while terrorist pussies in typical fashion bombed a bus with civilians, in just as typical peacenik ngo fashion amnesty international launched a campaign called 'play by the rules' in west indies during the cricket world cup allegedly aimed at installing human rights monitors in sri lanka. ( btw we sri lankans know and remember how some foreigners used alleged cricket rules interpreted as they wanted, to attack sri lankan team.)
the headings in a flyer used in this campaign; 'send in the umpire!' 'sri lanka breaks the rules'. click the pic to enlarge. darrell hair should send his cv to ai straight away. he will fit right in.
btw a voice in colombo has already written about this. great.
what ai should have done if they are sincere
if their aim is to improve human rights situation as they are saying, (as if!), they should help the government here to crack down on terrorists. that is the best way to bring the rights violators to justice, including the main one; the convicted mass murderer prabhakaran. that is what justice and human rights demand. they can also put pressure on foreign governments to cut off funding to terrorists and their fronts (some of them disguised as ngos). in other words there are lots of more productive ways to bring results in sri lankan human rights front if ai really wants to act on that front.
if they want to put pressure on sri lankan government (for whatever reason) they should try to convince the sri lankan public, since this is a democracy and the proper way to influence the government is through public pressure.
but they are not doing any of that.
instead what are they doing ?
they hold a campaign in other side of the world, aimed at (since because of the cost only a few hundred sri lankan fans at most will be there) 15 players plus coaching staff and other teams and fans. ai reportedly said it is not aimed at sri lankan cricket team, though no such statement is in any of the flyers. anyway then who is it aimed at as there will not be many sri lankans there?
is it aimed at disgracing sri lanka (and by implication sri lankan team since it is being conducted at world cup, nowhere else)? especially when other teams and their fans will be informed; 'sri lanka breaks the rules'. no doubt some of the stupider fans of other teams will like that. will australian fans used to calling 'no ball ' every time murali bowls hold up ai banners this time around? i would not bet against that.
in other words one is forced to assume that amnesty international by holding this campaign at the world cup, is in fact aiming to disgrace our team. sri lankans in general will assume just that, justifiably.
(if ai wanted to put pressure on sl government indirectly, results of this will be counter productive in the extreme. there can not be any doubt that sri lankans will support any attempt by the government to counteract this campaign now. rightly so.)
why would ai launch a campaign to disgrace sri lankan cricket team?
nothing is simpler. it is aimed at getting the attention of the donors who fund ngos like ai. cheap mass publicity available at high profile media events like world cup is their actual aim. for that purpose they have decided to trample on sri lankan team.
we should all unreservedly condemn this disgusting ai campaign seeking publicity (thus funding) through taking aim at sri lankan cricket team. let us hope sri lankan government and cricket board have the backbone to face this down. let us also hope that eventually such condemnations accumulated through the years will convince ai's donors about the contemptible fund raising tactics used by the ai.
ai's local connections
amnesty international and other such parasitic organizations, get their false 'white van' conspiracy theory type information on which they base these campaigns, through the sri lankan peaceniks like paikiasothy saravanamuttu, jehan perera, jayadeva uyangoda, sunila abeysekera , sunanda deshapriya, and their ilk ( and their underlings like sanjana hattotuwa).
if they say they are not involved (as if! these people follow murderous pussy spin orders to the letter after all) we should call upon them individually to condemn this ai campaign unambiguously.
best reply
it is certain that in the high pressure situation of the world cup where victory depends on performing at the optimum, such distractions intentionally created by ai will be unwonted obstacles on our team's path. however let us hope they have the strength of mind to reply to undeserved calumnies of these disgusting creatures in the way they know best; playing great cricket.
the headings in a flyer used in this campaign; 'send in the umpire!' 'sri lanka breaks the rules'. click the pic to enlarge. darrell hair should send his cv to ai straight away. he will fit right in.
btw a voice in colombo has already written about this. great.
what ai should have done if they are sincere
if their aim is to improve human rights situation as they are saying, (as if!), they should help the government here to crack down on terrorists. that is the best way to bring the rights violators to justice, including the main one; the convicted mass murderer prabhakaran. that is what justice and human rights demand. they can also put pressure on foreign governments to cut off funding to terrorists and their fronts (some of them disguised as ngos). in other words there are lots of more productive ways to bring results in sri lankan human rights front if ai really wants to act on that front.
