Word: longingly
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...many victims and perpetrators have already died, complicating the processes both of fact-finding and bringing justice. Critics have questioned the value of delving so deeply into a violent era, after South Korea has already moved on to become one of the world's wealthiest democracies. Still, the long-hidden information about tactics used in a brutal war has been coming into focus, and many believe it's helping a society heal from scantily bandaged wounds. "Once the brutal facts of these massacres are out in the public, it's very hard for any government ... to get this information covered...
Even for a country long hardened to election violence, the massacre of at least 57 defenseless civilians on the main southern island of Mindanao, many of them relatives and supporters of a local politician and a large group of journalists, sets a new low. This troubled corner of the Philippines usually makes headlines for its long-running Muslim separatist rebellion. But the killings starkly exposed a nationwide malaise: the fierce competition for regional power among the country's small élite of a few hundred families and clans that control an inordinate amount of the national wealth - and the desperate...
...Murder has long been the ultimate political tool for eliminating rivals here. Those in the firing line are mainly at the level of local politics, such as governors, mayors and elected posts in community units called barangays. And, crucially, local government power can be a considerable source of wealth generation. "Many regard these posts as personal entitlements and their enemies are rival political families," says Benito Lim, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines. "If they cannot come to an arrangement, then eliminating a rival is an option." (Read a TIME cover story on boxer Manny Pacquiao...
...Wednesday the military began disbanding a 350-strong paramilitary force called Cafgu (Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit) in Maguindanao while investigating allegations that members were among the gunmen who waylaid the convoy. Cafgu and a clutch of other civilian outfits armed by the security forces have long been used in counter-insurgency operations against Muslim rebels - and were at the disposal of the Ampatuans as part of their armed group. Indeed, another disturbing thread in this tragic episode is the control exercised by local governments generally over the police, especially in deciding key appointments. Four police officers are under investigation...
...impact of Bild's revelations came swiftly. Addressing Germany's parliament, which was about to begin debating a one-year extension of Germany's deployment of around 4,300 troops, zu Guttenberg told deputies that Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Inspector-General and head of Germany's armed forces since 2002, and long-serving state secretary Peter Wichert, a senior official at Germany's defense department, had taken responsibility for the breakdown in communications and resigned. Jung initially defended his actions but resigned Friday. (See pictures of the history of the Berlin Wall...