World news flash 1/26/09

I would like to take a day off from the fourth dimension to discuss a few current events. The series will continue tomorrow.

First, as those who follow world news already know, the Tamil Tigers have been mostly defeated. No, I’m not talking about a sports team—the Tamil Tigers (right) are Sri Lankan rebels who have been fighting the government for more than 20 years. They are fighting a “freedom struggle” against the government for an independent homeland in the north and east; the Tamils are predominantly Hindu and Catholic, while the rest of Sri Lanka is mostly Buddhist. However, the Sri Lankan army has captured many of their key strongholds over the past few months—last Sunday, their last base was destroyed. However, the Tigers have just released a statement that they are by no means defeated and they will continue fighting. They have also refuted claims their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has not left the country. I think that the recent events are going to be a setback for the Tigers, but I doubt this is the end of the movement. Are the Tigers in the right? Yes and no. Some of their methods are horrifying, like suicide bombs and the bombardment of innocent civilians. But the Sri Lankan government has clearly not treated the Tamils fairly. All in all situation would be best resolved by UN intervention, but since this is an unrealistic goal the Tamil movement is not entirely unjust.

Next, I would like to cover the first few days of the Obama administration. These first few days have been surprisingly eventful, from the bill to close Guantanamo to allowing federal funding to go to abortion agencies to his statement on oil independence. I am not surprised at any of these actions, but I must admit I am amazed at how quickly he was able to get these to pass. The Guantanamo decision, which is the most controversial, is actually the one that will affect us the least. Though the bill was signed a few days ago, the prison will not close for another year at least. Even then, many inmates will be transferred to other prisons. As for the decision to allow federal funding to go to abortion agencies…I am not surprised that Christian activist groups exploded at this, but I am glad Finally, I found Obama’s statements on oil independence to be very intriguing. Oil independence is a very desirable goal, but I don’t think it is not one he can achieve during his presidency. Though he preaches a “clean energy economy,” there is only so much he can do in 4 or even 8 years, and oil independence is an enormous task that will take much time and effort.

Finally, I would like to talk about Iceland. Today their leading political coalition announced that it is basically collapsing under the economic strain. However, the ruling conservative party will not allow one of their opposition parties, the Social Democrats, to run the government; it is likely that they will simply find other conservative officials to replace the ones resigning from key positions. Also, it is likely that Iceland will apply to join the EU within a year. Though this has little significance in the big picture, it is frightening that the global downturn can have such powerful negative effects on a country like Iceland, whose economy has been booming for the past decade.