Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was sentenced to 90 days confinement but he will not serve it for procedural reasons, the spokesman said. The sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles. Word of the maximum sentence led to outrage in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it "an insult to all Iraqis" and "solid proof that the Americans don't respect human rights". Iraqi authorities had pushed for those accused in the case to be subject to Iraqi justice before the final withdrawal of US troops in December last year. Wuterich, 31, the commander of a unit whose seven other members have been exonerated through various legal rulings, pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from the 2005 incident. He entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed. Wuterich was initially charged with murder. "Staff Sergeant Wuterich accepted responsibility ... and agreed and admits that he gave a verbal order to shoot first, ask questions later, or don't hesitate to shoot, and words to that effect," said spokesman Joe Koppel.
The victims included 10 women and children killed at point-blank range. Six people were killed in one house, most shot in the head, including women and children huddled in a bedroom. Lawyers for the troops involved argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving situation in which they believed they were under enemy fire. "No one denies that the consequences of November 19, 2005 were tragic, least of all Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich," his civilian defence attorney, Neal Puckett, said in a statement released shortly after the plea hearing. Article URL: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/01/201212423947590252.html This article is in itself a crisis. Its link to crisis management is in regards to how a country (in this case the US) responds to such devastating acts by its soldiers in Iraq. So far there has been no up to or public announcement after judges rules that the Soldier involved in the death of innocent Iraqi women and children will serve no time in jail. He will be set free with no repercussions. This does not seem to be an issue, or a risk, but a full blown crisis. The reason it gets the value of a full blown crisis is due to the country that committed the atrocity...America...land of justice, home of the free, home of the brave, etc. This article exposes American laws and rules of war to go as far as their border alone. This article shows a clear misconduct of rules of engagement but no consequence of the action. American human rights seem to only matter within their border, if even that. Frank Wuterich authorised and proceeded in the killing of 24 innocent Iraqis. If he had killed 24 innocent Americans he would have served 24 life sentences but since he authorized and participated in the killing of 24 innocent Iraqis he gets a "get out of jail" free card. It is quite scary when the "most developed" country in the world is allowed to commit such actions and get away with it as if nothing happened at all. It has been handled in the poorest manner. It would have been a little less terrible if this was some developing nation and they didn't have a proper justice system intact, but the fact that this happened in America makes it all the more worse. The Staff Sergeant was sentenced to 90 days but will serve 0 due to procedural reasons. Even after the statement of the sentencing was released no statements have been released by any government official(s) in regards to this topic. It seems like the whole country is playing "hear no evil, speak no evil" It was believed that America had one of the greatest systems to deal with any crisis like this involving human life but it seems now that America only has that type of preparedness for these types of situations that occur within their border. It seems they have no preparedness for this situation in any other context. Within me, this article triggers much anger and sadness. The anger exists because women and children were shot at point blank range in the head that were huddled in a room together. Reading that statement over now even elicits anger. Anger at an unfair, hypocritical, double-standard judicial system. The sorrow due to the Iraqi families involved. There is much sorrow in me because this case shows clear disconnect between what is practiced and what is preached from the US to the world. I really do not have any advice to those involved. It seems to really not even matter what is advised. America will continue doing whatever it wants without any consequences while countries like Iraq will try and maintain some sort of dignity. Another war crime case occurred about 2 weeks ago. American soldiers were videotaped urinating on dead Afghan soldiers bodies. The soldiers laughed and made jokes about giving the soldiers a shower while they urinated. After reading about these two cases within days of each other there really is no advice I can give besides: "Its time to clean out your own closet before you decide to clean out someone else's" |
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Saturday, 28 January 2012
US soldier will serve no time for Iraq Killings
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Haiti: one country, two crisis
| Cholera in Haiti: From control to elimination | |||||
Two years after a massive earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak, Haitians are trying to improve public health.
Meera Dalal
Last Modified: 13 Jan 2012 11:12
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In an effort to eliminate the water borne disease, officials from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a partnership with the governments of Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, to try and improve sanitation and access to drinking water in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. The goal is to extend proper sanitation facilities to at least two-thirds of the Haitian population by 2015, a daunting task which could cost $1.1bn. “Of course we need to control [the epidemic], of course we need to reduce the mortality,” said Dr Mirta Roses, Director of PAHO, in her opening address at the international press conference in Washington, DC. “The call of action is for a cholera-free Hispaniola [the island containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic], which means not just prevention and control, but elimination.” The cholera epidemic began in October 2010, ten months after the earthquake, causing at least 7,001 deaths and making more than half a million seriously ill. The disease spread like wildfire; the CDC calls it one of the largest cholera epidemics to affect a single region in modern history. Cholera is a water-borne gastrointestinal illness caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. Patients experience uncontrollable diarrhea, rapidly leading to severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalances and sometimes death. Cholera can be easily treated with proper hydration and antibiotics. Even still, the latest figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show three to five million cases worldwide with 100,000-120,000 cholera-related deaths each year. Poverty and infrastructure “Cholera is a disease that defines poverty; it has done so historically and continues to do so today,” said Dr Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of Water and Sanitation at UNICEF. “In [some] rural areas, 99 per cent of people practice open defecation. This has huge public health implications.”
