1 less scumbag to worry about

[dnice35]

SANAA, Yemen (CNN) -- The United States launched a missile at a car in Yemen early Monday killing six suspected al Qaeda members, including the terrorist organization's chief in that country who was wanted for the bombing of the USS Cole, sources told CNN.

It was the first direct U.S. strike against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network outside Afghanistan since the U.S.-led war on terrorism was launched in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States.

Few details were released about the attack or how the missile was launched. Pentagon and U.S. intelligence officials refused to discuss the report.

The blast happened in the oil-rich northern province of Marib, about 105 miles (170 kilometers) east of the capital, Sanaa.

Sources identified one of the dead as Abu Ali, also known as Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, who was believed to have played a major role in the October 2000 attack on the destroyer Cole that killed 17 sailors.

Ali once served as one of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's senior bodyguards and was the group's top leader in Yemen.

Walid Al-Saqqaf, managing editor of the Yemen Times, told CNN that Ali was identified as the one in the vehicle by a mark on his leg, which was blown off in the blast and found near the scene.

He said Ali, who has been on the run and was believed to be harbored by tribesmen, has been the source of a massive hunt by security forces in Yemen. An attempt to capture him late last year failed. That botched attempt left more than a dozen security forces dead.

About 50 U.S. Special Forces troops have been in the country training Yemeni security forces. There was no immediate indication they took part in this strike.

While not confirming the report, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke of Ali at the Pentagon briefing Monday when questioned about the attack.

"It would be a very good thing if he were out of business," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said the U.S.-Yemen relationship "has been a good one and it's ongoing." He noted that Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh visited the Pentagon and agreed to cooperate in the war on terrorism.

"As a result, we have some folks in that country that have been working with the government and helping them think through ways of doing things," Rumsfeld said.

"And it's been a good cooperation, and we've shared some information, and we think that over time it ought to be beneficial."

Rumsfeld said a number of al Qaeda members are known to be hiding in Yemen, slipping into the country by sea and through its sparsely populated border areas -- what he said are used "advantageously by terrorists."

[sassa]

yeah sure! the US can do whatever they want and they expect the world to applaud them for their efforts, but if another country would go and do the same thing, suddenly that country is barbaric, has no respect for human rights, and need to be judged before the entire world...why isn't the US being put on trial?

[dnice35]

Originally posted by sassa

yeah sure! the US can do whatever they want and they expect the world to applaud them for their efforts, but if another country would go and do the same thing, suddenly that country is barbaric, has no respect for human rights, and need to be judged before the entire world...why isn't the US being put on trial?

WTF are you trying to say? That we dont have a right to go after those scumbags? And why the US isnt on trial, well its simple.... cause we are the Judge, Jury and Execution.... deal with it!

[sassa]

Originally posted by dnice35

WTF are you trying to say? That we dont have a right to go after those scumbags? And why the US isnt on trial, well its simple.... cause we are the Judge, Jury and Execution.... deal with it!

YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO BERATE OTHERS FOR DOING EXACTLY WHAT THIS FUCKING COUNTRY DOES TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

that is all i'm saying.

[dnice35]

Originally posted by sassa

YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO BERATE OTHERS FOR DOING EXACTLY WHAT THIS FUCKING COUNTRY DOES TO THE REST OF THE WORLD.

that is all i'm saying.

He helped attack a US ship and kill 17 of our guys......

[sassa]

Originally posted by dnice35

He helped attack a US ship and kill 17 of our guys......

US involvement in Vietnam

US involvement in the Gulf War

US involvement in Korea

US involvement in Kosovo

Justify these, please.

Also, justify the fact that Bush refuses to acknowledge the International Criminal Court=i.e. he won't allow US citizens to stand trial for crimes that they have committed, even though other countries have gone ahead and supported it, knowing full well that their citizens might be subjected to trial.

[tribal]

sassa bin laden. just to clarify your fuddled little brain, there is a big big difference between getting involved in stopping ethnic slaughter like Kosovo and blowing up a ship specifically to kill people, or flying planes into office towers. what you are doing is basically saying that US is the same as al qada. and i swear, i dont care how leftist you may be, you should be thrown out of this country for saying shit like that. how can you possibly be angry at a successful elimination of a know terror leader? a person whose intent, only intent is to kill civilians? wtf is wrong with you?

