Monday morning quarterback

My legs may be recovered from yesterday's run but my brain doesn't appear to be so here's a short recap of newsworthy items from the past few days:

Major European cities held protests over the weekend to highlight the fourth anniversary of the conflict in Darfur. Apparently protests were also held in over 200 US cities--but I can't find a shred of coverage. The Christian Science Monitor reports on why it's hard to get a genocide charge to stick in Sudan. My short take on it: should the reason behind the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people be cause for inaction? Racially-motivated genocide or crime against humanity--it's not as if one option here is more understandable than the other.

Amnesty International reports that China is taking a step in the wrong direction, cracking down on dissent in the buildup to the 2008 Olympics. Good news: China has been making some progress on its human rights record under the watchful eye of international markets for some time. Bad news: China is worried about the impression of the Olympics to the watchful eye of international markets.

The ASPCA was part of a bust on a dog fighting operation in the south. This country is long overdue in ramping up animal cruelty laws and humane education. Sentences for animal cruelty need to reflect the anti-social behaviors of those who commit the abuses. First it's animals, then it's people. That's not rocket science.

Finally, three progressive organizations consider taking the US Government to court over wasteful spending on ineffective and medically-inaccurate abstinence only programs. Teens who don't get accurate sex ed don't stop having sex--they just don't protect themselves when they do. Ignorance doesn't equal 'innocence' people!

And for an amusing take on abstinence only programs, a clip from Family Guy.

"For my entire life, I have lived with war"

If people knew that children were being terrorized and used as weapons of war in conflicts around the world, would they do more to help?

The words above were spoken by a Ugandan girl trying to raise awareness of the impact of conflict on adolescents in her country.

Sadly, she is far from alone. Today's NYT Week in Review featured an article on the troubling prevalence of child soldiers in modern wars. Focusing mostly on conflicts in Africa, Jeffrey Gentleman's piece rightly points out that these children are as much the victims of current conflicts as those they inflict harm upon.

Child soldiers are defined by UNICEF as "any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity – including, but not limited to, combatants, cooks, porters, messengers and anyone accompanying such groups, other than family members. The definition includes girls recruited for sexual purposes and for forced marriage." Those too young to fight are often kidnapped for use as porters and messengers; those who survive and grow up in the militias move on to fighting--and killing. It is not unknown for the children to be given copious amounts of drugs, essential for warding off hunger and exhaustion, and the brutal reality of their lives. Girls, forced to serve as cooks and sex slaves, often emerge from conflict with the children of their tormentors.

In Northern Uganda, an area notorious for the use of child soldiers, around 40,000 children, called "night commuters," flee from their homes in villages and into the cities each night to escape kidnapping by the Lords Resistance Army. Their fear is warranted. According the UNICEF, since the mid-80's the LRA has kidnapped almost 25,000 children. Those not forced to fight find their lives and educations disrupted by conflict, diminishing their prospects as adults--and increasing the likelihood of instability for their country in the future.

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children rightly points out that displaced youth are a group on the brink: given resources they are the future leaders and peace-builders of their troubled nations. Ignored, and left at the mercy of circumstance, they can too easily fall into violence. You can read about the experience of young people in conflict-affected areas, in their own words, here.

Working with former child soldiers and integrating them back into their homes and villages is a daunting task, but well worth the effort as children and teens removed from battle but not accepted back into society are more likely to turn back to violence. Unfortunately adolescents are an often overlooked target of relief programs. But without addressing their needs, the donor community will find itself right back where it started in only a matter of time.

Some current reading on this topic: Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier in Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war and resettled refugee in NYC, has written A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Starbucks is selling his book in its stores.

Now you know.

Run as One Tomorrow

This time tomorrow I will be found icing my shins and begging for a back rub after running the annual Thomas G. Labrecque's "run as one" event in Central Park. The Foundation raises money for lung cancer treatment and awareness and, having lost my father a long time ago to this illness, I am happy to do my part.

About a month ago I learned of the event and started training and raising money. With only 4 weeks to go I set a modest fundraising goal of $500, but thanks to my wonderful family and friends I actually exceeded my goal. Many thanks again to everyone who gave so generously!!