“There is no effective public water system in Haiti,” said Dr Louise Ivers, Chief of Mission for Partners in Health, a Boston based non-profit organisation, living in Haiti. “The river is the place where bathing, drinking and defecation all occur.” By contrast, 93 per cent of people living in the Dominican Republic have access to proper sanitation, which is comparable to the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr Kevin De Cock, Director of the Centre for Global Health at the CDC, agrees. "It comes as no surprise that when cholera was introduced, it turned into one of the largest cholera epidemics in history.” Origins of an epidemic Haiti had not seen cholera in almost a century; the strain that started the epidemic was originally isolated from Bangladesh, according to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine. The question of how this strain arrived in Haiti was the subject of a UN special report which concluded that the source of the epidemic was most likely a camp for UN peacekeepers from Nepal, whose human waste was dumped by independent contractors into an unsecured pit that was susceptible to flooding in heavy rainfall. Haitians, who had suspected as much, were understandably upset. The US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy has filed claims against the UN on behalf of some 5,000 cholera victims, demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation. They argue that the UN mission in Haiti failed to screen peacekeepers for cholera and allowed untreated waste from the base to be dumped into the main river. When epidemiologists trace the spread of a disease, finding the first carrier, or the 'index case' is important. After numerous reports and speculation, a recent study published this week in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene uncovers what is believed to be the first case of Haiti’s cholera epidemic. Researchers believe the first man to contract the disease was a 28-year-old from the rural town of Mirebalais, with a history of untreated psychiatric disease. Blaming this particular individual, however, misses the structural problem of contaminated water. “If it wasn’t him, it would have been someone else,” Ivers told Al Jazeera. “The problem of exposure through the river still would have been there.”
After the outbreak began in Haiti, cases of cholera were reported as far as Miami and Boston. “One of the key learning points is that the interconnectedness of both rich and poor countries can lead to a global spread,” Ivers told Al Jazeera. In another recent paper, researchers were able to track the spread of the disease through social media. News of the cholera outbreak hit Twitter and Facebook two weeks before traditional data was available to Haiti’s Ministry of Health, according to this week's piece in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. “We used global data from people with relatives in Haiti, friends, aid workers, even celebrities who visited,” Dr Rumi Chunara, the study’s lead researcher, told Al Jaeera. “This method has a lot of potential for places where the infrastructure has been disrupted, like post-disaster areas.” Relief efforts In the wake of the epidemic, countless governmental organisations, charities, medical relief groups and individual practitioners rallied to the country. Souad Lakhdim has been the PAHO Regional Manager in Haiti since the earthquake. “Our strategy [for cholera] had two objectives. One was to save lives, the other, to prevent the spread of disease,” she said. For the first, numerous Cholera Treatment Centers or CTCs were set up around the country, and local medical staff were trained in cholera treatment guidelines. Additionally, oral rehydration centers were set up in smaller communities for patients who did not necessarily require intensive medical care. To prevent the spread, health promotion initiatives were launched in the form of door-to-door programmes teaching proper personal hygiene, hand washing and defecation practices. Aid groups taught water chlorination and supplied chlorine tabs as well as attempted to secure clean water. After the interventions, mortality decreased from 10 per cent of cholera victims at the start of the epidemic to a stable rate of less than one per cent from January 2011 onwards. Steps forward
As foreign aid groups pull out of Haiti from December 2011 onwards, the Ministry of Health has plans to incorporate the cholera relief effort into the country’s existing health care system. In the long term, however, elimination will require major structural changes. Building an infrastructure to fulfill the goals of the Call to Action will require $1.1bn, and a lot of patience. Based on similar cholera outbreaks in Africa and more recently in Central America after Hurricane Mitch, experts expect it will take around 10 years to fully control the disease. In the meantime, Wijasekera said that many short term solutions are available. “Simple behavioral changes, such as washing hands at critical times, can have a huge impact. Low cost, huge impact. Of course, meant to be in conjunction with long term infrastructure changes, but these are immediate, inexpensive things we can do.” In what could be a sign of brighter days to come, Haitian kids recently set a Guinness World Record for hand washing after 7000 school children soaped-up for National Hand-Washing Day. Michel Martelly, Haiti's President, encouraged the international community to get involved during Wednesday’s international call to action. “Decades of neglect and the failure to invest have led to many illnesses associated with the consumption of contaminated water, lack... of good hygiene, and poor excreta management,” he said. “More than ever before, now is the time to address these deficiencies.” Follow Meera Dalal on twitter @MeeraDalal Source URL: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/01/2012111193155842439.html It seems like everyone has forgotten what happened only 2 years ago to Haiti. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti and killed thousands in an instant and more as the days followed and bodies were discovered through the rubble. Africa was hit with another crisis...but wait, Haiti isn't in Africa, but we thought it was, right? Because a bunch of impoverished black people facing a catastrophe can only happen in Africa, that's where it always happens, so far far away from us. This one is different though, this one is on our side of the world, much closer than we may have thought. With the stuggles of living in a modern rat-race chasing the material world we often forget those who are actually in a stuggle. This is just one of many examples... This article illustrates that even while engaging in rescue missions and humanitarian efforts we must be very careful in how we deal with issues such as refugee camps and waste management. Although our efforts are in the right place, we must be very careful in the actions we take. This article highlights how humanitarian efforts can go wrong when proper protocol is not made or followed when dealing with human waste, and how the improper procedure can create a snow-ball effect with massive repercussions. This crisis seems to be at the beginning stages since Haiti has not had a case of cholera for almost 100 years. They are not prepared to deal with disease control, let alone a disease that has been missing from the landscape for almost a century. With the disease claiming over 7000 lives and making more 500,000 seriously ill, Cholera is just starting its initiation period. "Haiti continues to see 200 new cases of Cholera a day. This is expected to increase to 1000 cases per day in April 2012, when the rainy season begins." -Dalal. Although the disease is spreading like wildfire throughout the country a great partnership has emerged to tackle the issue - Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF, and US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Together, they have announced an effort to try and improve sanitation and access to drinking water in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. The goal of this partnership is to extend proper sanitation facilities to 66% of the population by 2015. This will cost around 1.1 billion dollars. This system has been implemented in African nations with similar cholera outbreaks and is believed to take upto 10 years to properly control this outbreak in Haiti. The country itself is not prepared for something like this, after all its been around a century since cholera was last seen, who would be prepared... The cholera crisis in Haiti triggers me to react to two different crisis at different levels. The first crisis is detailed in the article - a cholera outbreak 10 months after the earthquake claiming thousands of lives and infecting many more, with incidence rates rising. The other crisis is more subtle, the fact that only two years of a massive earthquake hit Haiti we barely remember where Haiti is. The only way we can inform people is by telling them "the country besides Dominican Republic" because they may have gone there on a vacation. The fact is, just like we always do, we have normalized something that is not so normal. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Pakistan, and Mexico are just some of the countries where people die "natually" in unnatural (to us) ways. We have normalized crisis in these countries because "it happens so often anyways" or "we just don't care" - and that in itself is a crisis. My advice to those involved would be to work towards improvement in sanitation standards of the country. Another advice would be for the foreign NGO's to get local people part of the process design and implementation. Nationals of Haiti needs to be involved in the structure and design of their own country. They need to feel a belonging to their community and country. By building relations we create a source of love and personal pride and belonging that makes living in a chaotic world easier. Susan Lieberman |
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Why Blog?
| The purpose of this blog initially started out as a requirement for the course "Crisis Management and Communication" by Terry Flynn; one of our deliverables to the class is a reflective journal. After much contemplation between starting it as a scrap book or a blog (both options were given), I felt that this was the perfect venue to start blogging...something I've always wanted to do. This blog will not only communicate my thoughts in regards to issues, risks, and full blown crisis that are happening in the world today whether they be geographical, political, natural, etc. Although we were instructed to keep away from political crisis, and focus more on organizational crisis, naturally some will be tied together. BUT, soon I will start another blog that is more general. The write-up by me will address:
1.
What is the link to Crisis
Management?
2.
What stage of Crisis Management
does the system appear to be at?
3.
How well does the system appear
to be handling the situation?
4.
What level of crisis
preparedness does the system appear to have?
5.
What personal
reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?
6.
What advice would you offer to
those involved?
All articles, pictures, or any sort of media will be copied and pasted directly from the website and below the link will be pasted so anyone can go to the source directly.
Let's get started...
Also this blog is open to anyone and everyone to view, comment, critisize, question, etc. This is a blog for open minds and anyone who has a mind is free to use it here. “Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.” - Thomas Dewar |
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