[sassa]

Originally posted by tribal

sassa bin laden. just to clarify your fuddled little brain, there is a big big difference between getting involved in stopping ethnic slaughter like Kosovo and blowing up a ship specifically to kill people, or flying planes into office towers. what you are doing is basically saying that US is the same as al qada. and i swear, i dont care how leftist you may be, you should be thrown out of this country for saying shit like that. how can you possibly be angry at a successful elimination of a know terror leader? a person whose intent, only intent is to kill civilians? wtf is wrong with you?

since you have resorted to slander as a means of getting your stupid opinion across, let me play along: FUCK YOU TRIBAL.

as an american citizen, i have a "right" (or do i?) to exercise my freedom to say whatever the hell i want, whether you like it or not. you labelled me a leftist, i never labelled myself as anything. i can see the situation from both sides and make my own hypothesis. i did not say it was such a terrible thing for the terrorist to be killed, nowhere in this thread did i say that, and for you to throw such an accusation against me is childish, immature, and irresponsible. while the US has a right to pacify and suppress forces that threaten its security, it does NOT have the right to play with the situation on hand and use it as an excuse to commit crimes against people who are innocent of anything.

jackass....

[mfiorellino]

So you're saying that this Al Qaeda guy was innocent?

[sassa]

Originally posted by homersimpson

So you're saying that this Al Qaeda guy was innocent?

..........................do you honestly expect me to answer that?

NO

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by dnice35

WTF are you trying to say? That we dont have a right to go after those scumbags? And why the US isnt on trial, well its simple.... cause we are the Judge, Jury and Execution.... deal with it!

Didn't you know the US is the only country that was condemed by the world court? In 1986 the US was on trial for the bombings in Nicaragua, murdering thousands of civilians (terrorism). The US was found guilty and was ordered to pay restitution and ordered to leave. Instead the US escalated the attacks which under international law is contempt.

I hope the US goes on trial again.... for genocide and Osama bin Bush Laden winds up in a tribunal for his war crimes!!

DEAL WITH THAT!!

I hope you enjoy supporting the REAL ROUGE NATION and it's terroristic leader.

GET AN EDUCATION UNINTELLIGENT ONE!!!

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by homersimpson

So you're saying that this Al Qaeda guy was innocent?

He is just as guilty as Bush and you know it.

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by sassa

Also, justify the fact that Bush refuses to acknowledge the International Criminal Court=i.e. he won't allow US citizens to stand trial for crimes that they have committed, even though other countries have gone ahead and supported it, knowing full well that their citizens might be subjected to trial.

I can justify that fact easily. The reason why the US refuses to recognize the ICC, by refusing to sign the accord is because they know they have people within it's own government who knowingly commited crimes against human rights. Well guess what? That does not mean the US cannot be tried and I hope they do get tried for their crimes.

Originally posted by sassa

since you have resorted to slander as a means of getting your stupid opinion across, let me play along: FUCK YOU TRIBAL.

as an american citizen, i have a "right" (or do i?) to exercise my freedom to say whatever the hell i want, whether you like it or not. you labelled me a leftist, i never labelled myself as anything. i can see the situation from both sides and make my own hypothesis. i did not say it was such a terrible thing for the terrorist to be killed, nowhere in this thread did i say that, and for you to throw such an accusation against me is childish, immature, and irresponsible. while the US has a right to pacify and suppress forces that threaten its security, it does NOT have the right to play with the situation on hand and use it as an excuse to commit crimes against people who are innocent of anything.

jackass....

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by tribal

O-kay.............

sassa bin laden.

Tribal bin Laden the monkeyfuck...

It's Sassa to you, not Sassa bin Laden, TRIBAL BIN LADEN!! Just because Sassa opposes the war does not automatically make Sassa a terrorist. Terrorism is violence, war is violence and war is equally terroristic so therefore you are the one who is supporting terrorism. Not Sassa.

just to clarify your fuddled little brain, there is a big big difference between getting involved in stopping ethnic slaughter like Kosovo and blowing up a ship specifically to kill people, or flying planes into office towers.