I picked up my race number yesterday--I'm 7550--and I have to admit, this being only my third race ever, I'm both nervous and inspired by how many other folks are running. Those number bibs are very thin and there were many, many boxes of them. Yikes! I hope the other runners will take pity on me.

If you are up early for some reason tomorrow, stop by Central Park and cheer us on--I think I, at least, will need it! And, if you can't go but still want to help, you can make a donation to the Foundation any time on their website.

Somalia didn't go away...

...We just stopped caring about it.

As newspapers and some media cover the continuing unrest in Somalia's capital, John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned that Somalia had become the most dangerous place in world for aid workers.

Meanwhile, the Somali prime minister claims victory and declares that Ethiopian and government troops are in control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after nine days of battles.

Let's pause for just a moment here. The past nine days have certainly seen as escalation in violence in an already war-ravaged capital (and country) but it's not as if the situation in Somalia hasn't been in a downward spiral for, oh, over fifteen years, while the international community (and by this I mean governments and heads of state) hasn't exactly been working too hard to remedy it.

And what of the people still in Somalia? A recent report from OCHA estimates up to 300,000 people have recently been displaced. Aid relief is estimated to be reaching about 60,000--when it can get to them. Apparently the government 'checks' on aid shipments are necessary to prevent insurgent attacks. Hhhhmmm....right.

BBC Arabic asked for Somali viewpoints on the situation in their country; you can read it here. Also worth noting is an interview on the BBC with Asha Hagi Elmi, a Somali woman who founded her own party, the Sixth Clan, to represent women, in the now-in-exile (again) Somali government.

Want to do something? You can find a list of groups working in Somalia on ReliefWeb here.

As goes Mexico, the US runs in the other direction

Yesterday the Mexico City legislature voted to legalize abortion in the first trimester, setting off both cheers and controversy. Now Mexico's capital city is the largest in Latin America to allow women to have abortions on demand in the first trimester. It also impacts 10 million women in Mexico City and its suburbs who will now have easy access to an abortion, and allows anyone living in Mexico to travel there for abortion services.

The debate in Mexico City, pitting women's rights advocates against the Catholic Church, centered on protecting women's health. Due to the strict laws in Mexico, each year scores of women die or suffer permanent damage to their health due to self-induced or clandestine abortions. Cheers to the legislature in Mexico City for realizing that its primary obligation is to ensure the health and safety of 10 million of its female citizens.

But, sadly, as Mexico and other countries in Latin America step up and liberalize their laws to protect the human rights of women, homosexuals, and other groups, the US appears to be running, shrieking, in the other direction.

The Kaiser Network reports that in the past week three US states have either passed or tried to pass laws further restricting abortion and abortion access. Georgia and South Carolina both continue to press the idea of forcing women to view ultrasound images of the fetus before consenting to an abortion, while Oklahoma's Governor thankfully vetoed a provision that would have banned the use of state money for abortion unless the woman's life was in danger (ignoring the needs of women who have been raped or survived incest--nice one, guys).

It's interesting social commentary that many countries are passing laws on abortion in the interest of protecting women's health, while here in the US we're still tied up arguing whether or not a woman has the right to do what she wants with her own body. Of course the real answer is "yes" on both counts. Last week's Supreme Court dissent hopefully laid the groundwork for a new conversation about the right to abortion in this country...but it won't be easy.

So You Wanna Be a Rock Star?

A friend of mine who is also passionate about making the world a better place for women and girls has organized an online auction to support the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.

Founded in 2004, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit summer day camp serving girls aged 8-18 in New York City. The program offers girls the chance to learn how to play musical instruments, write songs, perform, learn about different types of music, and generally "rock out" in a supportive environment that fosters self-confidence, self-esteem, creativity, tolerance, and collaboration.

Items up for grabs in the auction include a guitar signed by the Beastie Boys, a bag by Marc Jacobs, weekend getaways, recording studio time, and much much more. The auction runs April 23 thru May 7. 100% of your winning bid will go straight to scholarships for girls. Visit williemaerockcamp.cmarket.com. Let the bidding begin!

Doing good for the earth the other 364 days a year, too

Unless you've managed to somehow escape (or ignore) the recent onslaught of everything green advertising, you know that today is Earth Day.

Many people will do the symbolic ride the bike instead of drive thing today, or maybe bring their own reusable bag to the supermarket. All these small things are great steps in the right direction. Trying to be greener myself, I ride my bike when convenient, use eco-friendly cleaning products, and recently switched to Con Edison's green power alternative for my home--all painless things that I can do year-round.

Greenpeace has a blog today that sums up both the benefits and problems of how we act on Earth Day (and don't act the rest of the time) better than I can on only one cup of tea this morning. Taking the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words, Environmental Defense developed a hard-hitting video ad a few months back to highlight the consequences of not acting on global warming.

Historically there was a bit of tension between the environmental and relief communities. If, for example, you as an aid agency are trying to provide help to displaced people in the forests of the Congo, your top concern would not be whether or not they were killing gorillas for food. On the other hand, if you were a conservationist working for a wildlife group, your primary concern would have been the protection of the gorillas. You can see the dilemma, especially when both groups are right! The past few years have seen a positive change and with the mainstreaming of green thinking the relief and human rights community is increasingly working with the environmental groups, recognizing the link between environmental justice and human rights.

And, finally, here's my favorite piece for this Earth Day from treehugger.com: how to green up your sex life.

Happy Earth Day! ;)

Day of service part 2: covered in primer

I just got back from a great morning participating in Bates College's National Day of Service. In 2005, Bates College started the program to connect alumni around the country with non-profit groups around the nation for an annual day of service. This is the first year I've participated and it was a great experience.

As the only representative of the class of 2000 at the NYC event (where were you all, slackers?!) it was a great chance for me to meet with alums from earlier years as well as recent grads. And I think I speak for all the Batesies in attendance today that we were incredibly impressed with the professionalism and energy of not only the paid publicolor staff but also the high school and middle school students who really ran the show.

Publicolor has an interesting story. Their mission is to use color, collaboration, design and the painting process to empower students to transform themselves, their schools, and their communities. They teach inner city students--many of whom will not be going on to college--the marketable skill of commercial painting. They also instill pride in the students, who paint their own schools and also nearby community sites.

Many thanks to Bates for giving us all alums a kick in the pants to get out there and contribute to our communities, and to publicolor for taking on a bunch of old desk jockeys and teaching them to paint, too ;)

Bates College National Day of Service

I'm off to participate in my Alma matres national day of service today! NYC Bates alums will be painting a school on the lower east side, working with an organization called Publicolor.

I have to go get covered in paint, but will report back later on the great work of Publicolor and my fellow fabulous Batesies who are doing their part today to make schools better for NYC kids.

Sad Day for Women's Health

Today the Supreme Court of the United States decided that it is not important to allow a doctor to perform a procedure that can be in the best interest of a woman's health. This is a very sad day for women's reproductive health, indeed.

You can find the full text of the decision--and Ginsburg's eloquent dissent--on the website of the Center for Reproductive Rights. I would strongly encourage you to read both the Court's decision and the dissent before reading much more in the mainstream media. The decision and dissent are telling.

The Court's decision makes it very clear they are opening the floodgates for an assault on the right to abortion and reproductive choice in this country. That Justice Kennedy can actually espouse the medically-inaccurate theory that abortion causes depression and serious long-term health issues for women is shocking and scary.

I just read through about 100 posts on the NYT website regarding the decision.
Why is no one in these posts talking about women forced to make what is, for many, a tragic decision? What of the woman who desperately wants her child, only to find it is horribly deformed? In those cases an intact D&E is the only way the doctor can perform an autopsy--so she is informed before she tries to conceive again. Don't think this never happens--I have family who faced this wrenching choice. Where is the discussion of the woman who wants her child but is medically unable to carry to term? Our highest court has ruled that acting in the best interest of women's heath is not important. This is a tragic day.

If you are looking to do something with your anger in the aftermath, here are some groups working to protect choice and women's health in this country:

Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Center for Reproductive Rights
NARAL Pro-Choice America

Ending Gun Violence in America

It's impossible this morning not to find coverage of the hideous shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued a statement: "...Details are still forthcoming about what motivated the shooter in this case to act, and how he was able to arm himself. It is well known, however, how easy it is for an individual to get powerful weapons in our country. "Eight years ago this week, the young people in Littleton, Colorado suffered a horrible attack at Columbine High School, and almost exactly six months ago, five young people were killed at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. Since these killings, we've done nothing as a country to end gun violence in our schools and communities...It is long overdue for us to take some common-sense actions to prevent tragedies like this from continuing to occur."

The National Rifle Association, meanwhile, issued a terse, 6 sentence statement, buried in their site.

The scale of this tragedy has obviously attracted every major media outlet, but I think it's important to note in all this that every day people are needlessly killed and harmed by guns in this country. Visit the Brady Campaign's website for more facts on gun violence--and what you can do to change it.

Monday morning quarterback

The BBC reports that the Sudanese government has finally agreed to allow a small number of UN troops into Darfur. There are currently about 7,000 African Union soldiers in Darfur. Will UN troops be able to make a difference? Here's hoping Sudan's compliance to international pressure on Darfur will make more a difference to those in Darfur than the troop presence. Meanwhile, Oxfam has announced a campaign to raise almost $10 million for their work in the region.

The New York Times features an article on first quarter fundraising results of the Clinton and Obama campaigns, including an interactive where you can search your zip to see if any of your neighbors have supported a campaign, similar to the idea of FundRace.org during the last presidential race. Now, yes, the numbers of both donors and dollars are awe-inspiring, especially to those of us with a background in fundraising. These people know what they're doing. But I for one would really appreciate some discussion of issues instead of dollars for a change in the frenzy around 2008.

And, finally, it's spring so we're back to fighting over abortion in South Dakota. Last year at this time, the legislature in that state attempted to pass a sweeping abortion ban. The law was defeated by South Dakota voters in November, but just last week Planned Parenthood was in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals fighting against a so-called "informed consent law" that would require doctors to present biased, medically-unsound state sponsored information to women seeking an abortion. Language surrounding the abortion debate has always been important, and now we're seeing two emerging themes: 1) the language of feminism being co-opted by the anti-choice crowd and 2) the argument that women need to be 'protected' from abortion--and, one can infer, from themselves.

The new price of doing good?

Should dedicating your career to the service of others put your life at risk?

Outspoken opponents of corrupt governments have long put themselves on the line to improve the lot of their fellow citizens, but as international conflicts grow ever more complex aid workers are finding themselves in serious danger.

Earlier this month, the American Prospect reported on the tragic murder of three French aid workers in Brazil. The issue of violence against the relief community has been simmering for years, with violence against relief workers being a huge problem in places like Chechnya, where some organizations insist their staff be accompanied by security. Conversations about the issue reached new intensity within the relief world early on during the US invasion of Iraq. Soldiers were in communities wearing civilian clothes, and the sheer number of outsourced private companies on the ground only added to the confusion over who was working in the name of the US--and who was there doing true relief work. As a consequence, aid workers were targeted for kidnapping and assault--and that was the best case scenario.

When civilians now account for the majority of casualties in conflicts around the world, it should perhaps come as no surprise that relief workers are in the cross hairs. But simply because someone chooses to dedicate their life to working in the world's most dangerous places should not mean they forfeit their right to come out of it alive. As the US and other world governments increasingly rely on private charities to conduct their relief missions in conflict zones they can not shirk off responsibility for ensuring security.

It's sad that the security of private relief workers--and not the safety of, say, fleeing refugees--might be the issue that gets folks to sit up and take notice. The UN has struggled with this issue in Darfur for some time, but it seems that the violence in this region gets the most media attention when yet another relief org has to make the terrible decision to pull out (see this piece from MSNBC and this from the BBC).

Googling Darfur

Right on the heels of yet another warning from the US to the Khartoum government to please stop killing people in Darfur, thanks, the BBC reports on the efforts by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC and Google Earth to highlight the evidence of ongoing genocide in the region.

Visitors to Google Earth can see a detailed map of Darfur, complete with visuals of burned-out villages. International relief and human rights groups such as Amnesty International have used such detailed images in their work to raise the world's awareness about the genocide in Darfur.