if they want to put pressure on sri lankan government (for whatever reason) they should try to convince the sri lankan public, since this is a democracy and the proper way to influence the government is through public pressure.
but they are not doing any of that.
instead what are they doing ?
they hold a campaign in other side of the world, aimed at (since because of the cost only a few hundred sri lankan fans at most will be there) 15 players plus coaching staff and other teams and fans. ai reportedly said it is not aimed at sri lankan cricket team, though no such statement is in any of the flyers. anyway then who is it aimed at as there will not be many sri lankans there?
is it aimed at disgracing sri lanka (and by implication sri lankan team since it is being conducted at world cup, nowhere else)? especially when other teams and their fans will be informed; 'sri lanka breaks the rules'. no doubt some of the stupider fans of other teams will like that. will australian fans used to calling 'no ball ' every time murali bowls hold up ai banners this time around? i would not bet against that.
in other words one is forced to assume that amnesty international by holding this campaign at the world cup, is in fact aiming to disgrace our team. sri lankans in general will assume just that, justifiably.
(if ai wanted to put pressure on sl government indirectly, results of this will be counter productive in the extreme. there can not be any doubt that sri lankans will support any attempt by the government to counteract this campaign now. rightly so.)
why would ai launch a campaign to disgrace sri lankan cricket team?
nothing is simpler. it is aimed at getting the attention of the donors who fund ngos like ai. cheap mass publicity available at high profile media events like world cup is their actual aim. for that purpose they have decided to trample on sri lankan team.
we should all unreservedly condemn this disgusting ai campaign seeking publicity (thus funding) through taking aim at sri lankan cricket team. let us hope sri lankan government and cricket board have the backbone to face this down. let us also hope that eventually such condemnations accumulated through the years will convince ai's donors about the contemptible fund raising tactics used by the ai.
ai's local connections
amnesty international and other such parasitic organizations, get their false 'white van' conspiracy theory type information on which they base these campaigns, through the sri lankan peaceniks like paikiasothy saravanamuttu, jehan perera, jayadeva uyangoda, sunila abeysekera , sunanda deshapriya, and their ilk ( and their underlings like sanjana hattotuwa).
if they say they are not involved (as if! these people follow murderous pussy spin orders to the letter after all) we should call upon them individually to condemn this ai campaign unambiguously.
best reply
it is certain that in the high pressure situation of the world cup where victory depends on performing at the optimum, such distractions intentionally created by ai will be unwonted obstacles on our team's path. however let us hope they have the strength of mind to reply to undeserved calumnies of these disgusting creatures in the way they know best; playing great cricket.
෴
27 comments:
Cant read flyer. Please enlarge or provide url to source. Thanks
You are right. This is a disgusting campaign and should be condemned.
One thing you fail to note is the hypocrisy of Amnesty International in singling out Sri Lanka out of all the countries participating at World Cup. When will they ask signatures on cricket balls protesting against English and Australian participation in Iraqi Occupation?
England has already set time table for withdrawing from Iraq.
Also isn't Amnesty also condemning LTTE? We need clear info.
To Anonymous above:
So as long as English set a vague and open ended timetable they can break the rules as they are certainly doing? What about the Australians ? There is a clear double standard here.
Whether AI condemns LTTE or not is not the reason this is so disgusting. It is disgusting because it is aimed at the isolated cricket team for reasons known to AI. As Sitting Nut says if they wanted to criticize Government or LTTE there are other forums and methods available, instead of targeting team and few fans attending World cup in West Indies.
thats just a slack job by the Amnesty. Never knew they'd stoop that low!
Keshi.
they should take the short trip up to guantanamo bay and wave their little banners. twats.
Since the Iraq war is being mentioned:
Troops in Iraq:
America has 132 000
UK 7 100
Poland 900
Australia 900
Sources: Brookings Institution; Globalsecurity.org; media reports
There is overwhelming support for troop withdrawal by the British public and the Australian public and now even in the US public support for having Troops in Iraq is falling in just 5 years (http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm)
The war in Sri Lanka has been going on for over 20 years.