Just to clarify your ignorance, there is a big big difference between stopping ethnic slaughter like Afghanistan and Iraq (soon to come). It's intelligent people like us who are going to stop it so ignorant brainless little pukes like you can't get their rocks off watching innocent muslim civilians who had NOTHING to do with what al qaeda did at 9-11 get senselessly get murdered by the fascist scumbags who are running this fucked up country.

what you are doing is basically saying that US is the same as al qada.

And it is. Bush and his mullahs are equally as terroristic if not worse.

and i swear, i dont care how leftist you may be, you should be thrown out of this country for saying shit like that.

FUCK YOU!!!

Since when is there a law that says that you HAVE to support what this government is doing?? Have you ever heard of FREEDOM OF SPEECH? We have just as much a right to denounce this fucked up government as much as you have a right to support it. TOUGH!! Why don't you come here and try to throw me out?? How would you like it if WE told you to GET OUT for supporting this fucked up government? How would you like it if I told you to SHUT UP whenever you say something supporting it??

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

In other words, Congress cannot establish a religious state thus seperating church and state and cannot deny ones rights to practice their religion freely and cannot force religion on others.

or abridging the freedom of speech,

Meaning, you cannot deny ones right to free speech simply because his/hers opinions conflict the belief of another, in other words you have as much right to speak out for this fucked up country/government/it's President as much as I (and others who oppose) have the right to speak out against it and you cannot force your political beliefs on others.

or of the press;

Which has already been illegally censored by the government.

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,

Meaning the people have the right to gather together peacefully...

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

...to protest against this fucked up government and to complain about the problems that need to be fixed.

Too bad you conservative right wing racist yeehas don't have any concept in this.

Here's a typical simple minded quote from a simple-minded conservative: "I believe in freedom of speech. I just wish those hippie pot smoking losers would stop complaining about this country and shut up. If they don't like it they should get out."

It makes me laugh when they (including you) contridict their (and your own) words and themselves including you.

Again... TOUGH!!!

how can you possibly be angry at a successful elimination of a know terror leader?

Would you be angry at a successful elimination of a known terror leader like Bush. I hope he gets his ass voted out in the 2004 elections before he fucks this country up more. In fact he should either be impeached or resign and not only that he should face a war crimes tribunal and I hope that happens.

a person whose intent, only intent is to kill civilians?

And it's ok for George bin Bush to kill innocent civilians... for oil? And don't even dare deny the fact it's for oil.

wtf is wrong with you?

Nothing wrong with me. The problem is bigoted scum like you.

wtf is wrong with you??

PREPARETH THYSELF FOR DE-IGNORIZATION IMMATURE LITTLE JACKASS....

[mrmatas2277]

Originally posted by normalnoises

Originally posted by tribal

or of the press;

Which has already been illegally censored by the government.

how do u figure?

[dnice35]

Originally posted by normalnoises

Didn't you know the US is the only country that was condemed by the world court? In 1986 the US was on trial for the bombings in Nicaragua, murdering thousands of civilians (terrorism). The US was found guilty and was ordered to pay restitution and ordered to leave. Instead the US escalated the attacks which under international law is contempt.

I hope the US goes on trial again.... for genocide and Osama bin Bush Laden winds up in a tribunal for his war crimes!!

DEAL WITH THAT!!

I hope you enjoy supporting the REAL ROUGE NATION and it's terroristic leader.

GET AN EDUCATION UNINTELLIGENT ONE!!!

First of all you dont know shit about the situation in Nicaragua, If it wasnt for the US aid to them. that country would be worse off right now.... If thats possible.

And you are so full of shit comparing Bush to that piece of shit Bin laden, If you dont like Bush fine, but dont compare him to that fucker. No one deserves that comparison.

[dnice35]

Originally posted by sassa

since you have resorted to slander as a means of getting your stupid opinion across, let me play along: FUCK YOU TRIBAL.

jackass....

That was real childish, mature sass..... I can see your double standards...

