Sunday, June 13, 2010

Gambar menu blogger baru


Thursday, May 20, 2010

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea accused North Korea on Thursday of firing a torpedo that sank a naval warship in March, killing 46 sailors in the country's worst military disaster since the Korean War.

President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation following the release of long-awaited results from a multinational investigation into the incident. North Korea, reacting swiftly, called the results a fabrication and warned that any retaliation would trigger war.

Investigators said evidence overwhelmingly proves North Korea fired a homing torpedo that caused a massive underwater blast that tore the Cheonan into two on March 26. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued from the frigid Yellow Sea waters near the Koreas' maritime border, but 46 perished.

"(We) will take resolute countermeasures against North Korea and make it admit its wrongdoings through strong international cooperation," Lee told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a phone conversation, the presidential office said.

The White House called the sinking an unacceptable "act of aggression" that violates international law and the truce signed in 1953.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, called the investigation results "deeply troubling," his spokesman said in a statement.

China, North Korea's traditional ally, called the sinking of the naval ship "unfortunate" but stopped short of backing Seoul. Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai refused to comment further Thursday other than reiterating long-standing Chinese comments on the need to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean and U.S. officials have said they are considering a variety of options, ranging from U.N. Security Council action to additional U.S. penalties.

North Korea already is chafing from international sanctions tightened last year in the wake of widely condemned nuclear and missile tests.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, continued its steadfast denials of involvement in the sinking and said it would send its own investigators to conduct a probe, while warning that any punishment against the North would spark war.

"The all-out war to be undertaken by us will be a sacred war involving the whole nation, all the people and the whole state," a spokesman for North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission said, according to a report carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea's Kim Jong Il serves as chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position that makes him leader of the communist nation of 24 million.

The North also warned the South against any provocative acts near the Koreas' borders in the aftermath of the sinking, saying it would react with an "unlimited retaliatory blow, merciless strong physical blow."

Pyongyang, which accused Lee's government of exploiting the disaster for political gain, also urged the U.S. and Japan to "act with discretion."

"The world will clearly see what dear price the group of traitors will have to pay for the clumsy 'conspiratorial farce' and 'charade' concocted to stifle compatriots," KCNA said.

The two Koreas remain locked in a state of war and divided by the world's most heavily armed border because the conflict ended with the signing of a truce, not a peace treaty.

North Korea has waged a slew of attacks against South Korea since the war, including the 1987 downing of a South Korean passenger plane that killed all 115 people on board.

Pyongyang routinely denies the past provocations.

North Korea also disputes the maritime border drawn unilaterally by U.N. forces at the close of the Korean War, and the waters have been the site of several deadly naval clashes since 1999.

Fragments recovered from the waters where the Cheonan went down indicate that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo, investigators said Thursday.

Pieces recovered at the sinking site "perfectly match" the schematics of the torpedo included in introductory brochures provided to foreign countries by North Korea for export purposes, chief investigator Yoon Duk-young said.

A serial number on a torpedo fragment also was consistent with markings from a North Korean torpedo that South Korea obtained years earlier, Yoon said.

"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine," he said. "There is no other plausible explanation."

Investigators also confirmed that several small North Korean submarines and a mother ship supporting them left a North Korean naval base two to three days ago before the attack, and returned to port two to three days after the attack.

Other nations' submarines were either in or near their respective home bases at the time of the incident, Yoon said.

The joint civilian-military investigation team included experts from South Korea, the U.S., Britain, Australia and Sweden.

By JEAN H. LEE and HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security and Pentagon officials are at loggerheads over a plan to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, even as President Barack Obama is pledging to bolster security there.

The Guard stalemate has festered for nearly a year, and frustrated lawmakers are demanding action to stem the spread of violence and drug trafficking that has spilled across the border into their states. The inaction raises questions about whether the White House is convinced the federally funded deployment is necessary, or whether border states will be forced to bear the costs of dispatching the Guard troops on their own.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama said the U.S. is committed to standing with Mexico against the drug cartels.

