| Dr. Jonas Salk Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:49 AM PDT  Profile America — Friday, October 28th. One of the heroes of American medical research was born on this date in 1914 — Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine against polio. Because most of its victims were children, many of whom suffered paralysis, the disease was widely feared by the public. Polio peaked in 1952, with 3,000 dead and over 21,000 paralyzed. Salk’s program had extensive field tests of his vaccine — including injecting himself and his family. The success was announced April 12, 1955, and caused widespread celebrations as if a war had been won. The vaccine caused an immediate and dramatic drop in polio cases. Now, almost 94 percent of children have been immunized against the disease. Profile America is in its 15th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2011, p. 534
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 188
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/2011edition.html  
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| UN approves $1 billion for victims of Iraqi invasion of Kuwait Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:02 AM PDT NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Thursday announced that over $1 billion will be disbursed to eight successful claimants who suffered losses because of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The Compensation Commission (UNCC) will disburse a total of $1,038,375,281 in the latest payment rounds, bringing the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the Commission to nearly $34.3 billion. The money was given to more than 100 governments and international organizations for distribution to 1.5 million successful claimants. Successful claims are paid with funds drawn from the UN Compensation Fund which is funded by a percentage of the proceeds – set at 5 percent – generated by the export sales of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, according to a news release from the Commission. In 1991, UNCC was established as a subsidiary organ of the UN Security Council and has received nearly 3 million claims, including from close to 100 governments for themselves, their nationals or their corporations. The Geneva-based UNCC's Governing Council has identified six categories of claims: four are for claims from individuals, one for corporations and one for governments and international organizations, which also includes claims for environmental damage. In August 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered his forces to invade and occupy Kuwait. It resulted in the Gulf War during which U.S.-led forces successfully fought to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. It is estimated some 25,000 to 40,000 people were killed. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.) 
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| US Accused of Politicizing Somalia Famine Aid Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:45 PM PDT The U.S. government is defending itself against new accusations that it has politicized aid to victims of Somalia's ongoing famine, as well as failed to help the long-term situation in the conflict-wracked country. U.S. officials blame the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group for restricting outside aid.
While the United States has been one of the world's leading donors in trying to help ease the effects of the devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, critics are saying it has failed victims in Somalia.
Such criticism was made frequently at a forum in Washington called "Famine in the Horn: Assessing the U.S. Response."
Bronwyn Burton is with the Atlantic Council.
"There are still 750,000 people who still really need help urgently in Somalia or they are going to die and most of them are women and children, tiny babies who absolutely no role in the conflict that we are witnessing in Somalia," said Burton. "The thing I would like to point out here is that while we have important interests that are not humanitarian interests in the country, we in the United States have done a very poor job of managing those interests and balancing them against the humanitarian needs of the Somali people."
Burton pointed out that the United States gave more money to Somalia in humanitarian assistance in 2008 when there was no famine, than in 2011 when there is a famine, but when al-Shabab controls lots of territory.
She called on the U.S. Africa military command, Africom, to play a role in helping deliver food in areas with security challenges.
Other criticism came from John Norris, from the Center for American Progress.
Norris said if the United States is really serious about helping people in Somalia, it should be serious about diplomatic efforts and figuring out a long-term solution. He said lots of money has been spent on humanitarian endeavors in perpetually unstable Somalia since the early 1990s, to little effect.
"How do we get off this hamster wheel of perpetual crisis and why are we in a position 20 years after Somalia was dominating headlines to find ourselves in a situation that is every bit if not more dire," said Norris. "I think that is because we have had a very hard time thinking down the chess board. We have been very willing as a country to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars, billions of dollars in responding to Somalia but if you look at the amount of high-level diplomacy that has been directed toward it, it is a relative pittance."
A representative for the U.S. government Nancy Lindborg, from the U.S. Agency for International Development, vigorously defended U.S. aid efforts, and said the problem was access to al-Shabab areas, not resources.
She said famine was being averted in other parts of Somalia, as well as Kenya and Ethiopia, because of cooperative authorities there and the success of development projects.
The U.S official wanted to focus on some of the positives, and said this crisis showed more and more countries and diverse organizations were now helping in such situations.
"More and more countries step up to this role of being humanitarian responders," said Lindborg. "We have the opportunity to help that feel more inclusive and cooperative. And so as you see, more Islamic groups and a huge Turkish response in Somalia, there is an opportunity to deepen our ways to cooperate together and use the imperative that they can bring to offer access."
Panelists did agree ineffective security at refugee camps for civilians, and especially women, fleeing drought conditions, was a major concern. They also said the current Kenyan military operations into Somalia could worsen the immediate plight of drought victims in al-Shabab controlled areas.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia earlier this month following a series of cross-border kidnappings blamed on al-Shabab.
The radical Islamic group has waged a four-year campaign against Somalia's United Nations and U.S.-backed government, which is widely viewed as corrupt and ineffective. Al-Shabab controls most of central and southern Somalia, including the only areas declared by the United Nations to be experiencing famine in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa.
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| US Accused of Politicizing Somalia Famine Aid Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:45 PM PDT The U.S. government is defending itself against new accusations that it has politicized aid to victims of Somalia's ongoing famine, as well as failed to help the long-term situation in the conflict-wracked country. U.S. officials blame the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group for restricting outside aid.
