Word: civilian
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...oral histories compiled in Mekong Diaries. Author Sherry Buchanan journeyed across Vietnam to gather previously unpublished material from 10 Vietnamese artists who resisted the U.S. The resulting volume is a moving alternative to common American narratives of the war and offers extraordinary insight into Vietnamese hearts, military and civilian...
...have steadily increased over the past five years, reached an all-time high in 2008. An Army report released on Jan. 29 confirms that at least 128 soldiers took their own lives last year--the first time since the Vietnam War that the military suicide rate has surpassed the civilian rate. Army officials point to the mental stress of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as a primary factor in the rising rate and have proclaimed a commitment to addressing the issue with an increase in mental-health resources and access to counseling...
Whether he can deliver, though, is another matter. "None of the things [the U.S.] cares about are in his control," says Christine Fair, a South Asia expert at the Rand Corp. Pakistan's security forces and intelligence agencies are hardly answerable to the civilian government. Still, the Obama Administration could at least try to strengthen Zardari's hand. A bill proposed last year by then Senator Joe Biden and Senator Richard Lugar calls for trebling U.S. economic assistance to Pakistan, to $1.5 billion annually for five years, with a possible extension for another five years. The bill enjoys bipartisan support...
...challenge for Holbrooke, says Fair, "is to thread two needles at the same time ... He has to get the Pakistani army to step up the fight against extremists, even as he's telling the generals, 'Sorry, guys, we're making the civilians your bosses.'" In the past, the military has actively undermined every effort to put it under civilian control; expect more of the same. There are not many carrots the U.S. can dangle before Kayani to get him to change old habits. But the Biden-Lugar bill does provide some leverage: it requires $1 billion in military...
...Lankan military denied shelling any hospitals, and has blamed the LTTE for civilian casualties. The government said Monday that the military campaign was in a "decisive stage", and that it could not "be responsible for the safety and security of civilians still living among LTTE terrorists". Colombo claims the rebels trap civilians in order to use them as human shields. Although the government has demarcated a safe zone north of Mullaittivu, it's unclear how non-combatants might be able to reach the sanctuary. While aid agencies clamor for access to those displaced, neither they nor most journalists have been...