The conflict in Darfur has been allowed to continue for years, while the international communtiy shakes its head and issues idle threats. Thousands of people in Darfur have been killed, raped, and driven from their homes. Relief workers are unable to work in some regions without an international security presence. UN Missions to assess the situation in Darfur have been stymied, including one from the UN's own Human Rights Council in February. You can read a report with details on that mission as well as background on the situation on Darfur from the UN's Human Rights Council here.

I'm thrilled to see a company like Google take on something like this and work with so many great organizations like the Holocaust Memorial Museam. This is a great example of collaboration between the corporate and non-profit sectors to highlight an important issue. No doubt the relief and human rights organizations using Google Earth to document the atrocities in Darfur never would have been able to get technology like this up and running on the budgets they are forced to work wonders with.

ASPCA Day: Go Orange for Animals!

Today, April 10, the ASPCA celebrates its 141st anniversary of making the world a better place for animals. I'm a monthly supporter of the ASPCA and, as the D0-Gooder, I also volunteer at their 92nd Street shelter a few times a week. Conveniently, orange is my favorite color and I will be in my orange best at Union Square this afternoon spreading the word with the ASPCA!

Many of you may know the ASPCA from Animal Planet's "Animal Precinct," but Humane Law Enforcement, while sexy, is only part of their work. The less glamorous work is educating the public (especially school kids) on how to treat animals properly, taking care of sick and abandoned animals, and making the country a no-kill nation whenever possible. In my personal experience, it's been amazing to see the time and effort the ASPCA puts in to rehabilitating cats and dogs who otherwise would have been euthanized before finding their "forever homes."

Earlier this year, the ASPCA launched it's "Mission Orange"--an effort to create humane communities around the country. You can read more about their plan here:http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=missionorange_overview

Read more about ways you can Go Orange for Animals today:http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aspcaday_orangeideas

Changing Women's Lives in Columbia

Late last week I attended a lecture at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy ( http://www.reproductiverights.org/) about how abortion law in Columbia was changed from a harsh, no-exceptions rule enshrined in the constitution to a law permitting abortion in the first trimester under certain circumstances. Monica Roa, the young Colombian attorney who argued the case, presented on how the law was changed.

Perhaps the major reason that the case in Columbia brought forth by Women's Link Worldwide was successful in changing the Colombian law was that international law is recognized in the Colombian constitution. Let me repeat that again: international law is recognized in their constitution. This means that any declaration on human rights that the Colombian government recognized gives the rights enshrined in that treaty full constitutional weight. The constitution in Columbia is recognized as a living document. This is apparently also the case in South Africa's exceedingly progressive constitution, and in those of other states who have rewritten their constitutions during the 1990's.

Colombia has ratified all of the major international treaties, including the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social
Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention
Against Torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, Colombia is a party to the American Convention on Human Rights and had been censured by the Commission for the health and life risks to women caused by its restrictive abortion laws
(source: amicus brief, Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights, http://www.womenslinkworldwide.org/pdf/sp_proj_laicia_amicus_Harvard.pdf).

I was thinking about this case this morning as I tried to finish up yesterday's New York Times. What brought it to mind again was Linda Greenhouse's article "For the Chief Justice, a Dissent and a Line in the Sand" where wrote about the recent decision from the Court in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/weekinreview/08greenhouse.html?ref=weekinreview). Apparently Chief Justice Roberts was outraged that the case was even allowed to proceed (not the mention that the verdict was handed down in Massachusetts' favor) because he believes the case did not meet the criteria for standing as the plaintiff had no actual injury, proof of injury caused by the defendant, and no proof that any injury could be redressed by the defendant. Compare that to the case mentioned above in Columbia, where the country's constitution allows any regular Jane to bring a case before the Constitutional Court if she believes a law is unconstitutional. No injured plaintiff needed.

Imagine how many years earlier we could have had a decision in Roe v. Wade, or Brown v. Board of Education, or Loving v. Virginia, if laws that were unconstitutional didn't require an injured party willing to testify against them.

