Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Kofi Annan: Military Intervention in Syria Will Make Crisis Worse
Former UN Secretary General and present Arab League-UN envoy Kofi Annan is expected to touch down in Syria tomorrow. Prior to heading to Damascus, he has spoke out against the idea of using military force in Syria. “‘I hope no one is thinking seriously of using force in this situation,’ Annan said. ‘As I move to Syria, we will do whatever we can to urge and press for a cessation of hostilities and end to the killing and violence.’Annan is set to arrive in Damascus and begin negotiations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government on Sunday. Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said clear divisions remained among Arab League countries, some of whom support armed intervention. ‘Some have a hawkish stand, Saudi Arabia or perhaps even Qatar, when it comes to arming the Syrian opposition,’ Rageh said. ‘If you arm the opposition … you exacerbate the possibility of an all-out civil war and the biggest risk, of turning Syria into a proxy battlefield for wars in the region.’” (Al Jazeera http://aje.me/xVwiCb)
Millions See Stop Kony Video; Debate Ensues
Yesterday we reported on the reactions to the video Kony 2012 by Invisible Children. A day later it has gone viral with tens of millions (soon to be over 100). Major media outlets are reporting on the video and the varying reactions it has elicited. This morning, NBC News anchor Ann Curry will speak with Jason Russell, the narrator and center of the film. The Guardian reports on the criticisms of the video and the responses by supporters and Invisible Children. “Ugandan writer Angelo Opi-Aiya Izama wrote on his blog: “To call the campaign a misrepresentation is an understatement … its portrayal of his alleged crimes in northern Uganda are from a bygone era.” He said the main problems in the area now were child prostitution, HIV and a mysterious and incurable neurological disorder, known as nodding disease, which has afflicted more than 4,000 children…Jedediah Jenkins, director of idea development for Invisible Children, called the criticisms “myopic” and said the film represented a “tipping point” in that it “got young people to care about an issue on the other side of the planet that doesn’t affect them”.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/x7kggL)