Wednesday

Hate based societies and leaders

3 Comments November 18, 2009 – 8:30 am | Share and Save | Permalink | |

If you look back at the history of human kind, there have been days when there was a firm belief that only the strong are entitled to live with dignity. However, with the emergence of global village and democratic societies across the world, many of us have come to believe that a sense of fairness and justice prevails today. With world bodies such as the United Nations, Common Wealth and regional cooperation bodies, it appears that world finally has understood the importance of co-existence and co-operation. While this might be true in most parts of the world, there do exist several pockets, where rogue regimes that discrminate its citizens based on race, religion or some sort of a division among human beings.

From time to time, the world has indeed witnessed the emergence of individuals who have put the human civilization to shame. There are leaders who have cultivated hatred and intolerance among societies that resulted in a hate based society. Such societies have inturn created cold blooded killers who have no regard to human dignity. The list of such war mongering leaders still continues to grow to this day.

The three leaders I have documented here hail from different parts of the world and speak different languages and have different habbits, food patterens, etc.. But they have one common thing – they are against equality and love to all human beings. They are against freedom and human rights. Their pretext to denying freedom may be different, but their approach seem to be strikinglysimilar.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the main political leader of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, a coalition of conservative political groups in the country. Ahmadinejad is a controversial figure both within Iran and internationally. He has been criticized domestically for his economic lapses and disregard for human rights. He supports Iran’s nuclear energy program. His election to a second term in 2009 was widely disputed and caused widespread protests domestically and drew significant international criticism. Major opposition parties,traditional clerical circles and influential Iranian politicians questioned the legitimacy of his presidency.

Ahmadinejad is an outspoken critic of the United States, Israel, and Great Britain. He does not regard the state of Israel as legitimate or representative of the region’s population. He advocates “free elections” for the region, and believes Palestinians need a stronger voice in the region’s future. He has been characterized in much of the West by a particular comment he made in 2005 which was initially translated as calling for the “occupying regime” (taken to mean Israel) to be “wiped off the map.” The comment caused significant controversy, though its translation and interpretation are disputed. He has also been accused of describing the Holocaust as a myth.

On 26 October 2005 Ahmadinejad gave a speech at a conference in Tehran entitled “World Without Zionism“. According to widely published translations, he agreed with a statement he attributed to Ayatollah Khomeini that the “occupying regime” had to be removed, and referred to it as a “disgraceful stain [on] the Islamic world“, that needed to be “wiped from the pages of history.”

Ahmadinejad’s comments were condemned by major Western governments, the European Union, Russia, the United Nations Security Council and then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian leaders also expressed displeasure over Ahmadinejad’s remark.Canada’s then Prime Minister Paul Martin said, “this threat to Israel’s existence, this call for genocide coupled with Iran’s obvious nuclear ambitions is a matter that the world cannot ignore.”

In July 2006, Ahmadinejad compared Israel’s actions in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict to Adolf Hitler’s actions during World War II saying that “like Hitler, the Zionist regime is just looking for a pretext for launching military attacks” and “is now acting just like him.” On 8 August 2006, he gave a television interview to Mike Wallace, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, in which he questioned American support of Israel’s “murderous regime” and the moral grounds for Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. On 2 December 2006, Ahmadinejad met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in Doha, Qatar. At that meeting, he said that Israel “was created to establish dominion of arrogant states over the region and to enable the enemy to penetrate the heart Muslim land.” He called Israel a “threat” and said it was created to create tensions in and impose US and UK policies upon the region. On 12 December 2006, Ahmadinejad addressed the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, and made comments about the future of Israel. He said, “Israel is about to crash. This is God’s promise and the wish of all the world’s nations.”

Mahinda Rajapaksa is the 6th and current executive President of Sri Lanka and Commander in Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. He was sworn in for a six-year term as president on November 19, 2005.

Mahinda’s brother GotabhayaRajapaksa, Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka was severely critical of the UN in Sri Lanka and of western governments. He accused the UN in Sri Lanka of having been infiltrated by terrorists “for 30 years or so“, and as a result the UN was fed incorrect information. He also alleged that Britain and the EU were bullying Sri Lanka, and concluded that Sri Lanka “does not need them“, and that they don’t provide any significant amount of aid to the country.

The dire conditions of internment camps that are home to well over a quarter of a million fellow Tamil citizens are unknown to many. Government of Sri lanka, debars independent media and International aid agencies from access to these camps even after the end of war. Human Rights Watch said that the government’s screening of camp residents for LTTE supporters has been non-transparent and protracted and that even people who have apparently been screened and cleared have not been released.

Confidential United Nations documents recorded nearly 7,000 civilian deaths in the no-fire zone up to the end of April. UN sources reveals further that toll then surged, with an average of 1,000 civilians killed each day until May 19. It would take the final toll above 20,000. “Higher,” a UN source claimed.

Channel 4 News shows footage claimed to show Sri Lankan forces executing Tamils earlier this year. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.

In the recent US Department of state report to Congress on Incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka, indicated photo of characteristic cluster bomb smoke cloud from a shelling on civilian population and photos of destruction of Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital complex. Report further indicated “A number of sources alleged that the GSL committed unlawful killings of civilians and captives and combatants seeking to surrender”. The report further noted the the Sri Lankan government used low civilian estimates in the no fire zone to reduce the amount of food disbursed in an effort to pressure civilians to escape, though international humanitarian law recognizes that relief organization may offer their services in relation to victims of armed conflict.

Kim Jong Il is the paramount leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (also known as North Korea). He is the Chairman of the National Defense Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, and General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (the ruling party since 1948). He succeeded his father Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea, who died in 1994, and commands the fourth largest standing army in the world. North Korea officially refers to him as the “Dear Leader“.

North Korea condemned a recent U.S. pledge to provide nuclear defense of South Korea, saying Thursday that the move boosts its justification to have atomic bombs and invites a potential “fire shower of nuclear retaliation.”

The commentary in Pyongyang’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper was the North’s latest reaction to last week’s summit between President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. The allies issued a joint statement committing the U.S. to defend the South with nuclear weapons. North Korea also Threatens To Wipe Out The U.S. “Once And For All”

It also came as an American destroyer trailed a North Korean ship suspected of shipping weapons in violation of a U.N. resolution punishing Pyongyang’s May 25 nuclear test, and as anticipation mounted that the North might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles.
The North’s newspaper claimed that the “nuclear umbrella” commitment made it more likely for the U.S. to mount a nuclear attack on the communist North, and only “provides us with a stronger justification to have nuclear deterrent.”

It also amounts to “asking for the calamitous situation of having a fire shower of nuclear retaliation all over South Korea” in case of a conflict, the paper said.

North Korea has long claimed that the U.S. is plotting to invade it and has used the claim to justify its development of nuclear weapons. The U.S. has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking North Korea.

In a separate editorial marking the 1950 outbreak of the Korean War, the Rodong said the North “will never give up nuclear deterrent … and will further strengthen it” as long as Washington remains hostile.

The profile of these leaders gives us a glipmse of the approach taken by destructive leaders who want to build and thrive on hate-based societies. When “hatred“ is the foundation of the leaders contribution to their nation, even progress will result in eventual destruction of the very nation.