Freedom Rider's Multimeia presentation

Freedom Rider's Multimedia Presantation

What are the reasonings for the torture and executions at the Abu Ghraib prisons? Was it a work by only a few? Or does it represent a larger view of the U.S. Military or Government?

I will have to find different sources on the reasonings for the Abu Graib prison in the first place. And then maybe find interview or information fromt the soldiers about why they commited some of these acts and then overall look at the governments views.

How does American government reactions and court proceedings to the atrocities at Abu Ghraib by American soldiers reflect their views on torture and International prisons as a whole?

I would have to look at the actual cases and court procedings for soldiers and then see how the U.S. reacted.

Abu Ghraib

Abu Ghraib prison camps are located in Iraq and have come to much public attention for the vast ways of torture and possibly human rights violations. I am interested in researching about this topic because i want to learn more about the reasonings for this torture prison and the different U.S. political reasons and rights being violated.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/10/040510fa_fact

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/iraq/abu-ghurayb-prison.htm

I am still open to many different specific torture cases but am more focused in on the circumstance where torture is used and if there ever is a right time to use torture?

Disturbing images Maus 2

Page 39, 41

These images of the bodies burning and the dead bodies of the mouse laying on top of each other just thrown unorganized way. In particular the little flies bother me because it shows that the bodies have been laying their for a while and are rotting flesh. Also the little lines showing the rib cages of the mouse and how that reminds me of human rib cages. The thought of little comic drawings being able to show me images relating to human beings frightens me. It also gets me really emotional when bodies are not given a proper burial and are left laying out like they once were not living human beings

DR Congo recent news/events/situations

This article brings up several good detailed situations that explain the situation in the Congo today. There is a lot of military violence going on especially acts of sexual violence and rape. The numbers of women raped in these villages are astounding and there are some accounts younger girls being raped and some of the stories are shocking. However now there seems to be an involvement with human rights organizations and UN. Why hasn't more international aid been focused on some of these issues in the Congo? Why there still violent military control in the Congo even after the war has been officially over since 2003. What can we do to understand the situation better and understand why there is still this military control there and still these atrocities and acts of sexual violence still being done there?



The United nations pulled 2,000 UN peace keepers from the Congo because the government in Congo thinks its a violation of their sovereignty. However in many cases the UN peace keepers have kept quite even when they heard about the rapes and killings the army has committed. I think its a bad idea to take these UN peace keepers away because of the violent corrupt military in the Congo. They need to train these peace keepers to do something about the massive rape happening in the Congo and trying to stop them. I think the international community needs to intervene in this situation because the Congo government itself cannot do anything because of the huge corruption going on. Why are the Peace Keepers there if they don't do anything to help?

Lingering Thoughts after Today's Discussion

The question I wanted to explore more was a combination of 7 and 10. The reason i wanted to explore this more was because we only went into specifics from the book where i think that with these questions we can bring up broader themes and ideas and maybe connecting them to other events such as the holocaust. Specifically with Leopolds childhood life what specifically in his childhood was so traumatic that made him act so aggressively towards Congo and the African people. Also maybe talking about the reasoning for him marrying off his daughter to the austrian-hungry princes so he can try to have a better connection and relationship with that country in order to gain more power and respect. Was it just that he didnt care about his daughters or he just wanted to get rid of them so he can focus on the Congo? Could we also compare and contrast the treatment of blacks in Africa and the treatment of Jews in the holocaust and try to find a correlation with Leopolds past and some of the leaders of the Holocaust.

King Leopolds Ghost

I really enjoyed King Leopoldo Ghost so far. I think the prologue gave great backround information on the situation in Africa and how the slave trade worked and got started. I also think without the description of the Congo river and the life in Africa it would have been hard to understand the story of Henry Morton Stanly and how hard his expedition was in the congo river. It also helps explain how it was an important discovery and how it caused the British to invade because of the wealth and possible investments in that area and it was the first land found in central Africa. I also found it very interesting how it gave background information on Henry's childhood life and how he moved around and nobody really liked him or wanted him. I think this gave good insight into why he made the choice he did and how he decided to explore central African near the Congo river.

?'s-How did Henry Morton Stanly's Childhood life and early life and how it affected his relationship with the people from Africa and his relationship with the European Slave traders?

Why was the area past the Congo river such a highly wanted area of land? Recourses? Money?

3 ? analysis on Islamic Center Article

1.Whats being discussed in this article is an issue of building a Islamic Mosque near ground zero. There is however an even broader topic or issue being discussed which is the Americans view on the Islamic religion and the Islamic people. It is a clash of religions and countries essentially because they discuss the treatment of Muslims by the Americans by not allowing a Islamic Mosque to be built at ground zero because some believe that Islam was responsible for what happened on 9/11. However some American, European as well as Islamic leaders believe that nothing other than a memorial center should be built there, and think its especially weird to have a religious mosque or any type of religious building be built there. It discusses the process the American Muslims will have to take in order to get a Mosque built at ground zero saying that they might win in court but they will lose in the court of public opinion.
2.This is a not breaking news exactly but it is a current event that is being debated. Its a new topic that has had a lot of different opinions and debates around it lately. However it brings up an older debate that has been discussed since the 9/11 attack. That is the relationship between America and the middle east and the Americans view on Islamic religion as well as the Muslim peoples view on America and their religion.
3.I need to know more about the actual process that was take to try and get a Islamic Mosque built at ground zero. Also different opinions and reason for wanting the Mosque built at Ground zero. Also if I know more about what the Mosque will actually be because there are a lot of different opinions about the mosque actually being an Islamic community and cultural center.

News Worthy Events

Me

1995 Genocide in Srebrenica- I remember being 5 years old living in Germany just escaping the war and genocide and seeing my parents glued to the tv and my mom was crying because she heard about all the massacres and genocide that happened in her town and worried about her family there.

2001 9/11-I remember being in school and a news channel 5 came into talk to us about the event and we were on the news with our teacher giving information to us about the event and what kind of affect it has on us and what we can do to help or support the people of the tragedy.

2008 Karadzic found and on trail after 13 years as a fugitive

Parents

1986 Chernobyl-he remembers when he heard it he was worried because he was saying that the contamination will reach his country so that was an important event

1995 Genocide in Srebrenica- experienced it and heard news story while living in germany and followed it everyday on the news and was in contact with family trying to help them get out of Srebrenica while trying to start a new life in Germany.

2008 Karadzic found and on trail after 13 years as a fugitve. - it was close to his real experiences and how he was responsible for the genocide he thought it showed a lot about the united nations justice sytem and how they dealt with a trail