[nycmuzik]

How can you say that the US shouldnt have gotten involved in conflicts such as Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Kosovo??....Should the US have sat back like it did during the genocide in Rowanda and let hundreds of thousands of innocent people get killed??....Cause to me it seems that way.....Who cares how many innocent people get killed as long as the US doesnt get involved......Yeah innocent people get killed if the US goes in somewhere but we also take losses......How easily everyone forgot Somalia.....The US goes in to help starving people only to have its troops slaughtered and dragged through the streets while the Clinton administration did nothing....Yeah thats right....They did shit.....They didnt want to give proper support to the troops because it didnt want to look like the US was commiting too much force....Too much force???...WTF is that....The second you send any American into combat, its the duty of the gov't to support them as best they can....So there you have it....We want to go help people.....People we're supposed to help start to kill our troops....Gov't doesnt care for troops because it is more concerned with its public relations.....We pull out after partially failing....Country falls back into ruin.......So I guess you can say as much as you want about the US not being justified in its involvement but the lack of it will only do more harm....

[mrmatas2277]

Originally posted by nycmuzik2000

How can you say that the US shouldnt have gotten involved in conflicts such as Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Kosovo??....Should the US have sat back like it did during the genocide in Rowanda and let hundreds of thousands of innocent people get killed??....Cause to me it seems that way.....Who cares how many innocent people get killed as long as the US doesnt get involved......Yeah innocent people get killed if the US goes in somewhere but we also take losses......How easily everyone forgot Somalia.....The US goes in to help starving people only to have its troops slaughtered and dragged through the streets while the Clinton administration did nothing....Yeah thats right....They did shit.....They didnt want to give proper support to the troops because it didnt want to look like the US was commiting too much force....Too much force???...WTF is that....The second you send any American into combat, its the duty of the gov't to support them as best they can....So there you have it....We want to go help people.....People we're supposed to help start to kill our troops....Gov't doesnt care for troops because it is more concerned with its public relations.....We pull out after partially failing....Country falls back into ruin.......So I guess you can say as much as you want about the US not being justified in its involvement but the lack of it will only do more harm....

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by dnice35

First of all you dont know shit about the situation in Nicaragua, If it wasnt for the US aid to them. that country would be worse off right now.... If thats possible.

DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SITUATION THERE ASSHOLE!! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!! THE US SOLD THE CONTRAS GUN FOR CHEAP COCAINE TO BE SOLD ON THE STREETS HERE AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT!! NICARGUA IS FAR WORSE NOW THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE US GOT INVOLVED!! DON'T LIE!!

And you are so full of shit comparing Bush to that piece of shit Bin laden, If you dont like Bush fine, but dont compare him to that fucker. No one deserves that comparison.

You're so full of shit making this country out to be perfect like it did absolutely nothing to anyone and making Bush out to be the perfect angel!!

I'll compare the nazi piece of warmongering racist shit to anyone I want asshole!! There, I just compared the piece of shit to Hitler because he wants to attack a country that's has nothing for no reason except for the oil, just like the reason Hitler launched a pre-emptive strike against the Russisna for the same reason and got their asses kicked for OIL!! FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!! Gonna come here and do something about it?

BRING IT!!!

[normalnoises]

Originally posted by mrmatas2277

how do u figure?