While the United States has been one of the world's leading donors in trying to help ease the effects of the devastating drought in the Horn of Africa, critics are saying it has failed victims in Somalia.
Such criticism was made frequently at a forum in Washington called "Famine in the Horn: Assessing the U.S. Response."
Bronwyn Burton is with the Atlantic Council.
"There are still 750,000 people who still really need help urgently in Somalia or they are going to die and most of them are women and children, tiny babies who absolutely no role in the conflict that we are witnessing in Somalia," said Burton. "The thing I would like to point out here is that while we have important interests that are not humanitarian interests in the country, we in the United States have done a very poor job of managing those interests and balancing them against the humanitarian needs of the Somali people."
Burton pointed out that the United States gave more money to Somalia in humanitarian assistance in 2008 when there was no famine, than in 2011 when there is a famine, but when al-Shabab controls lots of territory.
She called on the U.S. Africa military command, Africom, to play a role in helping deliver food in areas with security challenges.
Other criticism came from John Norris, from the Center for American Progress.
Norris said if the United States is really serious about helping people in Somalia, it should be serious about diplomatic efforts and figuring out a long-term solution. He said lots of money has been spent on humanitarian endeavors in perpetually unstable Somalia since the early 1990s, to little effect.
"How do we get off this hamster wheel of perpetual crisis and why are we in a position 20 years after Somalia was dominating headlines to find ourselves in a situation that is every bit if not more dire," said Norris. "I think that is because we have had a very hard time thinking down the chess board. We have been very willing as a country to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars, billions of dollars in responding to Somalia but if you look at the amount of high-level diplomacy that has been directed toward it, it is a relative pittance."
A representative for the U.S. government Nancy Lindborg, from the U.S. Agency for International Development, vigorously defended U.S. aid efforts, and said the problem was access to al-Shabab areas, not resources.
She said famine was being averted in other parts of Somalia, as well as Kenya and Ethiopia, because of cooperative authorities there and the success of development projects.
The U.S official wanted to focus on some of the positives, and said this crisis showed more and more countries and diverse organizations were now helping in such situations.
"More and more countries step up to this role of being humanitarian responders," said Lindborg. "We have the opportunity to help that feel more inclusive and cooperative. And so as you see, more Islamic groups and a huge Turkish response in Somalia, there is an opportunity to deepen our ways to cooperate together and use the imperative that they can bring to offer access."
Panelists did agree ineffective security at refugee camps for civilians, and especially women, fleeing drought conditions, was a major concern. They also said the current Kenyan military operations into Somalia could worsen the immediate plight of drought victims in al-Shabab controlled areas.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia earlier this month following a series of cross-border kidnappings blamed on al-Shabab.
The radical Islamic group has waged a four-year campaign against Somalia's United Nations and U.S.-backed government, which is widely viewed as corrupt and ineffective. Al-Shabab controls most of central and southern Somalia, including the only areas declared by the United Nations to be experiencing famine in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa.
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| US Soldier Goes on Trial for Civilian Atrocities in Afghanistan Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:30 PM PDT A military court in the western U.S. state of Washington is set to try Calvin Gibbs, an American soldier accused of masterminding the brutal killings of Afghan civilians last year. Gibbs' court martial is set to get under way on Friday.
In the months leading up to his court martial, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs has refused to cooperate with military investigators.
The accusations against him have been based on witness accounts that have included grisly details of random killings, and body parts put into plastic bags as trophies. He is accused of three counts of murder.
Gibbs led a platoon of the 5th Stryker Brigade, based here at Joint Base Lewis McChord. Members of that platoon say he threatened anyone who did not keep quiet about the killings. Victims included a 15-year-old boy who was unarmed and chosen at random. Witnesses are quoted as saying Gibbs played with the boy's corpse, and cut off a finger as a keepsake.
Now, he faces life in prison. Other members of the platoon have also been charged and sentenced.
The trial comes as the U.S. military draws down its operations in Afghanistan and takes stock of its accomplishments in the region. The Army says it hopes the trial will help correct any impression that it tolerates criminal behavior.
Colonel Barry Huggins commands the 2nd Brigade that absorbed Gibbs' 5th Brigade. He spoke to VOA in May. "Unlike the people we are engaged in conflict with at the moment, they are not about a policy. They are an aberration. The targeting of civilians or the harm that comes to civilians is not part of our strategy. It's an aberration from that strategy," Huggins said.
The military has come under criticism for not acting quickly after a platoon member's family alerted officials at the base about the crimes.
Liberal activist Jorge Gonzalez, a veteran of a Stryker brigade, runs a cafe outside the base. Along with free coffee for soldiers, the cafe counsels those who are considering leaving the military for ideological or other reasons.
He says the court martial might bring justice in the Calvin Gibbs case, but he says the damage to the military's image cannot be repaired.
"The story will go everywhere and everybody will think that this is what the U.S. military does, which is very bad. But it leaves that impression, even though it was just a few soldiers that got caught. It's definitely horrible for the rest of the soldiers," Gonzalez said.
Soldiers here at Gibbs' home base speak of anger and shame. One soldier who did not want to be recorded says he hopes justice will be done, and a separation made between the real warriors who hunt down the Taliban, and those he calls "fake warriors" who kill defenseless civilians for sport.
The panel deciding on Gibbs' case will be chosen on Friday, and testimony begins on Monday.
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