Comparing the number of soldiers in the entire Australian Army to the Sri Lankan Army: Australia has less number of soldiers in its entire army than the entire army in Sri Lanka.
If Australia or Britain continue to be arrogant and disregard criticism by human rights groups....then their time will come. And if they have any self respect and maturity by then I hope they will cop it on the chin and take on board appeals for fairness and justice.
Sri lankan army is in Sri Lanka not in some foreign country as English and Australians are. It has the support of general public. To compare numbers like the Anonymous above did is absurd.
"If Australia or Britain continue to be arrogant and disregard criticism by human rights groups " - Does the Anonymous above seriously think Australia and Britain is not arrogant and does not disregard criticism by human rights groups? Then why are they still in Iraq? Why are they planning to stay for a long time yet?
"then their time will come"- "Will"? Their time has come but AI chooses to ignore them and apply double standards.
"And if they have any self respect and maturity by then I hope they will cop it on the chin and take on board appeals for fairness and justice."
Really ? Well their actions so far in Iraq and throughout their history has not been like that. Why do you think they will be different in the near future? Because their leaders have white skin ? Why not say it aloud Mr Anonymous?
This Mr Anonymous like the other one above fails to see why this campaign of AI is disgusting even if there are justifiable criticisms of Sri Lankan Government.
there are 655,000 iraqis dead bcos of the invasion.
but amnesty international still choose target that they can bully instead of chasing the us and england. maybe us and england have been given an amnesty by amnesty international.
when the ltte have their own cricket team and amnesty international harass them in same way i will believe that this is fair.
"when the LTTE have their own cricket team"....lol
I am anon at 11:38am
There are holes in the arguments below my earlier comment...You don't get my point..but thats life.
I will leave it to someone else to point it out if they can be bothered...because I can't.
Anyway Guys...get things in perspective...this is a public event...and all sorts of things happen in a public event. Im sure professional cricketers have seen it all and will be concentrating on winning the game.
I am totally on board the idea that we need human rights monitors as the Sri lankan govt is not playing by the rules as there are large scale human rights abuses, disappearances, extra judicial killings, etc. Specially the Tamil population in this country (even in Colombo) live in absolute fear of this govt's actions. But campaigining at world cup is not the best way to bring this govt to justice. AI should go to UN and try and pass a resolution to bring monitors here, based on Sri Lanka's dismal human rights record over the last one year.
Anonymous at 8.22-
More like you did not have a point in your earlier comment. Otherwise why take all the bother of leaving a comment to tell you cannot be bothered?
Don't avoid questions about double standards; Why did AI single out Sri Lanka and did not include England and Australia in its campaign if as you say it is not disgusting to hold such campaigns there in the first place? Why do you defend that double standard ? Do bother and reply.
So all sorts of things happen at public events ? Does that mean they are not disgusting? Does that mean we are not to condemn them? Do you always let others slander and injure you and your loved ones in public? In particular by people who have singled you out for such treatment through double standards?
If that is the way you choose live do so. Other people will act differently.
Cricketers will perform the best way they can. But that does not mean we should not condemn people who try to target them at World Cup to further their own agendas.
Anonymous at 9:18 -
One of the reasons they go for such campaigns is because much of the so called human right abuses are myths. "White Van conspiracy theories" as Sitting Nut would say. I agree with him. To pass UN resolutions active imaginations at NGOs will not suffice.
Sitting Nut who is busy at the moment says he will reply to comments later. He thanks all.
hello everyone
thanks again to everyone. was busy earlier and was afraid i will be held up till tomorrow. so told sri lankan to reply.he seems to have done a good job and i agree with his comments for the most part.so will not reply in detail.
keshi:
heyy mate! :-)
great to see you.
ddm:
nice to see you here :-)
sri lankan:
thanks for replying to some of the anon comments and for your own comments. hopefully you can now start your own blog. huh ? :-)
Sorry Sri Lankan...for sounding flippant. You are right...I shouldn't have bothered to comment in the first place!
