Mediation vs litigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Intercession versus suit - Essay Example legal counselors to encourage the introduction of their confirmations and frequently, the legal advisors may deal with the case in extremely ill-disposed and forceful tones (Tiersma, 1999). As a result, the prosecution gets disadvantageous to the two gatherings and the individuals who are feeble and the individuals who have no budgetary ability to support the suit procedure dropped out of the parity or misfortune the case (Tiersma, 1999). The court forms is very legalistic in manners. Its correspondence framework is regularly intricate and misconstrued. Customers, regularly non-legal advisors, don't comprehend the language of the law and attorneys then again, legal counselors can't fathom well the people’s language who are not familiar on the standard language of the legitimate framework. Huge numbers of their archives are extensive, overwritten, redundant, and the lawful language has its own quirk and impacts in whatever unique situation (Tiersma, 1999). There is unequivocal utilization of the regrets of legalism in musings and in its intelligent structure in its records. It will doubly confuse when legal advisors begin to contend utilizing Latin sayings (Tiersma, 1999). Legitimate illuminating presences contended that the court language has certain auxiliary unpredictability which could either be syntactic multifaceted nature, between sentence intricacy, phrasal unpredictability, and lexical multifaceted natu re (Tiersma, 1999). Syntactic multifaceted nature adds to trouble in cognizance. In spite of the fact that there was a suggested utilization of plain language however when the appointed authority give data and rules about the preliminary and confirmations and about the usage of the structure of the law (Tiersma, 1999). Since members of the jury are not furnished with lawful information, they weigh such obligation of deciding the decision however should do as such, utilizing their extensive force, without imperiling the decency of the preliminary (Tiersma, 1999). There is along these lines an issue in the language expected for lay jury and the language utilized by legitimate illuminators. Consequently, the talk is governed by sentence structure developments, shows, lawful vocabularies and language

The Accounts Department Essay Example for Free

The Accounts Department Essay 5.0 CPL was some time ago piece of the Ashstead Plc however was the subject of an administration buyout (MBO) from its past proprietors multi year back by five executives Greg Pearce, Jane Yip, Ruth Jones, Ahmed Khan and Susan Marther. Ashstead and in the everything from block of the spread and it 2005 when the underlying choice was made to move the plan of action away from being an aggregate. It was choice that lead to MBO to Chic Paints Limited. 5.1 toward the beginning of April 2013, Jane Yip, who was that money chief of Chic Paint Limited left the organization and was supplant by Dave Whistler. 5.3 The reason for the records division is to finished all exercises identifying with the creation of the records including deals and buy record and finance. Because of a portion of the recognized shortcoming there is the executives bookkeeping movement or income determining. An association diagram is remembered for index 1 5.4 The records division key inner partners 5.4.1 The records division comprises of fund executive who has duty regarding the general methodology of the organization overall; he is responsible for all bookkeeping, account, and IT issues and work force. A considerable lot of these everyday duties are agent to the Chief Account. He likewise creates the manual report, including its legal records, manage all the banking and fund issues, satisfies the job of the organization secretary to handles every single legitimate issue. 5.4.2 Chief bookkeeper is answerable for everyday running of CPLs Accounts Department. Includes in overseeing crafted by the records assistants who run the exchange bookkeeping framework on the general record, She has number of staff answering to her including the costing specialist, finance agent, creditor liabilities, money due representative ,credit controller, general record assistant and bookkeeping framework professional. She by and by the board accounts, base up yearly creation and co-odination, approve s installment of solicitations, make NIC and PAYE, overseeing everyday income and guaranteeing the working cycle is kept to level set out by the fund chiefs. 5.4.3 Accounts Payable Clerk is answerable for entering all suppliers’ solicitations and credit notes into the records payable or giving charge notes where vital, for accommodating supplier’s articulations to the records payable record and for controllingâ creditor installments 5.4.4 Credit Controller is liable for all information contribution to the record, which includes raising deals solicitations and credit notes, creating month to month proclamations and accommodating indebted person installments. As the record is just refreshed month to month, she needs to utilize spreadsheets for credit controls purposes, and furthermore for completing the company’s credit control systems, This includes making on the web credit keeps an eye on all new credit clients and prescribing a credit breaking point to the account chiefs and Sales Manager 5.4.5 The records office is required to between relate with different divisions in CPL, for example, creation office so they are can know about stock and staff hour worked for the creation of finance. They likewise need to communicate with deals division so solicitations can be delivered and installments are required to the buying office to arrange merchandise and make. 5.4.6 The records division utilizes miniaturized scale exceed expectations spreadsheet to record exchanges which it at that point physically moves to the record at the month end which run on the product composed for CPL and empower preliminary parity and fiscal summary to be created, stock control is finished by exceed expectations and sage 50 utilized for finance.

Distance Learning Research Paper - 1650 Words

Distance Learning (Research Paper Sample) Content: Distance LearningStudents NameInstitutionDistance learningDefinition: a number of definitions for distance learning are available in the literature. Chaney Eddy 2011 proposes different criterias of defining distance education (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011). The first one is the separation of learner and a teacher so as to influence an educational organization specifically in learning materials planning and preparation, technical media use and a two way mode of communication provision offered in the most industrialized form of education. Furthermore, industrialized and privatized features in learning institutions are associated with distance learning. Another description is that it is an educational process where students deprived of space with time of the instructor do a significant part of learning. The process of learning is normally done with a combination of Medias. Some of the most effective programs involve linking broadcasts together with print and some form of face-to-face learning (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011).Distance learning has a long-standing history especially in the United States. It has experienced gradual expansion since the establishment of learning institutions. It can be traced back to the start of print based technologies in the U.S. in the beginning of the 20th century. Universities and lower learning institutions were offering courses to elementary, secondary, and vocational and higher education learners (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2000). In 1969, Open University programs were started in the U.K. combining both print and non-print resources. Later professionally produced television programs were introduced to adult learners through video tapes. Basic skills improvement was the only focus. These programs lacked the basic two-way mode of communication. After the development of video and audio teleconferencing, two-way mode of communication came to live (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011).The growth of distance learning besides face-to-face learning indicates the importance of this mode of learning. Presently almost all the countries in the world have embraced distance learning as an important tool in the development of these nations. The dilemma of limited finances in the funding of education faces most of these countries. Distance learning can cover the needs of a nation in terms of training and retraining of their staff in large scale and at the same time using limited resources. Currently distance learning is using schools, colleges, open universities, teleconference consortia, universities, and corporations (ROVAI Downey, 2010).Chaney, Chaney Eddy (2011) indicates that there have been considerable rises in the number of courses and programs that are offered through distance learning in the past ten years. This can be attributed to the increase of the education technologies. They contend that success of distance learning is a function of an individual is learning styles. Further, they argue that students will tend to gravitate on the delivery method that best suits their learning style. In addition to this, for a program to be successful, the drivers of the program must be achieved through teaching and learning, instead of technology being the driver. Because of the fact that distance learning takes advantage of technologies, many program developers tend to let it to drive the distance learning. Most education institutions confer the mandate to select units to their information technology departments rather than having the function to be with academic affairs department (Dillon Greene, 2003). Many students who use distance learning have varying schedules that prohibit attendance of a synchronous class. It also includes the meetings and their presenting a challenge of using some technological methods such as teleconferences. Therefore, the program designers must consider this while designing the media of technology to be used during the learning. Therefore, in accord w ith this the institutions must conduct the needs assessment to ascertain the needs of the interest group (Hill, 2012).James Koch on his research paper indicates that it is difficult to measure learning in distance learning because currently these programs are running in almost every academic discipline. Thus, most large samples evaluating studying will use students grades as a way of evaluating proxies in learning. Berge and Mrozowski, 2001 in their recent review of research in distance learning reports that around 1419 articles and abstracts have appeared in considerable journals and dissertations of distance learning from 1990 to 1999. Further, they indicate that over one hundred of these articles focus on measures of student success concentrating on parameters such as grades, in distance education programs and courses. Moreover, they have looked on the issue of student characteristics such as age, gender, or even ethnic backgrounds are essential to the individual student success. Machtmes and Asher, 2000 indicate that experienced faculty members are more effective than less experienced; conversely, less is known about how the characteristics of faculty members are essential to distant learning students and in emphasis to where televised and interactive learnings are concerned.Successful distance learning programs are indicated by student-tutor interactions, instant feedbacks, support services, program evaluation and assessments, clear audience and analysis and documented technologies plan. Interactions in a learning institution play a vital role in ensuring quality assurance in learning activities (Chaney, Chaney Eddy, 2011). The most significant interaction is between the student and the instructor; therefore, learning courses should be encouraged to promote this interaction. The instructor of the courses must be present or appear to be so, to provide feedbacks to questions, assignments, or even concerns of students. Sherry (2003) argues that communicatio ns through a faculty should directly engage students and in time responses that will contribute to interchanges and thus consequent success (ROVAI Downey, 2010).In summary distance, learning is not superior or inferior to the traditional face-to-face learning techniques. This is because the structure of the contents offered on the traditional mode of learning is similar that in the distance learning. However, despite this, institutions that offer a combination of both of these have a synergy since they have the luxury of sharing the facilities. In most cases, nevertheless, laggards or late adopters in education are best suited for the traditional method because they can have ample time with the instructors; therefore, improve their catching up with the rest of the students. This is because the traditional method allows for better interaction of the stakeholders. Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011 indicates several factors that are required for the success of distance learning, the same f actors will be required in the traditional form of learning for its success.On the other hand, distance learning is suited for location and time-bound students. It reaches the population that is mostly underserved (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011). This is among the differences, and it gives individuals a chance to access scholars in different fields, allows students to access even international discussions, lectures and forums and, finally, it offers an opportunity for personalization of education experience. How... Distance Learning Research Paper - 1650 Words Distance Learning (Research Paper Sample) Content: Distance LearningStudents NameInstitutionDistance learningDefinition: a number of definitions for distance learning are available in the literature. Chaney Eddy 2011 proposes different criterias of defining distance education (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011). The first one is the separation of learner and a teacher so as to influence an educational organization specifically in learning materials planning and preparation, technical media use and a two way mode of communication provision offered in the most industrialized form of education. Furthermore, industrialized and privatized features in learning institutions are associated with distance learning. Another description is that it is an educational process where students deprived of space with time of the instructor do a significant part of learning. The process of learning is normally done with a combination of Medias. Some of the most effective programs involve linking broadcasts together with print and some form of face-to-face learning (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011).Distance learning has a long-standing history especially in the United States. It has experienced gradual expansion since the establishment of learning institutions. It can be traced back to the start of print based technologies in the U.S. in the beginning of the 20th century. Universities and lower learning institutions were offering courses to elementary, secondary, and vocational and higher education learners (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2000). In 1969, Open University programs were started in the U.K. combining both print and non-print resources. Later professionally produced television programs were introduced to adult learners through video tapes. Basic skills improvement was the only focus. These programs lacked the basic two-way mode of communication. After the development of video and audio teleconferencing, two-way mode of communication came to live (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011).The growth of distance learning besides face-to-face learning indicates the importance of this mode of learning. Presently almost all the countries in the world have embraced distance learning as an important tool in the development of these nations. The dilemma of limited finances in the funding of education faces most of these countries. Distance learning can cover the needs of a nation in terms of training and retraining of their staff in large scale and at the same time using limited resources. Currently distance learning is using schools, colleges, open universities, teleconference consortia, universities, and corporations (ROVAI Downey, 2010).Chaney, Chaney Eddy (2011) indicates that there have been considerable rises in the number of courses and programs that are offered through distance learning in the past ten years. This can be attributed to the increase of the education technologies. They contend that success of distance learning is a function of an individual is learning styles. Further, they argue that students will tend to gravitate on the delivery method that best suits their learning style. In addition to this, for a program to be successful, the drivers of the program must be achieved through teaching and learning, instead of technology being the driver. Because of the fact that distance learning takes advantage of technologies, many program developers tend to let it to drive the distance learning. Most education institutions confer the mandate to select units to their information technology departments rather than having the function to be with academic affairs department (Dillon Greene, 2003). Many students who use distance learning have varying schedules that prohibit attendance of a synchronous class. It also includes the meetings and their presenting a challenge of using some technological methods such as teleconferences. Therefore, the program designers must consider this while designing the media of technology to be used during the learning. Therefore, in accord w ith this the institutions must conduct the needs assessment to ascertain the needs of the interest group (Hill, 2012).James Koch on his research paper indicates that it is difficult to measure learning in distance learning because currently these programs are running in almost every academic discipline. Thus, most large samples evaluating studying will use students grades as a way of evaluating proxies in learning. Berge and Mrozowski, 2001 in their recent review of research in distance learning reports that around 1419 articles and abstracts have appeared in considerable journals and dissertations of distance learning from 1990 to 1999. Further, they indicate that over one hundred of these articles focus on measures of student success concentrating on parameters such as grades, in distance education programs and courses. Moreover, they have looked on the issue of student characteristics such as age, gender, or even ethnic backgrounds are essential to the individual student success. Machtmes and Asher, 2000 indicate that experienced faculty members are more effective than less experienced; conversely, less is known about how the characteristics of faculty members are essential to distant learning students and in emphasis to where televised and interactive learnings are concerned.Successful distance learning programs are indicated by student-tutor interactions, instant feedbacks, support services, program evaluation and assessments, clear audience and analysis and documented technologies plan. Interactions in a learning institution play a vital role in ensuring quality assurance in learning activities (Chaney, Chaney Eddy, 2011). The most significant interaction is between the student and the instructor; therefore, learning courses should be encouraged to promote this interaction. The instructor of the courses must be present or appear to be so, to provide feedbacks to questions, assignments, or even concerns of students. Sherry (2003) argues that communicatio ns through a faculty should directly engage students and in time responses that will contribute to interchanges and thus consequent success (ROVAI Downey, 2010).In summary distance, learning is not superior or inferior to the traditional face-to-face learning techniques. This is because the structure of the contents offered on the traditional mode of learning is similar that in the distance learning. However, despite this, institutions that offer a combination of both of these have a synergy since they have the luxury of sharing the facilities. In most cases, nevertheless, laggards or late adopters in education are best suited for the traditional method because they can have ample time with the instructors; therefore, improve their catching up with the rest of the students. This is because the traditional method allows for better interaction of the stakeholders. Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011 indicates several factors that are required for the success of distance learning, the same f actors will be required in the traditional form of learning for its success.On the other hand, distance learning is suited for location and time-bound students. It reaches the population that is mostly underserved (Chaney, Chaney, Eddy, 2011). This is among the differences, and it gives individuals a chance to access scholars in different fields, allows students to access even international discussions, lectures and forums and, finally, it offers an opportunity for personalization of education experience. How...

The intervention by the United States in the Middle East appropriate after the events of September 11 - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 31 Words: 9248 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? The terrorist attacks on September 11 left a shocked America in hither to unchartered territory. A traumatised nation woke up to the fact that it had come under devastating under from an unknown enemy. For all the pontificating since by academics, journalists and security organisations the exact motivation of the bombers is not truly known, nor is the leadership behind the group this makes coming to terms with the tragedy even more difficult for American leaders and their people alike. What has happened is that the US government has lookedtowards the Middle East as not only as the region from which the terrorists came but also as the region most likely to generate future attacks, and also as the region that will satisfy the desire for revenge felt by many within the US administration. Edward Said is one of many commentators to suggest that the US has reacted without any clear strategy towards the Middle East, stating: No answers are provided, except the vague suggestion that the Middle East and Islam are what we are up against and that terrorism must bedestroyed.(p108, Said Edward, From Oslo to Iraq and the Roadmap,Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2001). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The intervention by the United States in the Middle East appropriate after the events of September 11" essay for you Create order This dissertation analyses US foreign policy towards the Middle Eastin the wake of the 9/11 attacks and whether US intervention in theregion has been appropriate. Using largely a security methodology, the dissertation will look in particular at the rationale behind themilitary interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Chapter two will look at American foreign policy in the Middle Eastprior to 9/11 and how some of its previous actions have impacted on policies post-9/11. The US has been heavily involved in the Middle Eastsince World War II and this chapter will examine how policies over previous decades may have firstly contributed towards the 9/11 attacks and secondly shaped US policy in the intervening period. Chapter three examines the possible motivations for the attacks on 9/11. The question why do they hate us so much? is one that has been asked across America since 9/11 and this chapter will attempt to examine to motivations of the attackers and groups such as Al Qaeda whilst assessing how much of an understanding there is in America for the hostility felt towards it in the Middle East. Chapter four examines the reaction to the attacks in the US. Like anyelected government, the Bush administration has to take heed of the electorate when formulating policy, and for the government at the time of the attacks, a response in line with public opinion was vital to its future electoral prospects. The options open to the Bush administration immediately after 9/11 are discussed here. Chapter 5 looks at the US military intervention in Afghanistan, the first target of policy makers and thus the American military machine inthe aftermath of the attacks on New York and the Pentagon. This chapter analyses whether Afghanistan was a legitimate target, a knee jerk reaction to be seen to be doing something to punish the attackers or simple opportunism as part of a wider ranging US strategy to expand itsinfluence in the oil rich region of Central Asia? Chapter Six discusses the US invasion of Iraq and again assesses whether the military intervention was a justified operation against astate that was actively sponsoring state terrorism and developing intoa threat to regional and global security, or was part of US plans to control Iraqs vast oil fields. Chapter Seven looks at other aspects of American foreign policy in the region since 9/11 including its role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and its increasingly belligerent attitude towards Iran. Chapter eight is the conclusion. Chapter Two Foreign Policy in the Middle East prior to 9/11 Prior to 9/11, the US had maintained a high level of involvement inthe Middle East for over half a century. In more recent years itsinvolvement had been linked to a fight against terrorism successivegovernments had argued that terrorism from the Middle East was a threatto US national security but before 9/11 this was largely seen as anexaggeration. No clear strategy to deal with terrorism emanating fromthe Middle East was in place. In 1998 Richard Davis of the GeneralAccounts Office had commented that there does not seem to be anyoverall strategy on how we are spending money on counter-terrorism(p194, Zunes Stephen, Tinderbox US Middle East Policy and the Toots of Terrorism, Zed Books Ltd, London 2003) and there was other evidence to suggest that combating terrorism was not the highest priority for the Bush Government: it had opposed the establishment of anInternational Criminal Court; it had walked out of a conference intended to strengthen the 1972 Biological and Toxic Weapons Co mmission; it had refused to join other nations in strengthening regulations against tax havens and money laundering; and it had continued to supply small arms to the third world and opposed UN plansto regulate the sale of such weapons (p194 Zunes 2003). Prior to the more modern era where the Middle East has been linked with terrorism, US interest in the region largely developed in the period between the two world wars. US oil companies began to discover oil in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and US policy makers began to realise that future economic prosperity would depend greatly on maintaining cheapand reliable oil supplies from the region. By the early years of WorldWar II, oil was also been produced by American companies in Kuwait andUS officials had come to understand that the Middle Easts vast capacity to produce oil made it a stupendous source of strategicpower, and one of the greatest material prizes in the world (ForeignRelation of the United States vol 8, p45 Government Printing Office,Washington 1945). Oil remained a focal point of US policy in the Middle East for theremainder of the 20th century, often to the detriment of the way it was viewed by the people of the region. Eisenhower was warned his National Security Council in 1958 that much