http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116

Rank Country Note

1 Finland 0,50

- Iceland 0,50

- Norway 0,50

- Netherlands 0,50

5 Canada 0,75

6 Ireland 1,00

7 Germany 1,50

- Portugal 1,50

- Sweden 1,50

10 Denmark 3,00

11 France 3,25

12 Australia 3,50

- Belgium 3,50

14 Slovenia 4,00

15 Costa Rica 4,25

- Switzerland 4,25

17 United States 4,75

18 Hong Kong 4,83

19 Greece 5,00

20 Ecuador 5,50

21 Benin 6,00

- United Kingdom 6,00

- Uruguay 6,00

24 Chile 6,50

- Hungary 6,50

26 South Africa 7,50

- Austria 7,50

- Japan 7,50

29 Spain 7,75

- Poland 7,75

31 Namibia 8,00

32 Paraguay 8,50

33 Croatia 8,75

- El Salvador 8,75

35 Taiwan 9,00

36 Mauritius 9,50

- Peru 9,50

38 Bulgaria 9,75

39 South Korea 10,50

40 Italy 11,00

41 Czech Republic 11,25

42 Argentina 12,00

43 Bosnia and Herzegovina 12,50

- Mali 12,50

45 Romania 13,25

46 Cape Verde 13,75

47 Senegal 14,00

48 Bolivia 14,50

49 Nigeria 15,50

- Panama 15,50

51 Sri Lanka 15,75

52 Uganda 17,00

53 Niger 18,50

54 Brazil 18,75

55 Ivory Coast 19,00

56 Lebanon 19,67

57 Indonesia 20,00

58 Comoros 20,50

- Gabon 20,50

60 Yugoslavia 20,75

- Seychelles 20,75

62 Tanzania 21,25

63 Central African Republic 21,50

64 Gambia 22,50

65 Madagascar 22,75

- Thailand 22,75

67 Bahrain 23,00

- Ghana 23,00

69 Congo 23,17

70 Mozambique 23,50

71 Cambodia 24,25

72 Burundi 24,50

- Mongolia 24,50

- Sierra Leone 24,50

75 Kenya 24,75

- Mexico 24,75

77 Venezuela 25,00

78 Kuwait 25,50

79 Guinea 26,00

80 India 26,50

81 Zambia 26,75

82 Palestinian National Authority 27,00

83 Guatemala 27,25

84 Malawi 27,67

85 Burkina Faso 27,75

86 Tajikistan 28,25

87 Chad 28,75

88 Cameroon 28,83

89 Morocco 29,00

- Philippines 29,00

- Swaziland 29,00

92 Israel 30,00

93 Angola 30,17

94 Guinea-Bissau 30,25

95 Algeria 31,00

96 Djibouti 31,25

97 Togo 31,50

98 Kyrgyzstan 31,75

99 Jordan 33,50

- Turkey 33,50

101 Azerbaijan 34,50

- Egypt 34,50

103 Yemen 34,75

104 Afghanistan 35,50

105 Sudan 36,00

106 Haiti 36,50

107 Ethiopia 37,50

- Rwanda 37,50

109 Liberia 37,75

110 Malaysia 37,83

111 Brunei 38,00

112 Ukraine 40,00

113 Democratic Republic of the Congo 40,75

114 Colombia 40,83

115 Mauritania 41,33

116 Kazakhstan 42,00

117 Equatorial Guinea 42,75

118 Bangladesh 43,75

119 Pakistan 44,67

120 Uzbekistan 45,00

121 Russia 48,00

122 Iran 48,25

- Zimbabwe 48,25

124 Belarus 52,17

125 Saudi Arabia 62,50

126 Syria 62,83

127 Nepal 63,00

128 Tunisia 67,75

129 Libya 72,50

130 Iraq 79,00

131 Vietnam 81,25

132 Eritrea 83,67

133 Laos 89,00

134 Cuba 90,25

135 Bhutan 90,75

136 Turkmenistan 91,50

137 Burma 96,83

138 China 97,00

139 North Korea 97,50

Reporters Without Borders is publishing the first worldwide press freedom index

The first worldwide index of press freedom has some surprises for Western democracies. The United States ranks below Costa Rica and Italy scores lower than Benin. The five countries with least press freedom are North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.

Surprises among Western democracies : US below Costa Rica and Italy below Benin

Reporters Without Borders is publishing for the first time a worldwide index of countries according to their respect for press freedom. It also shows that such freedom is under threat everywhere, with the 20 bottom-ranked countries drawn from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The situation in especially bad in Asia, which contains the five worst offenders - North Korea, China, Burma, Turkmenistan and Bhutan.

The top end of the list shows that rich countries have no monopoly of press freedom. Costa Rica and Benin are examples of how growth of a free press does not just depend on a country's material prosperity.

The index was drawn up by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer 50 questions about the whole range of press freedom violations (such as murders or arrests of journalists, censorship, pressure, state monopolies in various fields, punishment of press law offences and regulation of the media). The final list includes 139 countries. The others were not included in the absence of reliable information.

In the worst-ranked countries, press freedom is a dead letter and independent newspapers do not exist. The only voice heard is of media tightly controlled or monitored by the government. The very few independent journalists are constantly harassed, imprisoned or forced into exile by the authorities. The foreign media is banned or allowed in very small doses, always closely monitored.

Right at the top of the list four countries share first place - Finland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands. These northern European states scrupulously respect press freedom in their own countries but also speak up for it elsewhere, for example recently in Eritrea and Zimbabwe. The highest-scoring country outside Europe is Canada, which comes fifth.