Firstly, Amnesty among many other organisations has reported extensively on abuses in Iraq. In fact people have criticised these groups and the media for concentrating more on Iraq than alot of other countries in similar or worse situations like Darfur.
There have been massive protests in US, Australia and Britain on Iraq. The election process is still operational through the whole country and held freely and fairly throughout the entire country (if anyone says it is operational thoughout Sri Lanka...then you havn't bothered to do your homework and I am not going to do it for you). Debates are conducted vigourously in parliment on the Iraq issue. Tony Blair is very unpopular in Britain due to his pro-Iraq stand.
If what "Sri Lankan" says is right...that the army and therefore a military solution is supported by the general public...this is an even stronger justification for AI to conduct a campaign.
I put up the numbers to show how insignificant Australia's contribution is compared to the overall war in Iraq. This does not mean that what Australia is doing is right...and as stated earlier..the public does not support this contribution. The issue is discussed openly in the press..and journalists are in far less danger of losing their lives if they expose the government for human rights violations or corruption. Same goes for Britain. And India...a non-white country.
In a democratic process if the people in the nation who sustain their leaders, are clearly not happy about major human rights violations in their country they should be given a chance to speak at the next election. Sri Lanka has been given a chance to do that for a very long time...the violations keep continuing. Remember AI is not just criticising the government, they are criticising the LTTE.
Darfur is a country which has spiralled out of control and is considered to be in a bigger mess than Iraq. The western media is criticised for concentrating on Iraq and not highlighting the killings in Darfur. Recent figures suggest, the number of displaced people last year in Sri Lanka, was the same as in Darfur last year. Hopefully Sri Lanka does not go in that direction...because then you may not even be in a position to have a Royal Thomian match, let alone an international cricket team.
Even if you didn't support amnesty...they are exercising the freedom to use a public event as a platform to highlight what they consider an important issue. The same way as you and supporters of the Sri Lankan government's campaign are exercising the right to criticise this stance.
And Sri Lankan...I did not say the Australians would not react the same way if they were put in the same position....I said I *hope* they wouldn't. Surely I am entitled to express hope! Please read my comments carefully and avoid distorting my words.
Finally I realised, I probably shouldn't have laughed about the LTTE having a cricket team. That would indeed be an event for all of us cricketing fans to look forward to; when young boys and men on this island will be throwing cricket balls not bombs. Just look at the Irish team.
Ok...now this is getting sentimental!
anon at 4/04/2007 5:25 am
since sri lankan is back at work today i will reply.
you are still trying to make excuses for english and australains. your excuse seems to be they have 'better' democracy and iraq war is unpopular so there is no need for human right campaigns. then you rather contradictorily say amnesty international conducts campaigns for human rights in iraq.
fact is there is still a need for highlighting the human rights violations of english and australians. but ai chose to do that through other forums than world cup. but it singles out sri lankans for this disgusting treatment at the world cup. that is not double standards on top of disgusting tactics? you are free to think so if you prefer. :-)
as i said if they were really concerned for human rights in sri lanka they had lots of other opportunities and forums. instead they chose world cup where only our team and few fans will be. and they chose slogans like 'send in the umpire' and 'sri lanka breaks the rules' to bombard the other team's fans with. you are free to think that is not callous and will not antagonize sri lakan public. ppl are free to be blind if they prefer.
you go on about parliament debates etc. in britain . and say public does not support war there.
are you saying we sri lankans prefer war here ? are you saying there isn't any debate here about war? but this is a democracy and unlike in iraq this war happens here. we do not have any choice but to deal with the war here it is typical that you miss this point in spite of your alleged concern for sri lanka, esp since you are from australia as you ip address indicate. we cannot pack up and leave nor do we want to. ( australians and english can but have in fact not done so in spite of what you say about war's unpopularity their democracy) . so much for you self defeating contradictory argumentations
sri lankan public do prefer the government to crack down on terrorists and free the fellow sri lankans held in oppression by them. if ai has any concern for human rights here, it would support that fight.
in other words if anyone really cares about human rights here the best way to improve them here is to crack down on the abusers who have been allowed to go with impunity all this time- the tiger terrorists. thankfully that is what government has started to do.