of the hatred poring towards the US from ordinary Arabs was a result of the perception heldby many that the US would happily support corrupt and brutal regimesacross the country, at the expense of the political and economicprogress of indigenous populations, in order to protect its own oilinterests. This was a perception that has changed little since. Iran, Israel and Iraq were the nations that preoccupied the US morethan other in the region prior to 9/11 and have remained vitallyimportant as the US reassesses its strategies post-9/11. Iran wasinitially an ally of the US. It had been identified as somewhere ofvital strategic interest (p53 Lesch Peter, The Middle East and theUnited States Third Edition A Historical and Political Reassessment,Westview Press, Colorado 2003) by US officials in the late 1940sprimarily because of the access it could provide to the vast oil fieldsin the Persian Gulf. Initial relations between the two nations werewarm as the US provided teachers, architects and administrators in thepost-war years and impressed Iranians with ideas of freedom anddemocracy. However in the early 1950s, the popular Iranian PrimeMinister Mussadiq fell foul of US policy makers due to his perceivedwarmth towards the Soviet Union and actions to nationalise the Iranianoil fields. A CIA backed plot had Mussadiq removed to be replac ed by aPrime Minister more amenable to the interests of the US and therepressive regime of the Shah. Whilst the Shah was happy to work withthe US, the move did irreparable damage to long-term relations betweenthe two countries US writer James A Bill states: the Americanintervention of August 1953 was a momentous event in Iranian-Americanrelations. It left a running wound that bled for twenty-five years andcontaminated relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran following therevolution of 1978/79 (Sheldon Richman, Policy Analysis AncientHistory: US Conduct in the Middle East Since World War II and the Follyof Intervention, Cato Policy Analysis 159). Support for the brutal regime of the Shah damaged the standing of theUS not only with the oppressed Iranian population but also with peopleacross the entire Middle East. In return for extensive military aid the US sold over $20 billion of weaponry to Iran in the 1970s (p66Zunes 2003) the US was able to maintain its control over suppli es butthis situation soon changed following the Islamic revolution of1979.The new regime quickly took up an anti-American stance and the USwas forced to look for other allies in the region. There wereoccasional dealing between the two nations in the 1980s the US waswilling to arm both sides in the Iran-Iraq war in the hope of seeingthe mutual destruction of each others military capability. This againwas a strategy that convinced most in the Middle East that the US had ageneral disregard for the lives of those in the region when set againstpromoting its own strategic interests. Since 9/11, the US administration has routinely labelled Iran as arogue terrorist stated. However, this was a stance that was initiallydriven forward by the Clinton administration of the 1990s. In 1995Clinton has passed an executive order banning any US individuals orcompanies from trading with Iran and authorised $18 million to be spenton undermining the Islamic regime (p70, Zunes 2003) . The language ofUS officials in relation towards Iran also became noticeably moreaggressive phrases such as rogue, terrorist and outlaw werecommonly used. Clear evidence of Iranian involvement with internationalterrorism has been hard to come by, despite a general acceptance thatIran has at least been involved in the funding of some extremistIslamic groups. The US put pressure of the Saudis to implicate Iran inthe 1996 bombing in Dhahran that killed 19 American soldiers but aclear link could not be established (p73 Zunes 2003). US foreign policy in Israel has been a cornerstone of its strategy inthe Middle East since the establishment of the Jewish state. Itslongstanding support for Israel and the perception across the MiddleEast that the US favours Israel whilst ignoring the plight of thePalestinians has been a source of great anger across the Middle Eastand linked to a number of terrorist actions. Some understanding of thehistorical US relationship with Israel is required in analysing itspolicies i n the Middle East after 9/11. Successive US administrations have maintained economic, military anddiplomatic support for Israel, and despite occasional differences,particularly in regard to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, therelationship can certainly be described as special within the realm ofinternational relations. Jimmy Carter for example stated in 1977: wehave a special relationship with Israel. Its absolutely crucial thatno one in our country or around the world ever doubt that our numberone commitment in the Middle East is to protect the right of Israel toexist, to exist in peace and to exist permanently. Its a specialrelationship (p233, Lesch 2003). The level of assistance at times hasbeen extraordinary. The level of US subsidy in years prior to 9/11 hadbeen around $3 billion in military and economic grants (p110 ChomskyNaom, The Fateful Triangle The United States, Israel and thePalestinians, Pluto Press Ltd, London 1999) that in addition to otherassistance had total led around $500 billion a year (p110 Chomsky 1999).This must be taken into context with the poverty experienced by thepopulations of other Middle Eastern states Israel receives this levelof aid despite having a GNP higher than the combined GNP of Egypt,Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (p98 Chomsky1999). The US stance in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinianshas played a prominent part in its foreign policy after 9/11 as it hadto prior to the terrorist attacks. Again, its policies in this spherehave generally instigated anger and resentment across the Middle Eastas the US been seen as consistently siding with the Israelis andrejecting any all party peace plans or settlement put forward by othergovernments that do not tie in with its own strategies for the region.The huge programmes of weapons sales to Israel caused great anger inthe Middle East. Writing only days after 9/11, Robert Fisk wrote:Americas name is literally stamped onto the missile s fired by Israelinto Palestinians buildings in Gaza and the West Bank. Only four weeksago I identified one of them as an AGM 114-D air to ground rocket madeby Boeing and Lockheed-Martin at their factory in of all places Florida, the state where some of the suiciders trained to fly (FiskRobert, Independent on Sunday, September 16 2001). America hasundoubtedly seen Israel as vital to its interests in the Middle East its is an ally that has help quell nationalism across the regions andallows the US to maintain access to and control of oil. However, itsrelationship with Israel has been at a price when set against theresentment it has brought. Iraq is the third of the Middle East states at the core of US foreignpolicy in the latter half of the 20th century. The recent USintervention in Iraq has its roots in the relations between the twonations over the previous two decades. Looking back to the 1980s, theUS had a reasonably positive relationship with Saddam Hussein. Servingas an exampl e of the US pragmatism in terms of it Middle Eastpolicies, the US had been happy to supply arms to the Iraqi dictatorduring the Iran-Iraq war, regardless of the appalling record inoverriding democracy and human rights of the Iraqi dictator. Whilstpost-9/11 the US roundly condemned Saddams regime, twenty yearsearlier it had been able to ignore Iraqs use of chemical weaponsagainst Iran and its own Kurdish population and had continued to sendeconomic aid and agricultural subsidies into Iraq, much of which wasconverted into money for military spending (p76 Zunes 2003). Suchpolicies cast aspersions on the American policies in Iraq following9/11 As Zunes writes: this history of appeasement raised seriousquestions regarding the sincerity of both the strategic and moralconcerns subsequently raised by US officials about both the nature ofthe Iraqi regime and the threat against its neighbours (P76 Zunes2003). The Gulf War of 1991, sparked by Iraqs invasion of Kuwait triggered aseries of even ts that can be closely linked to the 9/11 attacks. Whilstother Arab nations favoured diplomatic pressure to ensure an Iraqiwithdrawal, the US was quick to install its own troops in Saudi Arabia,insisting that the Saudis may well be the next targets of Iraqiaggression, despite the lack of evidence for this. As well as makingmilitary conflict almost inevitable, this move has further far-reachingconsequences as it involved the deployment of US troops on Saudi soilsee as holy by many Muslims. Osama Bin Laden has been quoted severaltimes stating that his primary objective is the removal of infideltroops from Saudi territory this particular foreign policy decisionmay have been as crucial as any other in triggering the 9/11 attacks. The war itself hardened opinion against the US in the Arab and Islamicworld. The massive military superiority of US forces and the perceivedslaughter of reluctant Iraqi conscripts by the American militarymachine soon saw Saddams aggression in Kuwait forgotten and enabledhim to portray himself as a relative hero fighting American imperialistaggression. The war was seen as hypocritical and duplicitous,manufactured by the US to further its own oil interests rather than toprotect Kuwaiti sovereignty or uphold international law. Sanctions imposed on Iraq that followed the war were seen across theMiddle East as further evidence of American disregard for Muslim lives.Certainly, the damage done to the Iraqi people by the harsh sanctionsregime is immense. Some of the evidence collected on the effects ofsanctions explains the anger felt towards the US: Iraqs regression over thee previous decade was the worst of 193countries surveyed by a 2003 UNICEF report (p126 Chomsky 2003) A 1999 UNICEF report found that the mortality rate for children underfive had more than doubled since the imposition of sanctions (p91 Zunes2003) Estimates of the total number killed due to malnutrition andpreventable disease as a direct consequence of war damage and sanctio nshave ranged from a quarter of a million to over one million, themajority of whom have been children. (p91 Zunes 2003) In addition the diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which hadpreviously been eliminated from Iraq, were reintroduced. Theimportation of ambulances and other emergency vehicles was banned andthe sanctions regime further prevented Iraqi hospitals from purchasingspare parts for equipment such as incubators and kidney dialysismachines. These circumstances, in addition to the continued bombing ofIraq during the 1990s continued to add to resentment towards the US.Ordinary Iraqis felt great anger towards the US, something that maywell have played a part in the difficulties the US has experienced withthe general population in the post 9/11 invasion of Iraq. Another crucial element of US policy in Iraq which affected itsdecisions in dealing with Iraq after 9/11 was the decision to allowSaddam to stay in power end even put down an uprising by his ownpeople. The decision was made to protect US interests in the region inthe absence of a suitable military junta being available to rule Iraqfirml y.. Chomsky argues that the Washington view appeared to bewhatever the sins of the Iraqi leader, he offered the west and theregions a better hope for the regions stability than did those who hadsuffered his repression (p141Chomsky 2003). Overall US policy in the Middle East prior to 9/11 had been based on adesire to maintain its influence in the regions and above all to keepcontrol of its oils supply. Israel apart, the US strategy did little toendear itself to the indigenous populations of the region. As America came to terms with the 9/11 attacks one of the most strikingrealisations was the sheer unprecedented nature of the attacks. Whilstthe US had been directly and indirectly involved in killing civilianselsewhere in the world over the previous half century, 9/11 was thefist time that its own civilians had come under violent attack on theirown soil by an outside force. The US was not used to such a situationand its relative shock and anger at the situation goes someway toexplaining the quick decisions it made to launch military strikes atfirst Afghanistan and later Iraq. It has generally been accepted that the operation was planned funded tosome degree by Osama Bin Ladens Al Qaeda network. It should be notedhowever that initially there was been little conclusive evidence ofthis. Despite an incredibly extensive intelligence investigation, therewas little direct evidence about the bombers as the US planned itsresponse to the attacks. Chomsky points out that Robert Mueller,direct or of the FBI, testified to Congress in 2002 that he believedthe plot was hatched in Afghanistan, though planned and implementedelsewhere (p121 Chomsky 2001). What though were the motivations for those that carried out thebombings? Certainly a hatred for the US, fuelled to a large extent byits policies in the Middle East was a contributing factor. Whilst somecommentators have linked 9/11 to an attack on globalisation or as adirect response to the Gulf War or the Israeli-Palestinian peaceprocess, the most likely reasons are those put forward by writer RobertFisk. Fisk has interviewed Bin Laden on several occasions and arguesthat the terrorist attack on the US was inspired predominantly by thedeployment of US troops onto holy land in Saudi Arabia. Fisk suggeststhat as the mujahadeen had fought a holy war to drive the Russians outof Afghanistan, so they were now fighting to have US troops move out ofSaudi Arabia. This is an argument supported by Chomsky who quotes BinLaden from 1998 s tating: the call to wage war against America was made(when