Geneva Conventions

The idea of having a support system for all wounded soldiers is not exactly out of the box thinking, but the fact that this guy Henry Dunant came up with the idea in 1859 is pretty revolutionary. The Red Cross is a pivotal support system in war zones because if all those wounded and sick go untreated, the death tolls in war zones would be much more extensive. I think the most important aspect of the Geneva Conventions, however, is the recognition of all those affected by war who do not participate in the hostilities (civilians). It is important to protect the rights of civilians and do as much as possible to keep them safe from the hostilities because they already have some of the liberties taken away by war time.

war pictures

If anyone is interested, here is the link to an article about the pictures we discussed in class today. It turns out the pictures were published on the cover. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4964024/


also, here are the links to the actual pictures. at least two of them.

http://www.apfn.org/APFN/soldiers-coffins.jpg

http://slapnose.com/images/blog/0404/0404_coffins400x496.jpg

I think that it is a good thing they were published. They depicted the truth (anti-war and/or memorial).

Humanitarian Challenge in Iraq

So at the end of the reading there were suggestions for the government of iraq, the military forces, and the NGO's that are involved in the country, and as nice as all of these suggestions were, I found them to be rather unfeasible. I mean first, what government of iraq? and how much respect will the troops really gain for the citizens and their property and "essential infrastructure".

Also did anyone else hear about how mccain confused sunni and shite in a speech last week in iraq??? (what?)