By Tom Jackman and Christian Davenport | Washington Post

One after another, people began calling police yesterday, telling them a suspicious man was running through their neighborhoods in McLean and Arlington County. Their 911 calls led three Fairfax County police officers to a man suspected of robbing a bank minutes earlier, and when he disobeyed their commands to drop his gun, the officers shot and killed him, police said.

This morning, Arlington police identified the dead man as Hailu Brook, 19, of McLean.

The suspect had started running when his getaway car skidded off wet pavement in McLean, police said. He crossed into Arlington and was shot behind Williamsburg Middle School, they said.

“It was a good collaborative effort by everybody,” said Fairfax Police Chief David M. Rohrer, who arrived at the scene after the shooting. He lauded residents who kept police informed about the suspect’s whereabouts and cited “great work by the officers in locating the suspect.”

Because the fatal shooting occurred outside Fairfax, Arlington police will investigate and present their findings to Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Richard E. Trodden, who will decide whether the shooting was justified. Fairfax police will do an internal investigation. The Fairfax officers, who had not been identified, were placed on routine administrative leave with pay.

Police said the man walked into the BB&T Bank branch at 6620 Old Dominion Dr. in McLean, in the Chesterbrook Shopping Center, about 11:20 a.m. He brandished a gun and demanded cash. After getting some money, he left the bank, climbed in a car and drove down Old Dominion Drive toward Arlington, Fairfax Officer Don Gotthardt said.

But before he could reach Arlington, the man’s gold Honda sedan skidded off the wet road and into a ditch at Valley Wood Road, Gotthardt said. The man then ran away, first through the Franklin Park neighborhood in McLean and then into the Rock Spring neighborhood in Arlington. Police declined to say whether money or evidence from the robbery was recovered from the car.

Residents began calling 911 to notify police of the man’s whereabouts, Gotthardt said. Shortly after 11:30 a.m., several Fairfax officers spotted him in the 5300 block of North 36th Street, about 300 yards from the back of Williamsburg Middle School.

The officers — with three, nine and 22 years’ experience, Gotthardt said — saw the man holding a weapon. Gotthardt said he could not verify whether he pointed it at the officers.

But the man “disregarded commands, and that’s when the officers fired,” Gotthardt said. The man, shot in the upper body, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they did not know how many times he had been shot or whether any shots reached the school.

The school was locked down for about an hour after police considered using its athletic fields as a landing spot for a helicopter to fly the suspect to a hospital. But the man died before a helicopter could reach the area, and the school went back to its normal schedule.

Gotthardt said the officers’ proximity to the school was “an obvious concern” before they opened fire. “I don’t know the officers’ mind-set, but the area behind the target is always considered,” he said. There is no official policy on withholding fire in a school area, he said.

Michael McDermott, 19, a student at Northern Virginia Community College, was working on a paper about the death penalty in his home when he said he heard gunshots. He looked out the window, saw a police officer running down the street and across his front yard, and grabbed a camera. When he popped his head out his front door, police yelled at him to get back inside, he said.

When he emerged several minutes later, dozens of officers had descended on the scene, and he saw them covering a body with a tarp.

A block away, Nancy Nakhleh, 45, was with her two children who were home sick from school. At first, she said, she thought the gunfire was bubble wrap being popped, but then she thought, “We don’t have any bubble wrap in the house.”

Or perhaps firecrackers? When she saw police swarming the street and lights flashing and heard a helicopter overhead, she knew it was gunfire, she said. Immediately, she feared something had happened at the school.

“I’m really grateful that this was totally random,” she said. “The biggest excitement around here is that someone gets egged or TP’d. It’s the kind of neighborhood where neighbors call and say, ‘Your son’s not wearing his bike helmet.’ ”

She was also thankful, she said, that with so many kids nearby at the school, no one else was hurt. “There are a ton of kids around here,” she said.

(Staff writer Jerry Markon contributed to this report.)

The U.S. Genocide Prevention Task Force chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen has issued its report on December 8, 2008. In the 174-page report, there is no mention of the genocide and war crimes in the Oganden and Gambella regions of Ethiopia where according to Human Rights watch, Meles Zenawi’s regime is burning down and destroying entire villages.

The report is a disgrace, but nothing better is expected from Ambassador Albright who is known to be a serial apologist for some of the world’s most brutal dictators such as Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia.

The following is a press release by the Task Force:

(Washington, DC) – The Genocide Prevention Task Force today released its final report on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The report makes the case for why genocide and mass atrocities threaten core American values and national interests, and how the U.S. government can prevent these crimes in the future.

Jointly convened by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace, the Task Force began its work last November with the goal of generating concrete recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s capacity to recognize and respond to emerging threats of genocide and mass atrocities.

“The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet genocide and mass killings continue,” said Madeleine K. Albright, former Secretary of State and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “We believe that preventing genocide is possible, and that striving to do so is imperative both for our national interests and our leadership position in the world.”

“This report provides a blueprint that can enable the United States to take preventive action, along with international partners, to forestall the specter of future cases of genocide and mass atrocities,” said William S. Cohen, former Secretary of Defense and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “There is a choice for U.S. policymakers between doing nothing and large-scale military intervention. We hope this report will help us utilize those options.”

Other Members of the Genocide Prevention Task Force include: John Danforth, Thomas Daschle, Stuart Eizenstat, Michael Gerson, Dan Glickman, Jack Kemp, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Thomas R. Pickering, Vin Weber, Anthony Zinni, and Julia Taft who passed away earlier this year.

