There are two major issues in the news that, right now, are driving me insane due to lack of information.
Firstly, the whole situation in Chad. The Government of Chad is saying that these French (and Spanish) nationals are kidnapping these children, who still have parents, and are not from the Sudan, and possibly selling them on for organ harvesting and to pedophiles. What? The hell is that about? That sounds mighty suspicious, but if they were trafficking these children for such means, you think they'd be doing it a bit more surreptitiously than that. So, what's the real story? Was this aid organisation intentionally taking these kids, knowing full well that it was illegal, and they weren't orphans? Or were they trying to help, and just a bit useless? Is there anything behind these accusations of the organ harvesting and pedophilia? Or is it when a Government lays pointless charges against western workers in order to get them out of the country, like calling aid workers spies? The French government hasn't been particularly helpful in combating these charges. What the hell actually happened?
Likewise, the Anti-Terror raids of about two weeks ago. The police are saying these were training grounds for separatists, who were learning military tactics and firearms use. The locals say they were just learning how to hunt and track. Who do you believe? The NZ police are notorious dicks, especially with regards to the manner in which they treat Maori. But they claim they have substantial evidence, backed by over a year of surveillance. Yet in the time since the raids, they haven't presented any of it. Instead, we are left wondering why they targeted these groups, as they haven't shown anything concrete to indicate there was a solid Terrorist threat. Instead, in the interim, there have been large protests against the actions taken. It seems to me that if the police had brought forth the evidence in a timely manner after the arrests, and explained to the public why they thought there was a threat from these groups, people would have been a lot more understanding.
Instead, we're left scratching our heads, wondering what the hell just happened, and why they won't tell us if this is a credible threat. If there's someone out there training in a paramilitary manner to attack the people of NZ, I can agree that that's a reason to send in the police. However, without any such evidence, no conclusions can be reached. What the hell actually happened?
So, I plea to Governments: be transparent! Show us your evidence! Explain what's occurring! Don't leave your people in the dark.
-TB
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2 comments:
If all goes to plan I'll have attached a copy of the comic i drew for my friend's dissertation...
It's a sad situation when you have to decide which group is lying less, or even which group is less likely to be lying. It's even sadder when you can't trust the media to give you an uncompromised position (how is it useful to bandy around such amazingly loaded terms as 'terrorist' in this day and age?). I think the worst part is, however, the fact that NZ has opted to fall in line with the likes of Australia and the US in erroding human rights in the name of national security. It's a scary thought to think about how easily these immense powers can be misused to serve a party's own political agenda - if this is what's happening under Clark I shudder to think about when National gets in (which, sadly seems inevitable).
Oops that turned into a rant.
Ok, the first try didn't work: try going here --> http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b43/sarah_idunno/Comix/Critic/Copyofchris2.jpg
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