it sent) tens of thousands of troops to the land of the two HolyMosques over and aboveits support of the oppressive, corrupt andtyrannical regime that is in control. These are the reasons for thesingling out of America as a target. (Fisk Robert, Independent onSunday, September 16, 2001) Fisk offers other suggestions as tomotivations for the attacks. One is that Bin Ladens long term aim isto overthrow all the American supported regimes in the middle East,Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia included, and that 9/11 was in effect atrap to lure the US into a massive retaliation against Muslimpopulations that would in turn persuade Muslim populations to rise upagainst their own corrupt leaders and the US influence in the region. The ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and perceivedAmerican support for Israel is another theory put forward in explainingthe 9/11 attacks. Certainly Americas links with Israel have causedres entment in the Middle East and notably since 9/11 there have beenattempts by the US to get the peace process back on track. Again, Fisksupports this theory that US action in Israel and across the MiddleEast may have contributed to the 9/11 attacks and that this needs to beunderstood by the US if it is to move forward and prevent furtherattacks. Fisk writes: No the Israelis are not to blame for whathappened. The culprits were Arabs not Israelis. But Americas failureto act with honour in the Middle East, its promiscuous sale of missilesto those who use them against civilians, its blithe disregard for thedeaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi children under sanctions of whichWashington is the principal supporter all these are intimatelyrelated to the society that produced the Arabs who plunged America intoan apocalypse of fire last week (Fisk, Independent on Sunday,September 16, 2001). There are other suggested motivations for the attacks on 9/11 and ananalysis of these is equally appli cable in assessing the options for USforeign policy after 9/11. Certainly the level of anti-Americansentiment in the Middle East has increased since 2001 and US policymakers would be wise to take account of this feeling before planningfuture interventions. Chomsky suggests that the attacks were notretribution for any one action or particular policy that the US hasundertaken in the Middle East, but rather a reaction to decades ofintervention in the area that has been detrimental to ordinary Muslims.Assessing the attacks against the background of US policy in the MiddleEast he argues that the likely perpetrators are a category of theirown, but uncontroversially they draw support from a bitterness andanger at US policies in the region, extending those of earlier Europeanmasters (p13 Chomsky 1999). The 9/11 attacks lifted foreign policy issues and national security toa level of importance with the American public not seen since theVietnam War. Public opinion was something that the Government had totake into account in devising its strategies for foreign policy andsecurity. Certainly, the threat of terrorism is influential on public attitudesin the US, particularly in relation to the use of force. A survey takenby the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press in May 2004found that 88 per cent of Americans now rate taking measures toprotect the US from terrorist attacks as a top foreign policypriority. In a similar vein, despite some reservations about the war InIraq that had begun by the time of the survey 60 per cent ofrespondents believed that the use of military force can be used againstcountries that pose a serious threat to US national security but havenot yet attacked. Such public attitudes to security impress upon the Government arequirement to be proactive in term s of security. The feeling of the USpublic appears to be largely that intervention abroad can be justifiedunder the broad scope of preventing another 9/11 There are some contradictions in public attitudes. Whilst there issupport for proactive intervention abroad if deemed necessary, publicdisquiet with the war in Iraq hints at public criticism to the way thatthe Bush administration has conducted foreign policy. 59 per cent ofthose surveyed between July 8-18 2004 found fault with the Bushadministration for being too quick to use force rather than making aconcerted effort to find diplomatic situations. This tied in withfinding that 49 per cent against 37 per cent believe that US foreignpolicy should strongly take into account the interests of US allies,rather than be based mostly on the national interests of the UnitedStates. have been further criticisms of the way that the Government hashandled the intervention in Iraq. For example a survey completed inAugust 2004 saw 52 per cent di sapprove of the way that the US wasmanaging the transfer of sovereignty to the new Iraqi government. 58per cent also suggested that President Bush does not have a clear planfor bringing the situation in Iraq to a successful conclusion. There is also evidence however that the American public wishes to seesome hard-line authoritarian measures both in domestic and overseaspolicy. 49 per cent against 29 per cent are worried that the Governmenthas listened to concerns about civil liberties rather than taken thenecessary steps to protect the country. The poll also states thatwhilst 53 per cent of Americans believe that torture should rarely ornever be used to gain information from suspected terrorists, a sizeableminority, 53 per cent, thinks that torture can at least sometimes bejustified. Attitudes between supporters of the two major political parties alsosome differences in security issues. Notably it is supporters of BushsRepublican Party that actively encourage a firmer line in secur ityissues. For example, since the 9/11 attacks a growing number ofDemocrats (51 per cent) and Independents have come round to the viewthat US wrongdoings with other countries may provided the motivationfro the attacks whilst Republicans reject this view by a resounding 76per cent. Views on global standing also show the divergence of opinionin American society. 80 per cent of Democrats and 74 per cent ofindependents state that other countries less respect the US than in thepast, yet only 47 per cent of Republicans believe that the US has lostrespect. What is clear that from within its own ranks, the RepublicanGovernment has a strong support for intervention in the Middle East orindeed anywhere in the world if it believes it necessary. The Bushadministration has used its hard-line in foreign policy as an electoralstrong point and is aware that, with the correct type of marketing tothe American people, future interventions abroad can be vote winners inaddition to a means to serve secur ity of strategic purposes. US officials were talking of military intervention in Afghanistanwithin days of 9/11.The primary reason given for this was that OsamaBin Ladens Al Qaeda group was the force behind the attacks on America,and that supported by the Taliban government, Bin Ladens group hadbeen able to set up training camps and direct terrorist operations fromAfghanistan. The US however was unwilling or unable to provide anyevidence of this before launching a massive bombing campaign againstAfghanistan The country had played an important role in US foreign policy for anumber of decades. US policy in the Afghanistan between 1979 and 1991had been largely dominated by a fear of the Iranian revolution andabout worries about Soviet domination of oil fields in the region. TheUS had given considerable backing to mujahadeen fighters who had foughtagainst the Soviet invasion. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson spoke in1998 about US policy in central Asia: this is about our energysecurity which depends on diversifyin g our sources of gas and oilworldwide. It is also about preventing strategic inroads by those whodont share our values (p30 Scott Dale). The same sentiments would beapplicable in 2001 in the mid 1990s US oil companies had concluded a$8 billion thirty year contract with Azerbaijan to develop in Caspianoil fields as well as developing less secure oil investments incountries such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan (p5 Dale Scott Peter Drugs, Oil and War The United States in Afghanistan, Columbia andIndochina, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Maryland 2003). With manyof the Central Asian states facing internal armed opposition togovernments growing rich from oil deals, there has been a growingpressure for the US Government to make the region secure Afghanistanis strategically placed to ensure that the US can do this. The US had also had issues historically with Afghanistan over thecountrys production of heroin. In the late 1990s, Afghanistan had beenthe world number one producer of her oin yet there had been evidencethat the Taliban Government was cracking down on this. JanesIntelligence Review had reported in October 2001 that the ban imposedby Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in July 2000resulted in some 70per cent of the worlds illicit opium production being virtually wipedout at a stroke (p33 Dale Scott 2003). Following the 9/11 attacks theUS may have been tempted to link the war on terror with the war ondrugs but this may have caused some embarrassment as the US began toally itself with the Northern Alliance in an attempt to overthrow theTaliban it became aware that the Alliance had just trebled opiumproduction in the areas that it controlled (p31 Dale Scott 2003) . DaleScott notes that opium production has risen again sharply since theTaliban has been overthrown and argues that the US was not waging awar on drugs in short, but a war helped by drugs (p31 Dale Scott 2003) Prior to 9/11, the US governments relation with the Taliban regime hadbeen mixed. An American and Saudi group of oil companies had developedplans to build gas and oil pipelines from Central Asia, throughAfghanistan to Pakistan and other Asian markets. The Taliban emerged asthe most likely force to be able to see through the venture and stronglobbying by the oil companies had persuaded US Government to gibe tacitbacking to commercial dealings with the Taliban. However the growinghard-line fundamentalism of the regime, particularly towards women drewcriticism in the US. The bombing of US embassies in East Africa in 1998was a turning point and something that impacted on American decisionmaking post 9/11 the bombings were traced back to Osama Bin Laden, bythen based in Afghanistan. As Lesch states: For harbouring the allegedperpetrators of these attacks, and hosting training facilities forbelieved terrorists, the Taliban became the United States number oneculprit and target. This was forcefully demonstrated by the cruisemissile attacks on these camps in August 1998 (p 454 Lesch 2003). Bythe time of the terrorist attacks in New York, Afghanistan was alreadywell established as a possible target for future militaryintervention. The 9/11 attacks left the US first and foremost to be seen to doingsomething about whoever was behind the attacks. Although the finger ofsuspicion pointed at Afghanistan there was little immediate directevidence of this. The US Government took up a position that levered itinto a position to be able to take military action against a widenumber of possible targets. It was a strategy defined partly for USsecurity interest and partly to help in the securing of longer-termstrategic goals. As Zunes writes of the open ended mandate given byCongress in interpreting what is a terrorist group: given thatPresident Bush has declared that any government harbouring terroristswill be treated as terrorists themselves, this broad definition raisesthe prospect of US military intervention against any number ofcountries simply because they resi st American political demands (p196,Zunes 2003). Once the Taliban regime in Afghanistan had been identified as amilitary target there appeared little chance that the US considerdiplomatic channels of pursuing possible links to the 9/11 attackers.Zunes argues that despite such moral and legal questions and recentexamples pointing to the dubious efficacy of responding to terrorism bylarge scale military operations, it was immediately clear that theUnited States would launch a major military operation at thecentrepiece of its response to the terrorist attacks of September 11,2001 (P205 Zunes 2003). The administration argued that the Taliban wasunwilling to negotiate to resolve the conflict yet this was largely dueto the absence of an International Criminal Court, delayed largely dueto US objections, which prevented the Taliban from finding a facesaving solution of handing over Bin Laden without appearing tosurrender him to a hostile government. In addition, the US alsorefused Taliban r equests to provide evidence of Bin Ladens culpabilityas it considered extradition. It was quite happy to fly in the face ofworld opinion and instigate a concerted campaign of bombing inAfghanistan. The US view at the time was that the Taliban was directlylinked to the 9/11 attackers, yet in fact as the bombing campaign waslaunched, the US did not know who the bombers were. FBI DirectorMuellers suppositions about Taliban links came in June 2002 and werenot conclusive certainly there was no chance that President Bush couldhave been certain of Afghanistans indirect responsibility when heauthorised bombing attacks eight months earlier. The FBI based its justification for the intervention in Afghanistan onthe supposition that the regime there had been behind what was deemed awar crime (p200 Chomsky 2003). Such claims lack legitimacy, not leastas the US response was responsible for civilian deaths on a greaterlevel than had occurred in New York. A former directors of Human RightsWatch Afr ica alluded to this in an address to the International Councilon Human Rights Policy in Geneva in 2002 stating: I am unable toappreciate any moral, political or legal