do you agree? or do you prefer to appease terrorists as peaceniks do, so that they can continue with their killings etc well in to the future under guise of peace? answer that . your comment implies that you prefer appeasement. do you prefer peace at the cost of human rights , justice , democracy, and freedom? be honest in answering.
sri lankan public after democratic debate have answered (through voting), that they do not prefer peace at the cost of all that ( and i agree with them). if ai think that is the wrong decision they have to convince the public not antagonize them as they have done with this campaign. (to convince the public they will also need evidence of government involvement is human rights abuses. which they have so far failed to produce when asked, as at the un. they have so far based their accusations on absurd 'white van conspiracy theories' of peceniks and ltte spin office. do you believe them too? )
your comparison of sri lanka with darfur etc are typical of foreign based ppl pontificating on sri lanka. let me know when the rag tag rebels of darfur explode the first suicide bomb or engage in any terrorist activity. as for displaced perhaps you do not know that most of the recently displaced do get resettled quickly as already happened in muttur and is happening at vakarai. there are of course long terms displaced like the muslims who were ethnically cleansed by the terrorists from north . do you prefer them to be resettled or do you prefer them to be in camps as they would be if ltte remains in power in some areas? answer
of course ai has the right to conduct disgusting campaigns against sri lankan team if they prefer. but when they do we sri lankans have a right to expose their motives and the disgust it generates, and to condemn it. as sri lankan said other people have a right to insult you and your loved one in public too. you may prefer to justify insulter and let your loved ones be insulted.others in same situation may act differently . :-)
btw we understand you and your type with 'white man will do no wrong in the future even if the history says otherwise, while brown idiots are barbarians' attitude clearly enough. i don't think there was any distortion of your words by sri lankan in his reply when you let slip that attitude .you did it again now
I probably shouldn't have laughed about the LTTE having a cricket team. That would indeed be an event for all of us cricketing fans to look forward to; when young boys and men on this island will be throwing cricket balls not bombs.
you mean after ltte trained them in throwing bombs? will those boys be forcibly recruited ? will they be shot as this one was if they refuse ?
may it is time you lift the sentimental mist off your eyes about ltte. is that asking too much.?
may be this comment is futile. after all how could anyone ask a person who fails to condemn ltte terrorist atrocities and thinks of them in the same way as of darfur rebels, to condemn this disgusting ai campaign ? he would be incapable understanding what is disgusting about this .
The brochure that Amnesty is circulating condemns the LTTE. By accusing me of supporting the LTTE you appear to have lost any sense of reason.
First and foremost I support the Human Race...not Australia, Sri Lanka or the LTTE. Lives of anyone...no matter who they may be are precious in my opinion. Thats why I wish that lives of men (someones father, brother, or son) in the Sri Lankan army or lives of men (someones father, brother or son) in the LTTE could be utilised to build people's lives ...not destroy them. Sitting nut..you obviously can't understand this...and hence, you twisted my words. The men throwing cricket balls instead of bombs could be LTTE,Sri Lankan army, gremlins... who ever they may be I would rather they be throwing a cricket ball than a bomb. Wouldn't you???!
I didn't say all Sri Lankans support the war. I said "if what "Sri lankan" says is right..." and proceeded to explain why his argument helps justify a campaign of this nature. Remember "Sri Lankan" stated that people in Sri Lanka support their military. That implies they support their actions...in the same way as someone who supports the LTTE supports their actions. I was demonstrating in this statement why as stated earlier there were holes in some of the arguments.
I appologise if people misunderstood this and took it as a fact that I think all Sri lankans support a military solution.
You should do more research into Amnesty International. It is not a matter of giving "excuses". Amnesty has condemned human rights violations in Australia and Britain and the US. The facts speak for themselves.
When Amnesty or any other human rights group highlights or campaigns on an issue and confronts a group about human rights violations....how would it be if America for instance said...oh why are you looking at us in Iraq...just look at Sri Lanka? That sort of argument does not hold water.
The "white man-brown" man debate also does not justify human-rights violations in a country. I mentioned India as an example of another country which has greater freedom of press. So why do you persist in bringing up that furphy?
