C. Eduardo Vargas's blog

With the looming withdrawal of all American forces from Iraq by the end of this year, the political indecision of the Iraqi government to request the presence of a residual U.S. force will put the lives of many Iraqis at risk. If the Iraqi government asks Americans to stay, it will put them at odds with a large segment of Iraqis who view the U.S. as an occupying force.  If the government chooses instead for a complete U.S. force withdraw, then it risks creating a power vacuum that most people believe the Iraqi forces cannot fill. Either way, despite the decrease in the mass violence that happened after 2003, many Iraqis remain vulnerable to threats and violence, particularly those who served the Allied forces as cultural and language interpreters, and those who work with the arts.

As we begin the summer, I am particularly excited at how different religious communities are adapting to the changing times in their efforts to advocate for a greater understanding of all people and peace in the world.

On 17 March, I had the opportunity to be in Washington, DC with my colleagues and fellow Iraqi refugee advocates Kim Schultz and Michael Otterman. Kim debuted her play No Place Called Home at Busboys & Poets to stellar reviews.

I frequently discuss global affairs with many of my friends for whom this is a passion.  Yesterday, as we discussed the overthrow of Ben Ali and Mubarak, and now the growing unrest in Bahrain, I couldn’t help but wonder if this is the “democratic domino effect” George W. Bush was pursuing in America’s foreign policy earlier this century? This article in last week’s Economist might give us some food for thought.

Often as one reads stories of natural disasters in the press, it becomes easy to lose sight of the individuals that make up the stories and just focus on the large number of victims.

It is a very bad combination when corrupt governments are paired with a disregard for human rights and religious extremism.  In Chechnya, radical Muslim clerics perform “exorcisms” on women –who are kidnapped and forced to marry their kidnappers–to rid them of demons which “make” them run away from their husbands.

Justice in the truest sense of the word might not be the proper adjective for the laws in the United States and the work of the Department of Justice (DoJ). This year the Economist published a variety of articles that labeled America’s laws as a “rough justice” that does not fit the image one has of America’s integrity and fairness. Although advocating for criminals might be an unpopular cause, I have to recognize that the non-violent criminals of America’s 2.3 million inmate population might be better suited to serve their sentences thorough probation or community service.  After learning of some examples of the  hard-hand by the DoJ in their prosecution of crimes which are utterly ridiculous, I sadly must admit I have a growing fear of living in such a country that would prosecute (with jail time) the most minimal offenses that in reality do not pose a risk for society.

This is an interesting article I read in the Economist (Volume 396 Number 1843) dealing with criminality in the United States. Take a look and think about it in terms of how our laws really work and if in fact they serve justice in the truest sense of the word.

Last month, the newly elected Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos began repairing the often dysfunctional relationship between Colombia and the increasingly autocratic Venezuela that is being governed—into the ground—by Hugo Chávez.

This month, the press has paid much attention to the French parliamentary move to approve the ban of wearing the Islamic full veil in public. The full veil, or niqba, covers the entire face of a person with an opening only for the eyes.  This type of religious garb has proven cumbersome for identification of individuals in security matters, and is even seen as an infringement on the rights of women. However, the decision for the possible adoption of such a measure is seen as a double-standard in French society since it would only affect Muslim women.