difference between this jihadby the United States against those it deems to be its enemies and thejihad by Islamic groups against those they deem to be their enemies(p201 Chomsky 2003) The US ignored the view of groups within Afghanistan opposed to theTaliban when setting about its course of military intervention. Shortlyafter 9/11, up to 1000 Afghan leaders had gathered in Peshawar todiscuss plans to overthrow the Taliban. One of their first actions wasto appeal to the US to stop the bombing raids and the killing ofinnocent civilians. At around the same time, Abdul Haq, a highlyregarded Afghan opposition leader was openly critical of the USintervention stating that the bombing was a huge setback for thecountry and that the US was trying to show its muscle, score a victoryand scare everyone in the world. They dont car e about the suffering ofthe Afghans or how many people we will lose (p201 Chomsky 2003). Itwas an accurate description of US policy making. There has been some argument from those in favour of the militaryassault on Afghanistan that it was a just war. Christopher Greenwoodhas argued that the US has the right of self defence against those whocaused or threatened.death and destruction (p205 Chomsky 2003) whilstJean Bekthe Elshtain has tried to justify the war within her own fourpoint framework for a just war 1) force protects the innocent fromcertain harm, 2) the war must be openly declared or otherwiseauthorised by a legitimate authority, 3) it must begin with the rightintentions and 4)it must be a last resort after other possibilities forthe redress and defence of the values at stake have been explored (p203Chomsky 2003). None of these criteria can be seen to have been met inrelation to US intervention in Afghanistan. One of the other arguments used by the US administration is that theevil of terrorism is absolute and must be met with similar or greaterferocity. This again ties in with the Bush doctrine that a country thatharbours terrorists will be treated like a terrorist. Where thisargument falls down is in the level of response. As terrible a crime asthe 9/11 attacks were, it is difficult to see how a lengthy anddevastating bombing assault on areas known to contain civilians can beseen as an appropriate response to any terrorist attack. Assessing the successes of the military intervention in Afghanistanfrom the viewpoint of US security leads to the view that there wereonly limited successes. Around 600-800 AL-Qaeda fighters were killedwhilst it is suspected that only about one quarter of AL-Qaeda fightersin Afghanistan were amongst its most committed members. The majority ofthe groups leaders escaped with estimates suggesting that for everyAl-Qaeda leader killed, a further 130 Afghan civilians were killed(p209 Zunes 2003). Certainly the military intervent ion was a set backof sorts for the terrorist organisation but according to Carl Conettasreport most of the organisations capabilities to conduct far reachingterrorist acts resided and resides outside of Afghanistan, and thusfell beyond the scope of Operation Enduring Freedom (p209 Zunes 2003).Whether high altitude bombing is an effective way to fight againstterrorists on the ground is also questionable. It should also be noted,that whilst the US military launched waves of bombing attacks onAfghanistan, evidence produced later indicated that the majority of thekey figures involved in the 9/11 attacks had lived in residential areasin Hamburg, Germany and undertook flight training in Florida ratherthan Afghanistan. It is difficult to see the long-term security benefits for the USfollowing its intervention in Afghanistan. The sight of one of theworlds richest nations bombing innocent civilians in one of thepoorest has done little for Americas image across the Islamic worldand indeed it is likely that one of the effects of the campaign may beto hinder international cooperation in fighting terrorism thetracking down of terrorist cells needs cross border cooperation andmore often than not the support of Muslim countries. The US operationsin Afghanistan have made that type of support in future less likely tobe forthcoming. After the 9/11 attacks the US had the support andsympathy of many moderate Muslim states but this support has rapidlydiminished. The New York Times in fact reported only a few weeks intothe bombing campaign that portraits of the United States as a lonely,self-absorbed bully taking out its rage on defenceless Afghanistan areon the rise (p211 Zunes 2003). The US would have been better advisedto have either avoided or limited military action in Afghanistan. Froma security perspective, its intervention has done relatively little toprevent the possibility of future terrorist attacks. From a widerstrategic viewpoint, the intervention has removed a govern ment hostileto US aims in the area and had given a greater position of influence inAfghanistan and looking towards Central Asia. From the summer of 2002,the Bush administration had set itssights on an invasion of Iraq. It linked the regime to internationalterrorism, painted a picture of Iraq as a threat to regional andinternational security and campaigned against Saddam Husseins despoticregime and appalling human rights record. The idea that Iraq was armedwith WMDs and actively seeking a nuclear capability was also stronglypushed into the public sphere. In September 2002, Bush had announcedhis administrations National Security Strategy that declared that theUS maintained the right to resort to force to eliminate any perceivedchallenge to US global hegemony. In reality, genuine security based reasons for the US invasions of Iraqare difficult to find. Despite the efforts of American intelligencethere is little or no evidence to link Iraq to the 9/11 attacks, theweapons of mass destruction (WMD) touted by the Americans an theBritish as a justification for war have not materialised and there islittle to suggest t hat the Iraqi military, after a decade of sanctions,was in a position to threaten its regional neighbours. US military superiority over Iraq had been firmly established in theGulf War of 1991 and the establishment of no-fly zones plus occasionalbombing raids served to consolidate the US position of power in theregion. Keeping the Iraqi military weak was part of US strategythroughout the 1990s and the administration would have realised thiswhen looking at targets for military intervention after 9/11. Air ForceBrigadier General William Looney, head of the US central CommandsAirborne Expeditionary Force had confirmed as far back as 1998 that:They know we own their country. We own their airspacewe dictate theway they live and talk. And thats whats great about America rightnow. Its a good thing, especially when theres a lot of oil out therethat we need (p102 Zunes 2003). The decision to go to war with Iraq had clearly been made by February2003. The deployment of 200,000 troops to Kuwai t, Saudi Arabia andQatar at this time served as ample evidence of this (p250, Said Edward,From Oslo to Iraq and the Roadmap, Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2004).The actual military threat from Iraq to its neighbours and to the USwas minimal. Saddams regime may well have been brutal and deplorable,but an analysis based purely on security terms would lead to theconclusion that regional neighbours such as Turkey, Israel or evenJordan could easily have overwhelmed any Iraqi military threat. Regimechange was more at the forefront of the thinking of US policy makers.This is partly due to the ongoing refusal by Saddams regime to simplybow to American will in the region. Saddams lack of cooperation withweapons inspectors in some ways was to the advantage to the US itgave it more of an opportunity to try and justify an invasion. Zunessuggests that one of the gravest offences of regimes such as that inIraq is simply not to fall into line with American wishes, as have doneso many other corrup t regimes in the region: It is becomingincreasingly apparent that the most serious offences by Iran and Iraqin the eyes of US policy makers are not in the area of human rights,terrorism, nuclear ambitions, subversion or conquest, but in daring tochallenge American power in the Middle East (p104 Zunes 2003). Freeing the oppressed Iraqi people and spreading democracy to theregion was another justification put forward by US officials formilitary intervention in Iraq. Despite the irony of this argument beingput forward by the nation that had implemented the harsh sanctionsregime and continued intermittent bombing campaigns over the previousdecade, it was a reason taken on by the few nations in agreement withthe US, Britain included. Much of this argument was supported bycomment from officials from Iraqi opposition groups, however the factthat they had lived outside of Iraq for so long suggests that they werelargely out of touch with Iraqi opinion. A further possibility for the US inte rvention in Iraq is thepossibility that it could become a regional threat to Israel, somethingthat would have a huge impact on US interests in the region. Saddam hasbeen quick to use Scud missiles to attack Israel during the 1991 GulfWar in the hope of galvanising Arab support. It is a theory supportedby Edward Said who suggests that Iraq, even in its weakened state aftera decade of sanctions, is the only Arab country that has the human,natural and infrastructural resources to consider a challenge toIsraels (US backed) domination of the region. This though is a rathertenuous theory- quite simply Iraq could not have contemplated amilitary confrontation with Israel. The effects of the invasion on the Iraqi state have been little shortof devastating with much of the modern infrastructure being destroyedin the early states of the invasion, to be followed by the looting andburning of museums and artefacts of one of the worlds greatestcivilisations. Edward Said is particularly scathing t owards US DefenceSecretary Donald Rumsfield in relation to his view of the wantondestruction of Iraq: Rumsfield managed to put himself in a classbeyond even Hulagu, the 13th century Mongol ruler who sacked Baghdadand destroyed its library, throwing its contents into the Tigris.Freedom is untidy he said on one occasion, and, stuff happens onanother. Remorse or sorrow were nowhere in evidence (p269 Said, 2004). The US demonstrated through its policies in Iraq after 9/11 that it waswilling to largely go it alone in its confrontational stance. OtherEuropean nations, unconvinced by claims of Iraqs military potentialpreferred to let the work of the UN weapon inspectors run its course.Germany and France both unequivocally opposed the war in line with vastmajority of public opinion, leading to scathing comments from DonaldRumsfield that Old Europe was of little consequence to the US.Elsewhere in Europe, public opinion was equally against an illegal war.A Gallup poll conducted across Europe shortly before the invasion foundthat support for a war carried out by America and its alliesunilaterally did not rise above 11 per cent in any nation and supportfor if actually mandated by the UN ranged between 13 and 51 per cent(p131 Chomsky 2003). An analysis of the US intervention in Iraq draws few conclusions from asecurity perspective. There is no evidence that Iraq was involved in9/11, little credible evidence that it was armed with WMDs and in factmost of the evidence points to Iraq, decimated by sanctions, being oflittle military threat to its regional neighbours, let alone the US. Itis more likely that the intervention in Iraq was inspired by acombination of two things one simply the need to be seen in the eyesof the electorate to be taking action against those responsible for9/11 and secondly to remove Saddam and install a regime that would morereadily accommodate US strategic interests in the region. Chapter Seven Foreign Policy Elsewhere in the Middle East Elsewhere in the Middle East, American policy has been largely toattempt to shore up its support amongst regimes that had been friendlytowards it prior to 9/11. The leadership of many of the repressivestates in the region have remained committed to good relations with theUS in spite of the growing hostility to the US amongst civilians acrossthe region. Indeed, the US would class as a success the number ofstates in the Middle East that have cooperated in some way to the waron terror. The US has maintained its warm relationship with Israel and attemptedto encourage progress in peace talks with the Palestinians. The Israelileadership has made strenuous attempts to link the US war on terror toits ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Whatever the rights ofwrongs of this analogy, it is a perception that that wins the US littlepopularity amongst the people of the Middle East. US support for Israelremains a complex issue there are benefits in terms of business forarms exporters and more importantly because the alliance enhances USdomination in the region, yet the Arab anger that it generates withinIsrael itself and across the region remain a potential danger. Afurther possibility is that the on going relationship could actuallyharm Americas future security, a point made by former NationalSecurity Advisor Zbigniew Brezinski who commented that Israel: asymbol of recovery of a people who were greatly persecuted now lookslike a country that is persecuting people. Meanwhile the United Statesand Israel and becoming isolated internationally. This could hurtAmericas ability to conduct its war on terrorism (p170 Zunes 2003) Elsewhere, in other states within the region, their leaders aredesperate to hang onto the status quo and the benefits that US supporthas brought to them, if not the vast majority of there populations.Said points to an acceptance of the US backed mistreatment of thePalestinians and states that: so craven are the Arab regimes todaythat dont dare state an y of these things publicly. Many of them needUS economic aid. Many of them fear their own people and need US supportto prop up their own regimes. Many of them could be accused of some ofthe same crimes against humanity. So they say nothing and just hope andpray that the war will pass, allowing them to stay in power as theyare (p219 Said 2004). US foreign policy has remained pragmatic and focussed solely on itsown interests in the region. Whilst 9/11 brought about speculation of aclash of civilisations and irreparable division between the West andthe Islamic World, the US has happily maintained close links with SaudiArabia, one of the most fundamentalist states in the world. Thesecurity links with Saudi Arabia are particularly worthy of examinationin the light of the fact that so many Saudi citizens were directlyinvolved in the 9/11 bombings. Bin Laden, although he had been strippedof his citizenship in 1994, came from a still prominent Saudi familyand fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were also Saudi (p367 Lesch2003). Certainly within the US there were those who questioned Saudisrole as a US ally and raised concerns about its political stability. Onthe other hand, the fact Bin Laden so openly displayed his oppositionto US intervention on Saudi soil made members of the Saudi governmentnervous. Whilst the Saudi regime is one of the most brutal andrepressive in the world, there is growing evidence of a growingdiscontent amongst its population, angry at the wealth of its rulerswho enjoy the benefits of the countrys oil resources whilst many ofits citizens live in poverty. Relations between the two nations had been warm since the 1991 Gulf Warwhen Saudi Arabia had allowed hundreds of thousands of US troops, aswell as troops from other nations to base themselves in the kingdom.From Saudi perspective this had been done primarily due to its changingrelationship with Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait. BeforeSaddams invasion the Saudis had attempted to negotiate between Iraqand Kuwait and had suggested that Kuwait actually acceded to some ofIraqs territorial claims. However, with the invasion, the Saudisdecided that Saddam could not be trusted and took the decision to allowUS forces into the kingdom. It was a controversial decision and broughtthe regime into conflict with the stricter Islamic elements wit h Saudipolitics. Both before and after 9/11 Islamic political activists havepetitioned against alliances that run counter to Islamic legitimacy,have demanded that the Saudis build up their own arms industry to easedependence on the West and have called for an end to giving aid andloans to what they call un-Islamic regimes like Bathist Syria andsecular Egypt (p366 Lesch 2003). Nevertheless, the security relationship between the two governments hasremained remarkably close. In 2002, approximately 5000 US militarypersonnel and between 100 to 200 US warplanes are stationed in SaudiArabia at any one time, an extensive naval force is based in Saudiwaters in the Persian Gulf and military consultations between the twocountries take place at the highest levels (p367 Lesch 2003). There wassome tension in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 when the Saudis refusedpermission for the US to use its bases to physically launch strikes onAfghanistan but permission was given for the US to coordinate the airwar from its control and command centres within Saudi Arabia. Thefuture security relationship between the two looks likely to remainstrong if the current Saudi rulers can remain in power and overcomeinternal hostility to the US presence. Intervention in Iran appears to be high on the US agenda in the MiddleEast. Fired by an unshakeable belief, despite the evidence fromAfghanistan and Iraq, that its military interventions in the MiddleEast are justified, the Bush administration has made it clear that itwill consider an invasion of Iran if the current regime does notacquiesce with US demands and interests. To some extent, Iran can be described as a more legitimate target thanIraq or Afghanistan, There is evidence that it does have an existingnuclear programme, it has mastered key nuclear-military technologies,and has long range missiles that could potentially carry a nuclearwarhead In addition it has a long history of hostility towards Israeland there has been some Iranian influe nce in Iraq since the USinvasion. As Peter Beaumont writes: Seen from Washington, where allthese gaps these days seamlessly join up, it means that Iran is ahostile, terror-sponsoring state, meddling in Iraq and on the verge ofacquiring weapons with which it could target Tel Aviv (Beaumont Peter,Why America has got it wrong on Iran, The Observer, November 21,2004). The attitude of the Bush regime is remarkably similar to thatprior to intervention in Iraq. The flimsiest of intelligence ispromoted as evidence of a threat (a claim that Iran was close tomodifying its missiles to take a nuclear pay load was revealed by theWashington post to have come from a single, unverified, walk-insource. The US also points to the fact that Israel has also stated inits annual intelligence assessment that Iran is now its greatestregional threat. In reality, Iran is less of a threat than it isportrayed. It may be reluctant to openly welcome weapons inspectors andto jump to the American tune but this is c ertainly partly due to anational pride and a feeling that it can be a player on the worldstage, not simply an other state in the Middle East that has to acceptthe dominance of Israel and the US. Its suggestion that it has anuclear capability may indeed be a wise strategic move in a regionwhere the US has recently invaded two of its near neighbours. PeterBeaumont again cleverly summarises US attitudes towards Iran stating:there is a sense of deja vu about all this: that realities once againare being concocted for ideological expediency. And that left to itsown devices Washington will screw up the complex problem of Iran(Beaumont, The Observer, November 21, 2004). It can only be hoped thatUS allies can talk the administration into a less confrontationalapproach with Iran. The US has to realise that the awesome display of force used inAfghanistan and Iraq cannot be transferred and used as a solution toevery problem in every area of the Middle East It needs to find new andsubtler method s to deal with issues such as the Israeli-Palestinianconflict, the future of Iraq and addressing the economic problems ofthe region. Its ongoing support for harsh and undemocratic regimes inthe area also leaves it open to accusations of hypocrisy as it tries tolink its war on terror with the spread of freedom and democracy. Chapter Eight Conclusion From the viewpoint of the Bush administration, US interventions inthe Middle East since the 9/11 attacks have been highly appropriate.The government line is that both Afghanistan and Iraq have been involvein training and harbouring terrorists that were behind the attacks.Both nations were run by brutal and undemocratic regimes from which theindigenous population wished to be liberated, and, in the case of Iraq,there was a clear threat to regional and consequently US nationalsecurity from the regime in place. Only a small part of this view is true. Both countries were run byoppressive regimes and many people within them will be glad for theopportunity to forge a new future. Whether they would have taken thewidespread civilian deaths in the liberation process is anotherquestion. Also debatable is whether the lives of the populations inboth countries have genuinely improved since US intervention. Otherwise, there is little evidence to suggest that the US policy ofmilitary intervention has been appropriate. Intervention in Afghanistanmay have seen the capture of a small number of terrorists and may havecaused a short term hindrance to Al-Qaeda operations but it isdifficult to support the argument that the civilian deaths and damageto infrastructure are a worthwhile price to pay for such limitedsecurity gains. This is equally true in the case of Iraq. The events ofthe previous decade had seen the US destroy the majority of Iraqsmilitary capability, it must have been clear to those making high leveldecisions that there was no real credible evidence on WMD, yet the USstill chose to invade. The invasion had little to do with 9/11 it wasclear that Iraq was not involved it was an invasion to protect USstrategic interests. Ignoring the massive resentment that its post-9/11 policies have causedacross the Middle East, the US may well see its policies in the regionas a success certainly the interventions have increased its strategicdomination of the region. It would how b e more honest to admit that thepurpose was as such to consolidate and expand US influence in theregion. The military interventions can hardly be called legitimatesecurity responses to the events of 9/11. Bibliography Beaumont Peter, Why America has got it wrong on Iran, The Observer, November 21, 2004) Chomsky Noam, Fateful Triangle The United States, Israel and the Palestinians, Pluto Press, London 1999 Chomsky Noam, 9/11, Seven Stories Press, New York 2001 Chomsky Noam, Hegemony or Survival Americas Quest for Global Dominance, Hamish Hamilton, London 2003 Dale Scott Peter, Drugs, Oil and War The United States inAfghanistan, Columbia and Indochina, Rowman and Littlefield Publishersinc, Maryland 2003 Fisk Robert, America at War Bush is walking into a trap in the Middle East, article, Independent on Sunday, September 16 2001 Lesch Peter, The Middle East and the United States Third Edition AHistorical and Political Reassessment, West view Press, Colorado 2003 Richman Sheldon, Policy Analysis Ancient History: US Conduct in theMiddle East Since World War II and the Folly of Intervention, CatoPolicy Analysis 159 Said Edward, From Oslo to Iraq and the Roadmap, Bloomsbury Publishing LTD, London 2004 Zunes Stephen, Tinderbox US Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, Zed Books Ltd, London 2003

Personality Disorders And Eating Disorders - 1925 Words

There are many different types of disorders. I am personally interested in personality disorders and eating disorders. Now that might sound weird, but what I mean is I find it interesting and want to figure out how it effects people. I want to know how it effects people’s daily life. Now a day’s society glorifies personality disorders such as depression and eating disorders in general. Disorders aren’t something to be glorified they are something that some people struggle with and sometimes can’t live with their disorder or illness. There are many types of disorder, from bipolarity to bulimia to schizophrenia. My family has a background of being bipolar or depressed. Some say depression isn’t a mental disorder but it is a serious illness†¦show more content†¦The official definition of a personality disorder is â€Å"a psychopathological condition or group of conditions in which an individual s entire life pattern is considered deviant or n onadaptive although the individual shows neither neurotic symptoms nor psychotic disorganization† according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I interpret to mean that there is some pattern of conditions that makes the person seem a divergent compared to other people of the same age group and gender. Even though people have these conditions, they show nothing that makes them seem inconsistent with brain activity or anything like neurosis, which is a class of mental disorders that are derived from distress, but do not include hallucinations or delusions. In the first cluster of disorders, Cluster A, there are three disorders: Paranoid personality disorder (PD), Schizoid personality disorder (PD), and Schizotypal personality disorder (PD). These disorders are classified as odd, bizarre, or eccentric. A person with Paranoid PD has absolutely no trust in others, they are suspicious of everyone and everything, looking for something that would confirm why they feel this distrust f or everything in their lives.

Solid Mensuration free essay sample

If the length of the side of the square is 6 units and the longest side of the rectangle is 5 more than the measure of the shorter side. Find the dimensions of the rectangle. 4. ) Find the height of a parallelogram having sides 10 and 20 inches, and an included angle of 35 degree. Also, calculate the area of the figure. 5. ) A certain city block is in the form of a parallelogram. Two of its sides measure 32 ft. and 41 ft. If the area of the land in the block is 656 square feet, what is the length of its longer diagonal? 6. ) The area of an isosceles trapezoid in 246 square meter. If the height and the length of one of its congruent sides measure 6 meter and 10 meter respectively, find the two bases. 7. ) An isosceles trapezoid has an area of 40 square meters and an altitude of 2 meters. Its two bases have ratio of 2 is to 3. What are the lengths of the bases and one diagonal of the trapezoid? 8. ) A piece of wire of length 52 meters is cut into two parts. Each part is then bent to form a square. It is found that the combined area of thee two squares is 109 square meter. Find the sides of the two squares. 9. ) A rhombus has diagonals of 32 and 20 inches. Find the angle opposite the longer diagonal. Also, determine its area. 10. ) If you double the length of the side of a square, by how much do you increase the area of that square? 11. ) If the diagonal length of a square is tripled, how much is the increase in the perimeter of that square? 12. ) If the length and width of a rectangle are doubled, by what factor is the length of its diagonal multiplied? 13. ) The area of the rhombus is 156 square meters. If its shorter diagonal is 13 meters, find the longer diagonal. 14. ) A garden plot is to contain 240 square ft. It’s length is to be three times its width, what should its dimensions be? 15. The official ball diamond is in the form of a square. The distance between the home base and the second base in a baseball is usually 35m. Find the area and the distances between the bases.

Issues, concerns, and challenges in environmental adjucation in the philippine court system free essay sample

Introduction The court system is an integral part of environmental enforcement in the Philippines and has made many important contributions to the field. However, environmental cases do not always progress smoothly through the judicial system. This paper is intended to identify important legal issues in the judicial system that affect or limit environmental adjudication. 2 The issues are divided between access to and competency of justice, and legal procedures. While many of these issues could be analyzed further, this paper will highlight the ones to which attention should be paid in any more comprehensive study of Philippine environmental case law. 3 This paper will also use examples and case studies from the United States to illustrate important legal points, since the U. S. and Philippines have similar legal systems. II. Issues A. Legal Procedure and Rules of the Court Because of their unique and complex nature, environmental cases are sometimes hindered by legal mechanisms and rules of procedure designed for non-environmental cases. We will write a custom essay sample on Issues, concerns, and challenges in environmental adjucation in the philippine court system or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These include rules on standing and class action suits that often do not take into account the fact that environmental damage impacts all citizens. Furthermore, the nature and science of environmental violations often means that statutes of limitations, evidentiary rules, and burdens of proof are not suitable. Some of these issues can be handled internally by the judicial system by instructing lower courts to apply rules liberally. The impact of all of these issues, and how many actually present problems for plaintiffs, is crucial. 1. Standing of Plaintiffs and Citizens Suits In environmental cases, a plaintiff may not necessarily be legally injured in the traditional sense by an act of environ-mental destruction to impair his livelihood. For example, plaintiffs cannot recover damages for fish killed by pollution because they lack standing, despite the obvious economic loss they suffered. 4 While the destruction of natural aesthetic beauty is a moral outrage that indirectly harms all citizens, under traditional legal standing person no would have standing to sue. 5 Furthermore, environmental laws are designed to prevent catastrophic harm that is often not imminent or contained to one geographic area, as opposed to the narrow, immediate harms that provide the basis of most standing requirements. 6 Strict rulings on standing could stifle environmental enforcement, especially since the Philippines lacks sufficient enforcement capacity and personnel. The Philippine Supreme Court has held that standing requires: Such personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions. 7 The plaintiff himself must have some cognizable and redressable injury. Litigating for a general public interest, or â€Å"mere invocation†¦ of [plaintiff’s] duty to preserve the rule of law†¦ is not sufficient to clothe it with standing†¦. †8 However, the standing requirement is considered a technicality that courts may waive if the case concerns a â€Å"paramount public interest. †9 In its dictum in Oposa v. Factorum, the Court said that children might even have intergenerational standing to sue to prevent the destruction of forests for future generations. 10 There are questions as to the strength of these to reduce the standing threshold for environmental plaintiffs. While courts may waive technical standing provisions when a case deals with a paramount public interest, it is not required to do so. 11 Furthermore, judges may reasonably differ on what constitutes a â€Å"paramount public interest† since there is no overriding theme o define it. For example, in Kilosbayan, the Court found that determining the legality of an online lottery system fell within this definition, whereas in Integrated Bar, it held that determining whether deploying marines for crime deterrence violates the Constitution does not. 12 The Court did reduce some of this ambiguity in Oposa by declaring that the right to a balanced and healthful ecology concerns nothing less than self-preservation and self-perpetuation, presumably a â€Å"paramount public interest. †13 However, because the Court’s discussion on standing in Oposa was dictum, neither this claim nor the right to intergenerational standing is binding law upon the lower courts. 14 Without further guidance from the Court, it is likely that many lower court judges would be reluctant to act boldly by declaring that a particular issue is a â€Å"paramount public interest† and would deny standing. Congress tried to reduce the standing threshold with citizen suit provisions in environmental statutes, but these have been of limited use thus far. First, only the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts contain citizen suit provisions;15 notably, the Philippine Clean Water Act, enacted after these two laws, does not. 16 Second, citizens still bear the risk of paying a winning defendant’s attorney’s fees, which could be costly enough to discourage even valid suits. Most importantly, these suits are still subject to the â€Å"actual controversy† requirement of the Constitution. 17 What this means in the context of citizen suits has not yet been heavily litigated in the Philippines. However, lower court judges often require plaintiffs to show actual injury in the narrow or traditional legal sense. 18 Likewise, when prosecutors deputize citizens to enforce a suit, judges sometimes insist that such deputization is only valid for a single case or even invalid under the Rules of the Court. 19 As a result, citizens suit provisions have been largely unused. 20 Standing under environmental laws is hotly contested in the U. S. 21 The U. S. has put citizens’ suit provisions into almost all of its environmental laws. 22 Plaintiffs are required to show 1) an injury in fact, 2) causation between the injury and the defendant’s actions, and 3) redressability in court. 23 NGOs can sue upon a showing that any of their members would have had standing to sue. 24 The focus is not on the injury to the environment, but rather the injury to the plaintiff or NGO representing him. However, the injury can be economic or non-pecuniary, including aesthetic or recreational value. 25 The Court also held that civil penalties payable to the U. S. Treasury serve as redress as they deter polluters. 26 Causation is often the more difficult element to prove, which will be discussed below in  § 4. In New Zealand, the Environment Court has taken a more radical approach. It has eliminated formal standing provisions, requiring only that a plaintiff have a greater interest than the public generally in a controversy or that he represents a relevant public interest. 27 This makes citizen enforcement very easy. However, one might also be concerned about whether this would overburden the court; granting standing is a fine balance between permitting valid environmental claims and risking frivolous litigation. 2. Class Actions and Large Number of Plaintiffs As the notorious mudslide at Ormoc in 1991 and Marcopper mine tailings in Marinduque show, injuries from environmental damage can be grave, costly, and affect a huge number of persons. 28 Even in less publicized events, the number of injured persons may often make individual litigation burdensome and complex. Furthermore, some members of an injured class may be too poor to prosecute their claims individually. Class action suits can facilitate litigation of such situations by providing for: [T]he protection of the defendant from inconsistent obligations, the protection of the interests of absentees, the provision of a convenient and economical means for disposing of similar lawsuits, and the facilitation of the spreading of litigation costs among numerous litigants with similar claims. 29 Other studies have shown that class action suits can provide important social benefits and encourage citizen enforcement to supplement agency regulation. 30 Class actions may the discourage attorney disloyalty that encourages lawyers to plea bargain for less than the actual injury. As happened in the Chinese poachers case in Palawan, lawyers or prosecutors may not seek full compensation for the damage caused because they have an incentive to expend less time and money on a small case. 31 However, because class actions provide aggregate incentives for lawyers, and fees and settlements undergo higher judicial scrutiny, such â€Å"disloyal† settlements are less likely to occur. 32 While the Philippine Rules of the Court provide for class action suits,33 judges will sometimes be reluctant to certify classes and instead treat the injuries of plaintiffs as separate, despite any common questions of law or fact. In Newsweek, Inc. v. IAC, the Supreme Court ruled that a defamatory remark directed at 8,500 sugar planters do not necessarily apply to every individual in a group, and therefore are not actionable as a class action. 34 Likewise, a judge might refuse to certify a class of pollution victims because they suffer different types of physical injuries, even if the source was the same pollution. In a more litigated legal system, there would be more case law to guide judges on the appropriateness of class actions. However, in the Philippines, this does not yet exist. Add to this the high cost for lawyers, and class actions become even less feasible for most Philippine plaintiffs. 35 In the U. S. , it is much easier to litigate environmental class action suits. The Supreme Court has clearly instructed courts to construe its class action rules liberally and encourage class action suits. 36 This limits judicial discretion in refusing to certify classes to only extreme situations. Furthermore, the rules allow plaintiffs to join by default rather than affirmatively. 37 For environmental cases, the courts will look at the potential number of plaintiffs or the size of the estimated areas that a pollutant has infected to see if plaintiffs have met the numerosity requirement, but they are not required to meet a certain minimum number. 38 For the Philippines, which, unlike the U. S. , has too few environmental class action suits, adopting some of these mechanisms may create a more efficient adjudication process for plaintiffs, defendants, and the courts. 3. Statute of Limitations and Delayed Injuries Unlike a traditional tort or crime, many environmental injuries are not discrete events but only manifest themselves after many years. Pollutants may build up in soils, waters, or human bodies for years without reaching a dangerous level. Cleanup of such sites can take even longer. For example, when the U. S. military left Subic Bay in 1992, it left behind hazardous waste sites with contaminated water that continue to poison the land over a decade later. 39 However, for environmental torts, the statute of limitations is four years, a relatively brief time. This could preclude the litigation of injuries from pollutants with an onset delayed for many years. Thus far statutes of limitation issues have not been a significant factor in environmental litigation. The Philippine Supreme Court addresses similar problems in other fields of law with the discovery rule, allowing the statute of limitations to run when the plaintiff actually or should reasonably have discovered the injury. 40 However, as the courts handle more brown environment cases, it will have to address the tensions between punishing past violators and protecting defendants from time-barred claims. 41 U. S. courts have adopted the due diligence discovery rule, particularly for Clean Water Act and wetlands violations. Because immediate detection of pollution or illegal fill into a wetlands is almost impossible, applying a statute of limitations strictly would defeat the remedial purpose of the act. 42 Courts try to effectuate the Congressional purpose of the statute with the due diligence discovery rule and giving the government a chance to file action against the polluter once the violation is reported to the EPA. 43 Some courts44 realize that a statute of limitation may be inappropriate for cases when pollution continues to cause problems over time. These courts argue that a: Defendants unpermitted discharge of dredged or fill materials into wetlands on the site is a continuing violation for as long as the fill remains. Accordingly, the five-year statute of limitations †¦ has not yet begun to run. 45 The statute of limitation will not run for as long as the pollution remains. Many courts will also treat common law tort nuisances as continuing violations. 46 This approach has the added benefit of allowing the government to fine violators for each day the pollution remains, capturing the more of the costs of environmental destruction. 47 Much of U. S. case law regarding the effect of statutes of limitations on environmental issues comes from ambiguities in the statute of limitation for complex processes, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund law. 48 Because Congress anticipated the complexity and long-term nature of site cleanups, it structured the statute of limitations in a flexible manner, allowing the court hear an initial cost recovery action prior to issuing a declaratory judgment to avoid letting the statute run. It also allows the plaintiff to file subsequent cost-recovery actions to recapture further response costs incurred at the site. 49 However, the law’s different statutes of limitation for remedial and removal actions phases of the cleanup has led to confusion over how the phases are defined. Courts often defer to EPA determinations in characterizing the type of action due to its technical expertise, rather than making that judgment itself. 50 4. Meeting the Burden of Proof In environmental cases, there may be no line of direct evidence from the perpetrator to the harm. In pollution cases it is often impossible to prove that the plaintiff’s harm was caused by his exposure to the toxic material. 51 For example, if several factories dump pollution into Manila Bay, it is impossible to determine which caused a particular environmental harm. Furthermore, the courts cannot expect absolute scientific certainty on the effects of a health risk such as electro-magnetic fields from power cables. 52 Given these problems, the traditional burden of proof standards, preponderance for civil cases and beyond a reasonable doubt for criminal,53 may prove to be prohibitively high. Philippine courts employ liability-shifting mechanisms to manage this difficulty in environmental cases. For example, pursuant to the Fisheries Code, courts use reverse burden of proof to place the burden of exculpation on defendants found with high-explosive or cyanide fishing gear. 54 Furthermore, the courts have begun to experiment with the precautionary principle, placing the constitutional rights to health and safety above development. 55 The courts also employs res ipsa loquitor in tort suits,56 although this has not been a prominent feature of environmental litigation. Plaintiffs may also hold multiple defendants jointly and severally liable for an act of environmental destruction that cannot be traced to a single defendant company, such as the pollution in Manila Bay. 57 Until recently, Philippine lawmakers did not see a need to introduce a strict liability58 regime into environmental laws. 59 Strict liability was employed in other fields, but not environ-mental laws. More recent anti-pollution laws such as the Clean Air and Solid Waste Management Acts establish that a violation of the standard is actionable through citizen suits. 60 In U. S. , because of its common law tradition, courts are more willing to employ strict liability. Generally, when a defendant, â€Å"though without fault, has engaged in [a] perilous activity †¦, there is no justification for relieving it of liability. †61 Such â€Å"perilous activities† include operating explosives, nuclear energy, hydropower, fire, high-energy explosives, poisons, and other extremely hazardous materials. 