I will admit I am not able to comment on whether Amnesty's campaign will have a positive effective or not or whether it will unduly affect the cricketers' game. I am assuming that sportspeople at the elite level are trained to prevail in all conditions and concentrate on winning. I am only trying to highlight the contradictions in some of the arguments presented in this blog.
By accusing me of supporting the LTTE you appear to have lost any sense of reason.
who has lost his reason can be made out from your disjointed comment.
i was not referring to ai brochure when i said you "fails to condemn ltte terrorist atrocities and thinks of them in the same way as of darfur rebels." i was referring to your previous comment. don't run from your own words.
in the real world ltte forcibly recruit children and train them to throw bombs not cricket balls. if you want to live in a dream world and think terrorist pussies will just give up terrorism and murdering you can do so. reality is very different, as long as terrorists remain they will continue to kill and abduct. to get rid of them, as the democratic government is obliged to do, to safeguard the citizens and their rights, it has to use violence against terrorists. if you live in the real world you will see this .if you prefer to live in an unreal fantasy do so.
most sri lankans do support the military and their actions because unlike you they live in the real world and believe that only way ppl here can live in peace, with enjoyment of their human rights is if ltte is defeated. do you agree ? i don't think so.
do you believe ppl can enjoy human right with ltte in power in some areas ? do answer that .
you continue to excuse the ai's double standards. if as you say "Amnesty has condemned human rights violations in Australia and Britain" why are they singling out sri lanka here? why are they using different methods in those countries. and target sri lankan team in the other side of the world? do give a answer . why ? or are you going to say again that they (the white ppl ) will 'hopefully' behave better in the future even though the history says otherwise as you did before?
The "white man-brown" man debate also does not justify human-rights violations in a country.
i don't. it is you who behave like a white man's boot licker, by deliberately ignoring the ai's double standards in this campaign and in your comments about british parliament , tony blairs unpopularity etc. read them again and see for yourself. you just 'hope' australians and british will behave/are behaving better even though history and facts tells otherwise . that is boot licking
how would it be if America for instance said...oh why are you looking at us in Iraq...just look at Sri Lanka? That sort of argument does not hold water.
did anyone make that argument ? who said they cannot point out human rights violations or campaign about them? it is the method they adopted that is commented upon here .
not only have you no idea about what the argument was about, you miss the disgusting nature, double standards, futility and hypocrisy,of the methods used by ai.
as pointed out in the main post, this campaign is disgusting bc it is targeting sri lankan team, instead of supposedly responsible violators of human rights. it also applies double standards bc it singles out the sri lankan team ignoring others . it is futile bc it antagonize the sri lankan public ( in democracy that is fatal). finally it is hypocritical bc ai is using this to collect funds for itself not to improve human rights here as it alleges.
as i said if ai was really concerned about human rights here, it should have supported government's crack down on terrorists or if it wanted to put pressure on government, convinced the public using evidence. instead they are hypocritically to raising funds for their organization using a disgusting publicity stunt targeting the sri lankan cricket team.
you miss or cannot understand all that. so you bring absurd arguments like the one above countering imaginary arguments.
I am assuming that sportspeople at the elite level are trained to prevail in all conditions and concentrate on winning.
if you think that racist australian fans calling 'no ball ' in australia (where you live) did not affect murali you do not know what you are talking about.
however hopefully they will play their best in spite of the obstacles put before them by the ai, but that does not excuse the ai' disgusting tactics. you think they are excusable even laudable. as said above if you want to ignore disgusting insults to you and your loved ones ( and even praise the insulter) do so. don't expect others to behave in that fashion.
I am only trying to highlight the contradictions in some of the arguments presented in this blog.
wouldn't that be too hard for you given that you have failed to make one coherent argument? and even failed to understand what it was all about. you are of course free to try again ( and again until you can make a coherent argument) .
in actual fact what you have done is to show that you always 'hope' the best from 'white ppl' in spite of history , live in a fantasy with regard to ltte terrorists , and is not disgusted with ai's double standards , hypocrisy etc. do entertain us with more such revelations. :-)
Would love to chat more but time is a limited resource.