"As your partner, we'll give you the support you need to prevail," he said, adding that through increased law enforcement on the U.S. side of the border, "we're putting unprecedented pressure on those who traffic in drugs, guns and people."

Fueling the discord over sending the National Guard to the border was the U.S. response to the Gulf oil spill, which has included federal authorization for deploying up to 17,000 National Guard troops.

Those costs, however, are likely to be borne by oil giant BP PLC, which leased the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that exploded off the Louisiana coast April 20, killing 11 and releasing a huge, continuing oil spill.

The oil spill notwithstanding, border state lawmakers say they need help too.

"If you'll indulge me, we think we have another crisis on the border," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano at a hearing this week. "I want to know about whether you're going to send the Guard to the border or not."

When she tried to explain other DHS improvements along the border, McCain cut her off.

"People's homes are being violated, and their families can't take kids to the bus stop," the senator fumed. "And you are very familiar with the issue, because you yourself asked for the Guard to go to the border back in 2006."

Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, responded that the request involves the White House as well as the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department, and is still in the interagency process. While she said she would like the decision to be made as soon as possible, she added she could not say when she would have an answer.

"We don't have a resolution on that yet," Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart said in an interview with The Associated Press. Renuart, who headed the U.S. Northern Command until his retirement Wednesday after 39 years of service, added that while money is a point of contention, the greater disagreement centers on what missions the National Guard would perform.

He said the discussion between the Defense and Homeland Security departments continues, and some of the requests "have evolved a bit in this interim period." He did not provide details.

First floated last June, the idea was to use 1,500 Guard troops temporarily to supplement border patrol agents. The Pentagon and Homeland Security drafted a $225 million plan, but disagreed over who would pay for it and how the troops would be utilized.

Pentagon officials, worried about perceptions that the U.S. was militarizing the border, argued that the Guard could only be used for particular duties. Military leaders said they did not want Guard troops to screen vehicles at border points or perform any law enforcement duties, and said the program should be temporary and not tied to any existing program that could get extended.

Defense officials have said that possible missions for the Guard soldiers could include surveillance along the border, intelligence analysis, helicopter transportation support and aviation surveillance, which likely would involve unmanned aircraft.

In a letter to Obama this week, McCain and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said sending at least 6,000 National Guard to the border — with half focused on the Arizona portion — would immediately improve the safety of Americans there.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said the administration has taken a number of steps to improve security at the border, including adding more law enforcement personnel and prosecutors, and increasing cooperation with the Mexican government.

"The president is firmly committed to ensuring that our Southwest border is secure," Shapiro said. "The administration continues to evaluate additional law enforcement options as well as the use of the National Guard, as needed, along the Southwest border."

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Belajar Memahami dan Memaknai Hidup

Manusia bukanlah dewa. Itu jelas sekali tergambar dari kehidupan kita. Dan manusia juga bukanlah higlander yang seperti legenda dongeng manusia abadi dar Amrik. Maka, sekaranglah saatnya saya memulai mereposisi diri saya sendiri. Apakah sejauh saya melangkah sudah bermanfaat buat orang lain? Apakah sepanjang desah nafas yang kuhela sering kali menimbulkan luka buat orang lain. Di sini ku merenung tentang arti sebuah kesadaran diri. Saya tidak mau menunggu datangnya teguran dari Tuhan. Tapi, mencoba berinisiatif untuk menyadari posisi diri saya dengan cara mereposisi keadaan diri ini secara utuh.

Ini hanyalah awal dari sekian coretan hidup yang ingin kubagikan, meski mungkin bagi sebagian orang terlalu mellow. No, saya tidak sedang ingin mendramatisir keadaan. Saya tidak sedang bersinetronisasi dengan hidup. Tapi, saya ingin meluruhkan egoisme diri demi kebermaknaan hidup.