Last week, we noted that the U.S. State Department had submitted its “Report of the United States of America” to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report was compiled as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) organized by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The U.S. report is revealing of the Obama Administration’s dissatisfaction with parts of America’s record on human rights. Steven Groves and Brett Schaefer have outlined basic flaws in the UPR process including the poor human rights records of the HRC’s members. …
On this 8th Anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack, we are without question safer today than we were on that crisp, clear September morning in 2001. With each passing year, the challenge to remain vigilant grows harder as many Americans struggle to make ends meet after losing their jobs, large percentages of their retirement funds, and, in some cases, their homes. The cacophony of noise surrounding America’s debate on health care drowns out the unity of purpose we all felt as the sun set just eight years ago. After …
It is no secret that many countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa are hotbeds for terrorism. Scotland’s release and transfer of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to Libya is a most recent reminder that terrorism originating in Africa is not a new phenomenon. However, the most recent arrest of Malam Abdulrasheed Abubakar, a 23 year-old Nigerian man who trained in Afghanistan for the Boko Haram (translated: Western Education is Sacrilege) militant sect is a disturbing reminder of just how far Islamic extremism has expanded in nations like Nigeria. Recruited by Boko …
Just to show that it is not above dealing with any shady dictatorship – and not just North Korea or current Iran – the United Nations Development Programme just completed a deal to manage a $1.5 million donation by the Libyan government “to build a school of Muammar Abu-Mnyar Al-Gaddafi in the Gaza Strip” to replace the school “destroyed during the Zionist aggression to Gaza.” Oh, and Dr. Aisha Muammar Al-Gaddafi was appointed “the Libyan Goodwill ambassador in to the UN’s Development Program” because she embodies the “highest ideals and …