Some countries with democratically-elected governments are way down in the index - such as Colombia (114th) and Bangladesh (118th). In these countries, armed rebel movements, militias or political parties constantly endanger the lives of journalists. The state fails to do all it could to protect them and fight the immunity very often enjoyed by those responsible for such violence.

Costa Rica better placed than the United States

The poor ranking of the United States (17th) is mainly because of the number of journalists arrested or imprisoned there. Arrests are often because they refuse to reveal their sources in court. Also, since the 11 September attacks, several journalists have been arrested for crossing security lines at some official buildings.

The highest-ranked country of the South is Costa Rica, in 15th position. This Central American nation is traditionally the continent's best performer in terms of press freedom. In February 2002, it ceased to be one of the 17 Latin American states that still give prison sentences to those found guilty of "insulting" public officials. The murder in July 2001 year of journalist Parmenio Medina was an exception in the history of the Costa Rican media.

Cuba, the last dictatorship in Latin America, came 134th and is the only country in the region where there is no diversity of news and journalists are routinely imprisoned. In Haiti (106th), journalists are targeted by informal militias whose actions are covered by the government.

Italy gets bad marks in Europe

The 15 member-countries of the European Union (EU) all score well except for Italy (40th), where news diversity is under serious threat. Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is turning up the pressure on the state-owned television stations, has named his henchmen to help run them and continues to combine his job as head of government with being boss of a privately-owned media group. The imprisonment of journalist Stefano Surace, convicted of press offences from 30 years ago, as well as the monitoring of journalists, searches, unjustified legal summonses and confiscation of equipment, are all responsible for the country's low ranking.

France, in 11th place overall, comes only 8th among EU countries because of several disturbing measures endangering the protection of journalists' sources and because of police interrogation of a number of journalists in recent months.

Among those states hoping to join the EU, Turkey (99th) is very poorly placed. Despite the reform efforts of its government, aimed at easing entry into the EU, many journalists are still being given prison sentences and the media is regularly censored. Press freedom is especially under siege in the southeastern part of the country.

Elsewhere in Europe, such as Belarus (124th), Russia (121st) and the former Soviet republics, it is still difficult to work as a journalist and several have been murdered or imprisoned. Grigory Pasko, jailed since December 2001 in the Vladivostok region of Russia, was given a four-year sentence for publishing pictures of the Russian Navy pouring liquid radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan.

The Middle East and Israel's ambivalent position

No Arab country is among the top 50. Lebanon only makes 56th place and the press freedom situation in the region is not encouraging. In Iraq (130th) and Syria (126th), the state uses every means to control the media and stifle any dissenting voice. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein especially has set his country's media the sole task of relaying his regime's propaganda. In Libya (129th) and Tunisia (128th), no criticism of Col Muammar Kadhafi or President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali is tolerated.

The political weakening of the Palestinian Authority (82nd) means it has made few assaults on press freedom. However, Islamic fundamentalist opposition media have been closed, several attempts made to intimidate and attack local and foreign journalists and many subjects remain taboo. The aim is to convey a united image of the Palestinian people and to conceal aspects such a demonstrations of support for attacks on Israel.

The attitude of Israel (92nd) towards press freedom is ambivalent. Despite strong pressure on state-owned TV and radio, the government respects the local media's freedom of expression. However, in the West Bank and Gaza, Reporters Without Borders has recorded a large number of violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees press freedom and which Israel has signed. Since the start of the Israeli army's incursions into Palestinian towns and cities in March 2002, very many journalists have been roughed up, threatened, arrested, banned from moving around, targeted by gunfire, wounded or injured, had their press cards withdrawn or been deported.

Good and bad examples in Africa

Eritrea (132nd) and Zimbabwe (122nd) are the most repressive countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The entire privately-owned press in Eritrea was banned by the government in September 2001 and 18 journalists are currently imprisoned there. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is notable for his especially harsh attitude to the foreign and opposition media.

At the other end of the spectrum, Benin is in 21st place despite being classified by the UN Development Programme as one of the world 15 poorest countries. Other African states, such as South Africa (26th), Mali (43rd), Namibia (31st) and Senegal (47th), have genuine press freedom too.

