When compared to a number of other places in the world today, the hot spots, it can truly be said that it is better in The Bahamas.
Peace in the Middle East is a pipe dream as people are being killed daily in the ongoing, never-ending war, where on Sunday Hezbollah rockets ripped through a train station in Haifa, Israel, killing eight people and wounding seven. This was retaliation after Israel bombarded Beruit late Saturday night, flattening buildings and knocking out electrical power.
By nightfall Monday, 209 Lebanese had been reported killed in the six days of fighting and at least 24 Israelis have been killed. It is said to be the worse fighting in 24 years.
In Darfur tribal violence last week, some 230 people were killed in a fight for control over grazing land and, according to experts, it is estimated that 500 people are dying daily in Darfur, with a death toll of nearly 400,000 since the conflict started over two years ago.
Move on over to Iraq, on Monday at least 50 people were killed when gunmen sprayed grenades and automatic weapons fire in a market south of Baghdad. In the first 17 days of July, at least 617 Iraqis have been killed in war-related violence, at least 527 civilians and 90 police and security forces, according to an AP count. In the nearly two months since the unity government took office on May 20, more than 1,850 Iraqis have been killed, including at least 1,585 civilians and 267 security forces.
In India, a bombing of Bombay’s rail system kills 182 people and injures more than 800 as the conflict continues between Indian and Pakistani militants in their bid to claim the Kashmir region, which is divided between the two countries. The nuclear rivals have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947, including two over Kashmir.
And the fight against the Taliban continues in Afghanistan where American troops are raiding al-Quaida hideouts and suicide bombers are blowing up themselves, along with scores of others. More than 800 people, mostly militants, have been killed since May, according to an Associated Press tally of coalition and Afghan figures.
In this region, there is still unrest in Haiti where 22 people were killed last week, and there is now ongoing mass demonstrations for the return of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who fled the country in February 2004 amid a violent uprising and is now a resident in South Africa.
Everywhere in the world today there is violence and mayhem. People are being shot, bombed, tortured and they are dying of starvation and of diseases that are inflicted upon them for the sole purpose of causing death. In The Bahamas, aside from the random murder, there are no organised wars going on and there is only unrest when union negotiations take too long and contracts are about to expire.
In the political arena there is name calling, which could intensify as time for the general elections draw near, but there is no violence and for this it can be said again and again, it is better in The Bahamas.
The Nassau Guardian
