know where she is?? Okay say that government ... and police can't rescue her... but the US troops? there are, no?, some other troops too.
I read all your comments, it's a great thing what you do there keep it doing, I said not to beleive in nobody in way "take care of you, so, you minimize the threat to happen something with you.". But, sure, you know all theese things better... maybe I won't have the courage to go there. I admire you for this.
So, keep telling us your stories... from now I'm watching all you write here, thanx to LightningRod
Sincerily, the violence must stop, but I don't know when this will be. I'm watching the news from Iraq, Afghanistan ... and see that tens of people dies every days due to bombings, shooting, kidnappings.... I think that violence can't be stopped with violence, that's why your mission is so important, all my admiration to you. Violence can't be stopped by violence, that's why we fight here in romania, to withdraw the troops. Maybe someone will not agree with me, but I think that this war done lot's of casualities, and maybe it was a bad thing that it was started. I'm not saying that now all the troops needs to be called back, that's impossible.
Please, keep telling your stories
Thank you for all tilly
sorry about my english,
Hi. I moved here from Bulgaria so we were neighbors and didn't even know it.
We have to make our voices heard and ensure that other's, and especially women's, voices are heard as well. Each of us has an important mission to carry out and we must never ever give up, as the Dalai Lama says.
Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Your language is perfect, I understood everything you were telling me - isn't that what language and communication is all about?
It is very complicated here and the government has a difficult task ahead of it. The corruption is no worse than it is in Bulgaria or Romania and many other places in the world, including the US and other "developed" nations, it is just more blatantly in your face - as are most of the other global society ills. There are going to be parliamentary elections in September for the first time in AFghan history. It is anticipated that the situation will worsen up to the elctions.
All peace,
t
We have to make our voices heard and ensure that other's, and especially women's, voices are heard as well. Each of us has an important mission to carry out and we must never ever give up, as the Dalai Lama says.
Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Your language is perfect, I understood everything you were telling me - isn't that what language and communication is all about?
It is very complicated here and the government has a difficult task ahead of it. The corruption is no worse than it is in Bulgaria or Romania and many other places in the world, including the US and other "developed" nations, it is just more blatantly in your face - as are most of the other global society ills. There are going to be parliamentary elections in September for the first time in AFghan history. It is anticipated that the situation will worsen up to the elctions.
All peace,
t
I'm doing what I can, but i'm a simple citizen, who has an opinion, and I share my opinion whith everybody. Other power I don't have, but in the past weeks I found hundreds of people who agree with me, and that thanx me a lot.
God help us. Have peace on the Earth!
I will check the forum constantly, It's interesting... Please tell us what is happening there.., if you will have more info on hostage Crisis, and other important stories.. Womens still needs to cover their bodies, or from now it's their choice?(i refer to afghan women).
I heard last day an important thing: How can arab people respect women (that's what they say), if they have 3-4 wifes!? (That's the truth? they have many wifes?)
Appeared really in Afghan television the appeal of "Comissario Cattani", Placinto Domingo, for the release of Clementina?
Thank you very much,
bye
God help us. Have peace on the Earth!
I will check the forum constantly, It's interesting... Please tell us what is happening there.., if you will have more info on hostage Crisis, and other important stories.. Womens still needs to cover their bodies, or from now it's their choice?(i refer to afghan women).
I heard last day an important thing: How can arab people respect women (that's what they say), if they have 3-4 wifes!? (That's the truth? they have many wifes?)
Appeared really in Afghan television the appeal of "Comissario Cattani", Placinto Domingo, for the release of Clementina?
Thank you very much,
bye
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