How the index was drawn up

This index measures the amount of freedom journalists and the media have in each country and the efforts made by governments to see that press freedom is respected.

Reporters Without Borders sent out a questionnaire based on the main criteria for such freedom and asking for details of directs attacks on journalists (such as murders, imprisonment, physical assaults and threats) and on the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and pressure). It also asked about the degree of impunity enjoyed by those responsible for such violations.

The questionnaire recorded the legal environment for the media (such as punishment for press offences, a state monopoly in some areas and the existence of a regulatory body) and the behaviour of the state towards the public media and the foreign press. It also noted the main threats to the free flow of information on the Internet.

Reporters Without Borders has not just taken into account the excesses of the state but also those of armed militias, underground organisations and pressure groups that can be serious threats to press freedom. In addition, the state does not always use all its resources to fight the impunity the perpetrators of such violence very often have.

The questionnaire was sent to people with a real knowledge of the press freedom situation in one or more countries, such as local journalists or foreign correspondents living in the country, researchers, legal experts, specialists on a region and the researchers of the Reporters Without Borders International Secretariat.

The countries included in the index are those about which Reporters Without Borders received completed questionnaires from several independent sources. Other countries have not been included for lack of reliable information. Countries that got equal scores have been ranked in alphabetical order.

This index of press freedom is a portrait of the situation based on events between September 2001 and October 2002 . It does not take account of all human rights violations, only those that affect press freedom.

Neither is it an indicator of the quality of a country's media. Reporters Without Borders defends press freedom without regard to the content of the media, so any ethical or professional departures from the norm have not been taken into account.

Answer your question?

Congratulations Mr. Matas and Dense35, you've just been de-ignorized!!

and Dense. It's the truth!! Something you are afraid of.

[dnice35]

Originally posted by normalnoises

Originally posted by dnice35

DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SITUATION THERE ASSHOLE!! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!! THE US SOLD THE CONTRAS GUN FOR CHEAP COCAINE TO BE SOLD ON THE STREETS HERE AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT!! NICARGUA IS FAR WORSE NOW THAN IT WAS BEFORE THE US GOT INVOLVED!! DON'T LIE!!

You are one stupid SOB not to mention ignorant, wtf does a dumb ass tree huggin sack of shit know about that region? you probably havent even left the rat whole you crawled out of.

You're so full of shit making this country out to be perfect like it did absolutely nothing to anyone and making Bush out to be the perfect angel!!

I defend my country, People like you who are given freedoms should be stripped of them and dragged thru the streets like the dog that you really are. no one is perfect, including independents

I'll compare the nazi piece of warmongering racist shit to anyone I want asshole!! There, I just compared the piece of shit to Hitler because he wants to attack a country that's has nothing for no reason except for the oil, just like the reason Hitler launched a pre-emptive strike against the Russisna for the same reason and got their asses kicked for OIL!! FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!! Gonna come here and do something about it?

I wouldnt waste my time with such a dumb ass as yourself, If you havent notice your "efforts" to change US policies arent working.... DUMB ASS!!!

[mrmatas2277]

Originally posted by normalnoises

17 United States 4,75

Answer your question?

Congratulations Mr. Matas and Dense35, you've just been de-ignorized!!

i was actually asking a legitimate question...but if u have "studied" anywhere, u know that u cannot go by one "source" (and i hope, thats not what u did)...authors and studies, must be taken like a grain of salt...this country is far from perfect ur right...needs alot of improvements? yup....but please, u make it sound like this country cannot do anything right and doesnt do any right...would u believe a book that states: "Males from Boston, with anti-American sediment, that play Grateful Dead songs all day on their guitar, while smoking cheap marijuana all day...are tree hugging no good citizens of the United States?"...of course not, neither would i...

[dontlikeyou]

LOL.... this is my kind of room, wtf are you morons fighting about anyways?

[sassa]

Originally posted by dnice35

That was real childish, mature sass..... I can see your double standards...

i know it's childish, but like i said to you once dnice...we are all human. i am tired of this guy writing an opinion and half of it is insults, if you can't make at least one decent argument without writing a lot of personal shit in it, then don't even bother.

i'll try to not do it again, i apologize.