You can find out more about the amazing work of Women's Link Worldwide here:
http://www.womenslinkworldwide.org/whoweare.html

Fighting TB in Bangladesh

Today's NYT features an article on the work of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, or BRAC, which employs nearly 70,000 women across the country as TB outreach workers. These women, mostly housewives, earn $2.50 per patient they identify and monitor, administering treatment and other health care advice. Their role in ensuring patient compliance with the long treatments required for TB is especially important, as TB-treatment that is not followed can lead to the development of resistant strands of the disease.

Beyond the health benefits of the program, it has also elevated the status of the women enrolled in the program. Reported one participant, "When she started doing the rounds 12 years ago, some of the village leaders, all men, waved sticks and shouted insults...They said it was unbecoming of a Muslim woman to go door to door through the village. Now, she said, one of her most strident former critics salutes her when she crosses his path. She thinks it is because she sold some cough syrup for one of the children in his family and it made the child feel better.
Her own financial health has improved as well. She makes her own money, modest though it is, from the sale of medicines. No longer, she said, must she cup her hands before her husband, who works as a rickshaw driver."

Learn more about BRAC here: http://www.brac.net/about.htm and read the entire NYT article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/world/asia/05bangla.html?pagewanted=1

TB isn't something most of us regularly worry about in the US, but worldwide it is a devastating illness. Doctors Without Borders/MSF reports that in countries with high rates of HIV/AIDS, multi-drug resistant strands of TB%

Iraq's Women: the other victims of the war

We hear an awful lot about the latest American troop fatalities on CNN and other news outlets on an almost daily basis, and in a way I'm thankful that they are still covering a story most Americans would rather forget. This morning at the gym I caught a brief CNN piece on work being done to help Iraqi widows. We hardly ever hear about the Iraqi victims of the war, so props to whoever at CNN managed to get the story through. Without, exactly, reporting on how or why they ended up being widows in the first place. But I digress.

When Iraq 2 started, many in the international relief community feared a refugee crisis. Four years later, it is finally coming to pass. According to the International Rescue Committee (full disclosure: I used to work for them), "The exact number of refugees who have fled to Syria and Jordan is not clear, but estimates are as high as two million—creating a massive strain on two countries that struggle to provide adequate services for their own populations."

Iraq before the US invasion was, despite the hideous abuses of the Saddam regime, relatively progressive in terms of women's rights--at least in comparison to its neighbors in the region. According to Women for Women International: "Women in Iraq have traditionally not suffered the same type of gender repression found in some other societies in the region. Earlier laws ensured education for girls, family rights (such as the rights to divorce and to own property), and the right to serve in the government and in security forces. As a result, some Iraqi women, particularly those from Baghdad and other urban areas, made significant professional gains in areas such as law, medicine, and the arts." Amidst the current instability, however, those freedoms are largely a thing of the past.

It's all well and good to say the responsibility lies with the new Iraqi government to ensure that Iraqi women don't see the clock turned back on their rights. But until the government has a leg to stand on, its up to aid agencies to fill the void (I'd like to think the US would help out more here, but we all saw how they relied on private agencies during Katrina and, well, Iraq isn't ever part of the continental US).

Find out more about what some of these groups are doing to help:
Women for Women International: http://www.womenforwomen.org/iraq.htm
International Rescue Committee: http://www.theirc.org/news/urgent-help-needed-for-iraqi.html

Central African Republic

Today's New York Times featured a piece on the Central African Republic (CAR). Caught between its neighbors Congo and Sudan, suffering its own internal unrest, and overshadowed by the media blitz over Darfur, CAR has been quietly seen approximately 50,000 of its citizens turn into refugees.

Despite two years of fighting, CAR has received only $50 million in international aid to feed and protect its civilians. Compare that to the almost $1 billion currently allocated for Sudan. Where's Angelina when you need her?

The Times piece doesn't point out how instability in CAR threatens progress in Congo and Sudan. At best, an influx of refugees into already-troubled nations threatens to unsettle any progress towards piece. At worst, it threatens the very lives of those seeking sanctuary in a neighboring state.

Read the full Times piece here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/world/africa/02car.html?ref=world

Get more background on the situation in CAR here: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc108?OpenForm&emid=ACOS-635NQG&rc=1