Issues of Global Import

25 August 2003


UN's Iraq HQ Blown Up -- So Much for Neutrality
Any idea that the United Nations was viewed by "the resistance" as an honest broker or interested neutral in the ongoing troubles in Iraq was blown to bits by the truck bomb that killed around 20 people at the UN's offices in Baghdad last week. While the UN lowered it flags to half-staff in mourning, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been moved into the same camp as George Bush and Tony Blair. Reluctantly or not, the US, the UK and UN are all on the same side now. Click here to read Kensington's Opinion.

"Roadmap to Peace" Led Nowhere
On Tuesday of last week, 22 or so people died in a Jerusalem bus explosion, the most lethal suicide bombing in a long time. In response, the Israeli military killed a Hamas leader. The rioting that ensued included a Palestinian mob, or crowd if one prefers, chanting "The road map is dead." They were wrong. The roadmap to peace was stillborn. Click here for more.

France's Surgeon-General Quits -- 10,000 Dead from Heatwave
Lucien Abenhaim, France's surgeon-general, quit last week, taking the blame for the estimated 10,000 heat related deaths in the country since the weather warmed up. Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei publicly accused Mr. Abenhaim's staff of failing to "sound the alarm." Mr. Mattei is, perhaps, looking for political cover, but he is most definitely being unfair. People died not because the government failed to act, but rather because most modern society's are fragmented and because the temperatures soared. Click here to read why.