Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 2, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A17 Winnipeg free press focus Friday july 2, 2004. . Foreign policy . Lacks consistency on Chechnya government agencies differ on embarrassing Appeal the chechen War is among the bloodiest ethnic conflicts in Europe by Anne Applebaum w Ashington who runs . Foreign policy in a week of historic court cases International summits and the Imperial spectacle of an american Viceroy handing Over sovereignty it seems an easy question. Foreign policy As we All know is con trolled by what the British Call the great and the Good senior judges and top ambassadors senators and presidents and famous names and famous faces. Yet if you dig beneath the front Page Sto Ries the answer is different. Look at the puzzling question of who controls . Pol icy toward Chechnya an admittedly lesser but not entirely insignificant place. After All the chechen War is among the bloodiest ethnic conflicts in Europe civilian deaths Are approaching the level of Cam Bodian deaths under the Khmer Rouge. Terrorists Chechnya is also a Breeding ground for islamic terrorists and has contributed to the weakening of democracy in Russia. The russian president Vladimir Putin came to Power on a wave of anti chechen russian nationalism. Theoretically . Policy toward chech nya is Clear enough. Although we consider Chechnya to be an internal russian mat Ter we do say that we want the War to end by negotiation and we do believe that there is someone for the russians to negotiate with. Indeed when the great and the Good speak about Chechnya which in to often they usually sound like Steven Pifer Deputy assistant Secretary of state for european and eurasian affairs. In 2003, for example Pifer told the congressional commission on Security and cooperation in Europe that we do not share the russian assessment that the chechen conflict is simply and solely a counter terrorism Effort. While there Are terrorist elements fighting in chech nya we do not agree that All separatists can be equated As but do the opinions of the great and the Good matter Cut now from the Imperial vistas and the Halls of the Capitol to another scene a courtroom in Boston where last month an immigration judge granted Polit ical Asylum to Ilyas Akhmedov. It want a surprising decision. Akhmedov was for Merly the foreign minister of an elected moderate separatist chechen government. Since the russian invasion of Chechnya in 1999, he has been in exile advocating a negotiated end to the chechen War repeat edly denouncing terrorism. If he were to return to Russia he would nevertheless be arrested and As the Immi Gration judge pointed out would probably be shot without being afforded the Opportunity to defend himself in a trial As has happened to other members of the chechen but if the great and the Good recognize the need for moderate voices in Chechnya officials at the department of Homeland Security do not. Two Days after the judges decision Dos lawyers appealed it on the grounds that Akhmedov is a terrorist. Although conceding that Akhmedov was part of a government that had spoken out against terrorism the Appeal argued that his actions and com ments have furthered acts of terrorism and persecution by chechen separatists and that he should therefore be deported. Appeal to anyone who has Ever heard them speak the text of this Appeal would sound like nothing so much As the work of russian Security officers not . Officials. Rumor has it that the state department has protested on precisely those grounds. What interests me though is not some inside the Beltway Battle for influence Between Dos and the state department but rather what this strange tale says about How cavalierly we use our own Power in chech nya and anywhere else not on the front pages. We May think of these places As insignificant but the feeling is not Mutual. On the contrary every nation in the world considers its relationship with the United states to be one of its most important. Around the world the words of the . Government carry extra weight. Phrases from the Dos Appeal will be quoted in the letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697-7412. Email More Young people going vegetarian congratulations to Christine Gallant the Winnipeg High school student who wrote the june 26 article going Veggie saves lives. I Don to know is. Gallant but she seems typical of a steadily growing number of ethically minded Young people who be made the life affirming decision to go vegetarian. In the 12 years i be been vegetarian after learning about the horrific treat ment of food animals i be met hundreds and hundreds of vegetarians from All walks of life. The vast majority became vegetarian for ethical reasons or soon Learned about the important ethical implications of our food choices. And the great news is its never been easier or More enjoyable to be vegetarian. Winnipeg now has four fully vege tarian restaurants and numerous vege tarian Friendly food stores and restaurants is. Gallant will be Happy to know several offer fantastic Veggie burgers and fat free Veggie dogs and with the Winnipeg vegetarian association there Are plenty of activities resources and like minded people to share the experience of going vege tarian. Dennis Bayoumi founder and past president Winnipeg vegetarian association Winnipeg More involvement is needed i have always been a Canadian and also always part of some minority. Each of us is always part of some minority. It might feel better to think of majorities but then again it is minorities that really push us to think More. Yet i never wanted to be a part of a majority if it meant that it would also cause me to lose a major part of myself ? that Core that makes me who i am. I humbly think that is what we really need to realize ? who it is that we canadians not Only Are but who do we want to be it is important to dream to think we Are special in the world but dreams alone will not fulfil no matter just How much Hope we might have. If for instance we want to maintain a degree of superiority in the world we will have to learn to deserve it. This Means firstly to get that 40 per cent who did it vote interested in sharing their potential with us who voted. To do that we who voted need to improve our dialogue with each other not just before the elections but every Day that we Call ourselves canadians. Right now walking the streets of Winnipeg it still feels like i am part of a minority for no one is much interested in talking issues and then doing something concretely about them no More than going to work or whatever. It is so easily forgotten that if we have work we Are privileged and those that Don to Are a suffering minority that we can easily become a part of. Our future is in education for there is no Lack of unskilled labor in the world. Nor is there Lack of creativity in the world. If we Are to continue to live in a land of plenty it will take a lot More than just doing a Good Job ? it will take an extraordinary human Effort that we still have the Opportunity we again have the Opportunity to fulfil. We need to create our own visions or our vision without a creative practical Ity will die with us. Now is the time to continue with much More involvement for the new minority government governs on our watch. Winnipeg longer holidays offer benefits by lumping in longer paid holidays with ideas he considers bad and bordering on ludicrous in his june 20 article Todd Hirsch of the Canada West foundation overlooks the Poten tial benefits. An Ontario ministry of tourism report in the ?90s concluded that longer paid holidays would increase con doonesbury doonesbury Sumer spending and that part of the Cost could be recovered through higher productivity. Proper rest and relaxation is vital for maximizing productivity and its Worth keeping in mind Parkinson a Law which suggests that an extra two weeks off would create incentives to use the rest of the work year More efficiently. While Canada continues with a Mea Gre two weeks paid holidays the British australians and Irish have russian Media used in other court cases and cited As a precedent look the . Government thinks Akhmedov is a terrorist or look the . Government is dump ing moderate chechen or look the . Government does to care anymore about human there Are Many explanations for the Dos Appeal perhaps it reflects Dos contacts with russian Security or a White House attempt to Curry favour with the russian leadership or even simple ignorance. None is sufficient. We May not have the National Energy to do anything about Chechnya or the nation Al attention Span even to care much about what happens there but at least we should have the National decency to treat chechen who Are trying to achieve peace in their country with consistency. For that reason if for no other Tom Ridge the Secretary of Homeland Security should make Clear that the . Government keeps its word and withdraw this embarrassing Appeal immediately. ? the Washington Post adopted four weeks paid holidays by Law. Britain is holding its own and Australia and Ireland Are experiencing economic booms. Many of them can t understand How we canadians Cope with two weeks and Why we Don t demand More. If it works Fine for Australia and ire land Why should we believe it would be bad and ludicrous for Canada Kevin Mcdougald Winnipeg by Garry Trudeau by Garry Trudeau ;