The report, which is entitled “Preventing Genocide: A Blueprint for U.S. Policymakers”, asserts that genocide is preventable, and that making progress toward doing so begins with leadership and political will. The report provides 34 recommendations, starting with the need for high-level attention, standing institutional mechanisms, and strong international partnerships to respond to potential genocidal situations when they arise; it lays out a comprehensive approach, recommending improved early warning mechanisms, early action to prevent crises, timely diplomatic responses to emerging crises, greater preparedness to employ military options, and action to strengthen global norms and institutions.

“We are keenly aware that the incoming president’s agenda will be massive and daunting from day one,” Secretaries Albright and Cohen noted. “But preventing genocide and mass atrocities is not an idealistic add-on to our core foreign policy agenda. It is a moral and strategic imperative.”

The Task Force calls for the development of a new government-wide policy on genocide prevention, which would include the following specific actions designed to better equip the U.S. government to prevent genocide and mass atrocities:

* Having the president himself demonstrate that preventing genocide is a national priority, for example by an early executive order, and continuing public statements on genocide prevention.
* Creating an interagency Atrocities Prevention Committee at the National Security Council to analyze threats of genocide and mass atrocities and consider appropriate preventive action.
* Making warning of genocide or mass atrocities an “automatic trigger” of policy review.
* Developing military guidance on genocide prevention and response and incorporating it into doctrine and training.
* Preparing interagency genocide prevention and response plans for high-risk situations.
* Investing $250 million in new funds for crisis prevention and response, with a portion of this available for urgent activities to prevent or halt emerging genocidal crises.
* Launching a major diplomatic initiative to create an international network for information-sharing and coordinated action to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.
* Providing assistance to build capacity of international partners—including the UN and regional organizations—to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.

The report concludes that “a core challenge for American leaders is to persuade others—in the U.S. government, across the United States, and around the world, that preventing genocide is more than just a humanitarian aspiration, but a national and global imperative.”

The Task Force was funded by Humanity United and other private organizations.

About the Convening Organizations:

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial to the Holocaust, inspires citizens and leaders to confront hatred, promote human dignity and prevent genocide. Federal support guarantees the Museum’s permanence, and its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by donors nationwide.

The American Academy of Diplomacy is dedicated to strengthening the resources and tools America brings to managing its diplomatic challenges, and accomplishes this through outreach programs, lectures, awards, and writing competitions. In doing so, the Academy promotes an understanding of the importance of diplomacy to serving our nation and enhancing America’s standing in the world.

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.

The report may be downloaded for free at:

* www.ushmm.org
* www.academyofdiplomacy.org
* www.usip.org

The notorious Federal Police of Ethiopia (also known as Meles Zenawi’s death squad) has told the state-run Ethiopian Television (ETV) today that it is investigating Wzr. Birtukan Mideksa, chairperson of Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ).

The Woyanne Federal Police is apparently upset that Birtukan Mideksa had told Ethiopians in Sweden last month that she did not ask Meles Zenawi an apology as a condition for getting out of jail.

To make the point, ETV showed the apology letter that was signed by Ato Hailu Shawel, Wzr. Birtukan Mideksa and other leaders of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (Kinijit).

Birtukan Mideksa and her party have completely submitted to the Woyanne tyranny by doing every thing Meles is demanding of them. It seems that the tribal junta will not be satisfied until Birtukan bends down and kisses Meles Zenawi’s feet. Today’s incident is a shame more on Birtukan that Meles and gang.

By Karyn Maughan | IOL

Terror-reeling India and South Africa have something in common: both are rated as one of the world’s 20 most dangerous countries.

Backed by travel advice issued by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), London’s The Telegraph newspaper has placed South Africa alongside Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Haiti, Eritrea, Pakistan, Burundi, Nigeria and the DRC in terms of danger to travellers.

According to the FCO, South Africa has “an underlying threat from terrorism”.

“Attacks, although unlikely, could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers.”

The FCO’s travel advisory on SA also states: “South Africa has a very high level of crime, including rape and murder. However, most cases occur in the townships and in areas away from the main tourist destinations.

“In 2007 and 2008 there were a number of incidents involving foreigners being followed from OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, to their destinations by car and then robbed, often at gunpoint. We recommend you exercise particular caution in and around the airport and extra vigilance when driving away.

“The standard of driving is variable and there are many fatal accidents.”

BOSTON – Wide Horizons for Children, a nonprofit based in Waltham, Massachusetts, is sending the doctors to Ethiopia to provide medical care for children and pregnant women. The first mission went to the impoverished nation in November, according to a news release, with a second mission scheduled for the spring.

The missions are voluntary, and the physicians perform surgeries without charge. The M.D.’s also train Ethiopian physicians and midwives.

The November team was led by Dr. Fletcher R. Wilson, an obstetrics and gynecological doctor and adjunct professor at Dartmouth Medical School. Dr. Stephan W. Coffman, a surgeon at Monadnock Surgical Associates in Petersborough, N.H., was also on the trip.

The team spent a week at the Adwa Hospital in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region and completed 40 surgeries, including removing goiters, making surgical repairs and performing C-sections. The doctors also performed one life-saving procedure.

Wide Horizons for Children is a nonprofit focused on adoption and child welfare and, since 1974, has placed more than 10,000 children with adoptive parents in the United States.

– Boston Business Journal