Amnesty and the Sri Lankan government have made their statements. I have explained myself sufficiently and you have also expressed yourself in your particular way. The words are now there for people to read and interpret the way they feel fit.
These revelations just for your benefit...
My Conclusion regarding arguments opposing the campaign in this blog:
only anon at 9:18 makes any sense to me personally. The other comments were interesting.
why run? is this too much for your superficial understanding of reality?
do please explain why you do not find this ai campaign disgusting, futile , hypocritical, or full of double standards. bc frankly you had not one coherent point at the beginning nor now at the end. do try to make at least one coherent argument at least before you run away. :-)
hehe he suddenly doesnt have time.
anon at 9:18 made sense because he was the only person to agree with you. double standard?
you make sense to me anonymous at 4:49. but i still dont agree with you and call you a hypocrite
maybe that is a more honest answer than you have given us.
Hello. Im the "hypocritical" Anonymous:
I accidently came across this yesterday...and it was almost a mirror image of the above discussions.
"I used to be a member of AI, and was proud to be so. I let my membership lapse when I realised that, far from championing human rights everywhere, AI had been taken over by Western self-haters and turned into a political campaigning organisation with a distinctly anti-Western (and specifically anti-American) agenda. I applaud Nick Cohen's sentiments, but fear that it's already too late to save the AI that was."
You can read the rest of it here.
http://www.stephenpollard.net/002166.html
hello "hypocritical" anonymous.
you found someone who doesn't seem to like amnesty international. this person compares the gulags with guantanamo bay. i say this is irrelevant.
i disagre strongly with ais present action because of timing and selective bias.
i also think ai is either stupidly naive in judging the negative impacts on a government or malicious. Perhaps amnesty insist that they condemn the ltte equally but the team in wi represents sri lanka and the sri lankan nation state - not the ltte.
when organizations of former standing such as ai start smear campaigns of this nature, people who play by the rules feel the impacts more.
you think the ltte's prostitution, drug running, arms smuggling and extortion rackets are going to see a drop in revenue because amnesty international condemned them? dont make me laugh.
an established government trying to play by the rules is easier to attack than criminals like the ltte. you and the other anonymous commentor agreeing with you just proved that once more.
Anon, at 2:32 PM& 12:06 AM.
The problem is the debate appears to be going around in circles because people are making a number of assumptions and more interested in scoring points. I don't know whether people even understand what I have typed.
To continue the discussion I have to also spend time correcting these various assumptions eg. one made at 2:32 PM: (correction: I don't in fact completely agree with anonymous who I said made sense). Expecting someone to answer to assumptions and prejudicial statements is frankly inconsiderate.
I try to keep an open mind about things, and am prepared to be convinced. So far, alot of the comments and posts, appear to consist mainly of blanket statements and slander. This is a criticism that I hope people will take on board and not turn to another barrage of name-calling etc.
Some of the points made by you at 12:06 am (assuming you are the same person) however, are a little more coherent to me. I am not trying to put people down, I am just saying what I think. I honestly find alot of the stuff here doesn't make sense to me.
To me the debating and discussion process are a two way learning process. If the other party is sure and convinced that they are right at all costs, then its really not worth continuing on. We simply agree to disagree in a civilised manner instead of wasting people's time.
to have a meaningful discussion you have to make coherent arguments.
i made the following points,
as pointed out in the main post, this campaign is disgusting bc it is targeting sri lankan team, instead of supposedly responsible violators of human rights. it also applies double standards bc it singles out the sri lankan team ignoring others . it is futile bc it antagonize the sri lankan public ( in democracy that is fatal). finally it is hypocritical bc ai is using this to collect funds for itself not to improve human rights here as it alleges.
as i asked you repeatedly, make an argument as to why you think this campaign by ai is not a disgusting, not hypocritical, does not apply double standards, and is not futile as to its alleged motives.
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imo a person who does not find this campaign against sri lankan cricket team disgusting, and cannot give his reasons in a coherent way, is not a civilized person.
Ok Sitting nut,
This is the point where we agree to disagree and leave you to have the last word.
Happy New Year to you.
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