62 For citizens suits under environmental statutes, plaintiffs need only show that the law was violated, not prove fault or any actual or threatened harm, without regard to mens rea. 63 When it is impossible to determine the proportion of fault of a large number of defendants, U. S. courts may approximate fault through other indicators, including market share and production output. For example, in Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly Co. , the New York Court of Appeals calculated the size of each defendant drug company’s market share for DES to determine their fault in the injuries caused by the drug. 64 This also allows courts to address injuries sustained in the past by approximating past fault through data available in the present. The Environment Court in New Zealand has adopted an even more radical approach and done away with formal burdens of proof. It focuses instead on obtaining the best possible evidence for a case. This makes it easier for plaintiffs appealing to the court to dislodge an unfavorable opinion from a lower court. 65 While the Philippine Supreme Court may not wish to go this far, the court could more strict liability for hazardous materials and market share liability tools. 5. Damages and Remedies Even if a plaintiff wins damages from a defendant, if the defendant keeps polluting or cutting trees, the damage will continue. 66 In the Philippines, this is particularly problematic as the fines and penalties imposed under law are often not enough to change a company’s behavior. In order to encourage development, Congress prohibited temporary restraining orders against government projects. 67 Since government infrastructure projects can cause massive damage to ecosystems, this prohibition is significant. Some courts try to avoid this loophole by claiming that the prohibition cannot violate a person’s constitutional right to health or safety. 68 The extent of this loophole is unclear. Finally, even if a plaintiff or prosecution wins its case, most of the time the true costs of the defendant’s actions will not be reflected in the award. Damages in civil cases and punishments in criminal cases generally capture the costs of any suffering caused to humans, not animals or plants. While some settlements may include forcing a defendant to install pollution-control equipment or contribute money to conservation programs, this still likely does not recoup the full extent of damage to the environment. It is difficult to regenerate natural forest, coral reefs, or populations of endangered animals. The judicial system does not have much power to remedy this problem. The decision on the purpose of environmental laws and how much plaintiffs recover is for the Congress. However, it is important for judges to understand that environmental cases deal with only a fraction of the true costs of environmental damage. This may convince some judges to be more sympathetic toward environmental cases. While punishments for defendants may seem exorbitant, understanding the unaccounted costs of environmental damage puts these into perspective. B. Access to and Competency of Justice Aside from the legal issues described above, in any country, there are a host of practical and logistical issues that impede the judicial system’s ability to handle environmental cases. This includes the lack of financial resources of plaintiffs, particularly in poorer parts of the Philippines. Plaintiffs and their lawyers must also feel safe from physical and financial harassment while litigating their case. On the other hand, both courts and lawyers are often unfamiliar with environmental laws and science, limiting their ability to adjudicate in the field. Finally, court dockets are often congested, and environmental cases are not given priority. The judicial system’s role in addressing these issues ranges from fairly involved to almost no role. Yet, in attempting to understand environmental adjudication in the Philippines, it is crucial to recognize the role these practical realities play. 1. Financial Costs of Adjudication In any legal system, filing and litigating a case takes an enormous amount of time and money. Philippine courts impose a filing and transcript fee, although these are waived for citizens suits. Reflecting on his experiences, famous environmental attorney Antonio Oposa suggested that these costs were the greatest inhibitions for most plaintiffs. 69 Furthermore, for injunctive remedies, plaintiffs must post a bond to cover the defendant’s potential damages, which may be too large for a poor plaintiff with livestock and property as his only assets. 70 Most Philippine lawyers do not use a contingency fee system, so plaintiffs must be able to pay for legal services up front and over the lengthy litigation process. 71 On top of this, there is the risk of financially crushing harassment suits from defendants, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). Even the logistics of feeding and housing witnesses, and their lost time from work, poses significant problems for predominantly poorer plaintiffs. In the U. S. , NGOs often receive enough donations to allow them to engage in litigation and have staff lawyers. More importantly, plaintiffs’ attorneys often work on a contingency basis, allowing poorer plaintiffs to avoid large financial risk. Furthermore, NGOs and environmental groups seeking injunctive remedies are often required only to pay a nominal bond or may be exempted completely. 72 While some might worry this makes litigation in the U. S. too easy, it drastically improves poor people’s access to justice. Pursuant to the Constitution’s emphasis on the poor, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has taken some efforts to alleviate this problem. Poorer plaintiffs are exempted from paying docket, transcript, and other fees and are granted free legal counsel. Furthermore, the Court provides an annual grant to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Free Legal Aid Program. 73 However, not all environmental plaintiffs qualify as poor, particularly NGOs, even though they often have limited financial resources. Furthermore, even though the amount of the bond is under the discretion of the judge, judges are reluctant to do this because they worry about being accused of abusing their discretion. 74 2. Harassment of Plaintiffs and Lawyers Because of the high stakes involved in environmental cases, defendants may go to extraordinary means to intimidate and harass plaintiffs and their lawyers. It is not uncommon for defendants to lodge harassment or SLAPP suits against environmental plaintiffs or DENR prosecutors to attempt to force them to drop their charges. 75 Enforcers who confiscate the equipment of criminals are often sued for robbery. 76 Some defendants take even more extreme means such as physical violence or even murder. 77 Such dangers were recently illustrated by the murder of environmental advocate Elpidio de la Victoria and death threats against attorney Oposa. 78 This makes lawyers unwilling to take on difficult environmental cases. To stifle SLAPP suits, the courts should promptly apply the anti-SLAPP provisions in the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts when applicable. 79 This means dismissing any harassment suits as quickly as possible. However, plaintiffs relying on other laws have less protection. 80 Congress must expand the use of anti-SLAPP provisions to other environmental laws. Furthermore, law enforcement must vigorously prosecute any defendants who resort to violence. In short, to facilitate environmental cases, the court must protect the ones bringing the cases. 3. Technical Knowledge Among Judges and Attorneys Judges must decide questions of science as well as law in order to dispose of most environmental cases. This is particularly true for brown issues, which involve uncertain science regarding the exact effects of a pollutant. In the U. S. , scientific understanding of pollutants led to new classes of trespass and tort suits that held emitters liable for their actions. 81 However, both sides in a case will try to use any scientific uncertainty to their advantage, or even create scientific uncertainty even when it does not exist in order to confuse the court. Judges must understand what scientific evidence should be admitted and what is not valid. 82 Judges and lawyers need to understand the science well enough to determine which arguments are unfounded and which are plausible. Because general the courts have general jurisdiction and are not specialized in environmental issues, this problem will have to be addressed by providing judges and lawyers with supplemental training in environmental sciences and law. PHILJA and other organizations are already successfully doing this. 83 Eventually, however, this problem may be resolved through a change in the adjudication system. If the Philippines moves toward environmental courts or administrative adjudication84 (as is being considered), judges would be trained specifically to handle environmental cases. 4. Obtaining and Preserving Evidence For green issues, preserving evidence may be difficult. After an illegal logger or fisher is captured, DENR can confiscate the logs and fish. These goods rot or deteriorate over time. Proper procedure requires taking pictures of the logs and fish for admission into court. Specially trained fish examiners prepare reports on the cause of death of fish. When done correctly, this preserves the evidence for use at court. However, some areas may not have fish examiners on hand or the prosecution may not properly prepare the pictures for admissible evidence. It is not uncommon for custodians of the confiscated items to lose track of them over time. Because cases take so long in the court system, this can be a real problem. 85 It is also difficult for enforcement agents to find and confiscate the equipment and vehicles used in environmental crimes, as the boats and trucks perpetrators use are highly mobile. Despite the inconvenience it may cause defendants, such equipment must be held as evidence and to prevent further environmental damage. The accused, or unindicted conspirators, will often petition for the release of their equipment. 86 Unfortunately, sympathetic lower court judges may sometimes grant these requests, despite the contravening case law. 87 Moreover, prosecutors must have the vehicles stored in a safe area despite the lack of storage space. Finally, it is important for enforcers to determine the location of violators, particularly close to the boundaries of natural parks. Community enforcers may not be trained in determining the exact location of where they apprehended the violators. Wealthier units can use GPS, but often the location of apprehension is disputed. 88 Any doubt in this area can destroy the prosecution’s case. 5. Docket Congestion In many countries, including the Philippines, courts are overburdened with cases. Yet, the Philippines’ forests and animals are already disappearing quickly. Irreversible damage to ecosystems can occur much more quickly than the many years it may take the court system to resolve a case. As Prof. La Vina noted, the environment cannot wait for the court system. 89 According to Justice Nazario, the Philippines needs over 300 trial court judges to fill the vacancies and resolve pending cases. 90 Low pay discourages the few who are qualified. Many of these vacancies are in remote parts of the country, such as Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, and Surigao Norte, where much of the fishing and forestry violations occur. Furthermore, the Supreme Court is burdened by the large amount of cases granted review each year, including the automatic review for death penalty cases. 91 Given this burdensome congestion, environmental cases are not given any special treatment on their own merits. Criminal environmental cases may be somewhat more expedited because they involve criminal punishments, but most judges and lawyers show no urgency with regard to environmental cases. 92 The Supreme Court attempted to alleviate this problem with Administrative Order No. 150B-93, setting up special courts to handle illegal logging, but these remain underutilized. 93 Until cases can move through the court system more quickly, the enforcement of environmental law will be delayed. III. Conclusion This paper has highlighted important legal and practical issues preventing efficient adjudication of environmental cases in the Philippines. However, due to logistical and budgetary constraints, this paper focused mostly on case law from the Supreme Court and the personal experiences of lawyers. In order to fully understand environmental adjudication throughout the court system, further research should ideally analyze environmental cases from all Municipal and Regional Trial Courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. It is important to see how cases area actually treated, particularly with respect to the issues examined in this paper. Furthermore, there may be important regional variations, particularly between areas with more natural resources and more urban areas. Even before such a study is undertaken, the courts can apply several lessons from this paper in the near future. First, while the courts have already taken commendable steps to waive filing fees and other costs for paupers, as mentioned above the definition of pauper may be under inclusive by not including NGOs. The courts should consider other definitions to reflect the realities of environmental NGOs. 94 Second, the Supreme Court should instruct the courts to dismiss SLAPP suits expeditiously. While the natural resource laws may not have anti-SLAPP provisions, Congress clearly did not intend to encourage such suits and there is nothing legally preventing the courts from dismissing them faster. Finally, the courts can address standing for citizens and class action suits. In particular, it should set out a clear position on standing in environmental cases. Other challenges will require long-term planning for the courts. Reducing the docket congestion is critical to expedite justice, although doing this will likely take years and require more judges. Likewise, the ongoing effort to train judges and lawyers in environmental law and science must continue, particularly as new judges and lawyers enter the judicial system. The courts should also familiarize themselves with the legal mechanisms available to them, particularly in shifting the burden of proof. However, this will be most useful in pollution cases as they become more common in the future. Ultimately, the challenges described above will require multifaceted solutions from various stakeholders in the Philippine legal system. For example, Congress must work to improve standing and citizens suit provisions in other environmental laws. To reduce the financial risk of brining a suit, law firms could move toward a contingency fee system. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of DENR and environmental agencies to ensure that evidence is properly recorded and preserved. Finally, as the Philippine grows and wealth spreads, more plaintiffs will be able to undergo the financial costs of adjudication. Eventually, the best solution to these challenges may come not from within the courts but from a new adjudication system. The U. S. has worked successfully with administrative adjudication for environmental issues in the EPA and Department of Interior. Other countries have set up independent environment courts. Based on the results of further studies and the needs of the country, the Philippines may move to adopt one of these models. This would allow expert adjudicators to handle cases under rules that make sense for environmental issues. Finally, it is important for judges at all levels of the judicial system to understand the severity of environmental degradation in the Philippines. The only redress environmental plaintiffs or prosecutors may have is in their court. Thus, they should not be reluctant to grant standing or award large damages, when appropriate, because doing so will ensure that both humans and the environment have their proper day in court.