Two highly regarded human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued reports which seriously question the legality of US drone strikes. The reports have been filed with the United Nations and they tend to confirm the earlier Pakistani reports of about 400 civilian deaths associated with the strikes. The US government has sharply disputed the reports. The reports will only fuel the fire of controversy about the legality and efficacy of the drone strikes. I would expect this story to be very long-lived.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused foreign powers of using radical Islam to weaken the Russian state after a series of riots and bombings have occurred in Russia. Russia has had serious problems with violence since 1999 when rebels in Chechnya, a primarily Muslim area of Russia, began a separatist movement. Putin did not identify which foreign powers were fueling Muslim discontent in Russia, and it is hard to imagine which foreign powers have any leverage over radical Islamists.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment