Viernes, 31 de agosto de 2007

EuropaUnión Europea,

La vida breve de la princesa Diana ha dejado tras de sí la pregunta ineludible sobre lo que habría podido llegar a ser. ¿Habría llegado a desarrollar todo su potencial como activista de causas humanitarias a escala mundial, como pareció apuntar con la última campaña que emprendió contra las minas anti personas, brillantemente llevada a cabo, o habría caído en el vagabundeo lujoso de cualquier princesa famosa indiferente a todo, como pareció apuntar con su postrer idilio con un coleccionista de aventuras como Dodi Al Fayed?

Las circunstancias escabrosas de su muerte, hace ahora 10 años, ensombrecen el hecho de que, en los últimos meses de su vida, Diana se sintió más consciente que nunca del potencial de su proyección pública.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

Hay lugares donde la belleza natural parece venir acompañada de una maldición. Guatemala, uno de los países más atractivos del planeta, donde se ocultan joyas de la naturaleza llenas de color e historia, padece una sucesión de infortunios. Es el país más grande de Centroamérica, con 12 millones de habitantes. Más de un 50% son ladinos (mestizos blancos), y gran parte del resto son mayas, aunque según las zonas, las lenguas (como los colores de sus vestimentas) son muy variadas, hasta 23. También es diversa la implantación de religiones, pues junto al catolicismo y el sincretismo con creencias autóctonas son influyentes sectas protestantes, varias financiadas desde EE UU.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

Las masas llenaban las calles de Londres y parecía como si el peso de los ramos de flores y los osos de peluche pudiera derribar las verjas del Palacio de Kensington. Los medios de comunicación británicos -con muy excepcionales salvedades- atacaban a la Familia Real británica por su frialdad y distanciamiento. Por primera vez la Reina -y en este caso mucho más que el Príncipe de Gales- era objeto del reproche público y publicado de sus súbditos. Recuerdo con nitidez cuánto me impresionaron las palabras de una amiga, de incuestionable, inteligente y muy efectiva lealtad monárquica: «Esto se ha acabado. Los Windsor se van a ir a su casa».…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

Recent weeks have brought a lot of misplaced criticism of the United Kingdom's role in southern Iraq. It is time to set the record straight.

The question some people have asked is: Have British forces failed in Basra? The answer is no.

Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, the international community recognized, through a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the need to help the Iraqi people forge a better future for themselves. The people of all coalition countries know the sacrifices involved on the part of our brave armed forces.

The United States, Britain and other countries that made up the U.N.-mandated…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has had more than 15 months to try to pacify the Sunni insurgency by offering national accords on oil-sharing, provincial elections and de-Baathification. It has done none of these. Instead, Gen. David Petraeus has pacified a considerable number of Sunni tribes with grants of local autonomy, guns and U.S. support in jointly fighting al-Qaeda.

Petraeus's strategy is not very pretty. It carries risk. But it has been effective.

The Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad, however, is not happy with Petraeus's actions. One top Maliki aide complained that they will leave Iraq " an armed society and militias."…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

For more than a year, men and women in our armed forces have been urging the United States to bring to safety the Iraqi translators and others who have worked beside them and are now the victims of retaliation. A Marine captain, Zachary Iscol, said he owed his life and the lives of his men to his Iraqi translator. “Just coming to work was an act of heroism and courage on his part,” Captain Iscol said.

On July 7, the administration received another urgent call to action on this issue, this time from Ambassador Ryan Crocker. In a cable to Washington, he laid out the dangers his Iraqi employees faced.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

For years past, international affairs have had an uncanny feeling of a time warp, a loop playing endlessly over and again, what goes round comes round. Ninety years ago there were British troops in Basra, and bloodshed between Jews and Arabs would shortly break out in Jerusalem. A hundred years or more after the Salisbury and Campbell-Bannerman governments, we have been dealing with just the same problems as they faced, from Ulster to South Africa, while even the conflicts in the Balkans have often seemed like the old Eastern Question writ new.

And an important anniversary also has contemporary resonances: today is the centenary of the Anglo-Russian convention of August 31 1907.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa

Your leader (Islam and democracy, August 22) is correct to state that a military intervention to defend secularism in Turkey would be "bad for the military itself, ... bad for Turkey and, indeed, bad for the rest of the Muslim world". Moreover, it should not be forgotten that it was the Turkish army that prepared the fertile ground for the development of political Islam. The military coup of 1980 cleared the way for political Islamists by crushing established political parties and by propagating an authoritarian ideology called the Turkish-Islamic synthesis, a poisonous mix of nationalism and Islamism.

However, I find your conclusion troubling.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

There has been important progress on Darfur in the past two months. In July we agreed on the deployment of a robust UN/African Union (AU) force and the start of peace talks. But the situation remains completely unacceptable. In the coming weeks and months, we commit as leaders to redouble our efforts to make further progress.

At the end of July the UN agreed to our plan. UN Resolution 1769, passed –– for the first time –– unanimously, was the culmination of intense diplomatic activity over the crisis in Darfur. In the next few weeks, one of the largest UN troop deployments –– this time in partnership with the African Union –– will begin arriving in Darfur.…  Seguir leyendo »