Peace Corps Online: 2006.03.27: March 27, 2006: Headlines: PCOL Magazine: Year 06 Issue 3: PCOL Exclusive: Bangladesh Program suspended

2006.03.27: March 27, 2006: Headlines: PCOL Magazine: Year 06 Issue 3: PCOL Exclusive: Bangladesh Program suspended

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: PCOL Magazine: 2006.03.27: March 27, 2006: Headlines: PCOL Magazine: Year 06 Issue 3: PCOL Exclusive: Bangladesh Program suspended

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-141-157-9-190.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.9.190) on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 10:51 am: Edit Post

Bangladesh Program suspended

Bangladesh Program suspended

In this Issue:

Bangladesh Program suspended

Invitee reverses stance, takes assignment in Paraguay

PCOL announces "History of the Peace Corps" web site is now online

Edmund Hull says patience will win war on terrorism

Nora Ephron says: Chris Matthews Loves John McCain

Bangladesh Program suspended

Peace Corps Online

"The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country."

"When I visited Bangladesh last July, government ministers and local leaders had only praise for the friendships and bonds volunteers had formed in their communities. On the whole, the people of Bangladesh respected the commitment and dedication of Peace Corps volunteers," said Director Vasquez. "However, given current concerns for volunteer safety, Peace Corps regrets that we will not be able to maintain a presence in the country at the this time." Read the story and leave your comments at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2045076.html

Based on credible information

U.S. officials in Dhaka say it was not an easy decision to suspend Peace Corps operations and recall all 71 volunteers from Bangladesh. "The Peace Corps has come to this decision following a careful assessment of Bangladesh's security situation, and in particular the possibility that terrorist elements might attempt to attack Peace Corps volunteers while they are here in Bangladesh," said Cebra. "The decision was not reached on the basis of any single threat or incident, but it is a collection of information that has caused the Peace Corps to come to that decision."

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2045119.html

Peace Corps has long history in Bangladesh

The Peace Corps has a long history in Bangladesh. The first volunteers arrived to work with the people in what was then called East Pakistan in 1962. Read the story of one volunteers's observations of the Peace Corps in Bangladesh from the April, 1962 issue of the "Peace Corps Volunteer."

"The people are curious, friendly, smiling, singing, wanting to share, eager to learn, willing to teach, and extremely tolerant of our ignorance of their culture. The land is lush, green, flat, beautiful, serene, moving with the breeze in a single sweep, tall rice paddies bending as one stalk, cocoanut palms towering over all, olive banyan trees dropping new roots, bright sun glancing from the many ponds, and everything surveyed by white clouds in a blue sky that seems curiously low when the stars appear. Among such a people and such a land, the PCV's have settled down to live and work." Read the story and leave your comments at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2027420/2045211.html

Invitee reverses stance, takes assignment in Paraguay

Peace Corps Online

Last issue we reported that the Peace Corps pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government."

Read the many Comments by RPCVs

Read the many comments by RPCVs on the story at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2044986.html

Volkart accepts position in Paraguay

Now Volkart has accepted the placement to do agri-forestry work in Paraguay. It starts in September. “I still wanted to serve,” he said. Previously, Volkart had said he wouldn’t take another Peace Corps assignment until officials explained why he was removed from the Moroccan position. Volkart had been offered three alternate assignments — all in the Pacific Islands — and turned them down. Read the story at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2045318.html

PCOL announces "History of the Peace Corps" web site

Peace Corps Online

PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

Take a look at our new web site at:

http://historyofthepeacecorps.org/

Talking and writing have spread the "Peace Corps idea" around the world

"Many Volunteers display an ambivalence toward publicity. They seem to want publicity for their project while eschewing it for themselves. They act something like the woman with whom every newspaper editor is familiar: "I don't want you to mention little old me, but why don't you print something about my school project (or my rummage sale or my church social)?" Many Volunteers cannot make the journalistic jump from the idea that stories about projects must often be told as stories about people and their labors. Part of the Volunteer's attitude is an honest desire for anonymity. One staffer wrote: "The Volunteer is not always the best judge of his own contribution; the very modesty of so many of our Volunteers is proof of their fine human qualities." But part of the altitude springs from the Volunteers' (mostly) youth and from the unaccustomed glare of publicity on them as Volunteers." Read the editorial inaugurating the "History of the Peace Corps" web site at

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2027420/2045210.html

Edmund Hull says patience will win war on terrorism

Peace Corps Online

"It is my judgment that the most significant reason why we didn't see a repeat of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States was because of these efforts in Afghanistan and abroad. It put al-Qaida on the run, so round two was a victory for the United States and its allies," he said. Edmund Hull served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia and as Ambassador to Yemen.

Hull discussed the idea of the war on terror and how terror is not an adversary but a tactic. He said it's important to focus on the organizations and networks that utilize terror tactics, explaining the "war on terror" to be a war against al-Qaida and its networks. Hull likened the battle to a 15-round boxing match, describing round one as al-Qaida's formation during the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan and culminating in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This round was a clear victory for al-Qaida, Hull said, as the organization successfully conducted training and recruitment in remote Afghan camps, formed an alliance with the Taliban and established a sophisticated network throughout the Middle East and Europe.

"The country is now involved in the third round"

The country is now involved in the third round of the "war on terror," Hull said, and so far, there is no clear winner. This round consists of the U.S. government shifting its focus from Afghanistan to Iraq and a perceived threat of weapons of mass destruction, which many in the counter-terrorism community saw as a strange choice, Hull said.

Read the story at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2045411.html

Nora Ephron says: Chris Matthews Loves John McCain

Peace Corps Online

Nora Ephron writes: "I should probably confess at this point that I am somewhat obsessed with Chris Matthews and am always amazed at the fact that he says more words in a minute than anyone on the planet. But my point is not really about Matthews, even though I could write about him forever. My point is that Matthews is a perfect example -- although obviously exaggerated -- of what happens to men in the presence of Senator McCain. They lose their minds. They suck up. They turn absolutely giddy. They ask questions they don't care about the answers to. It's Valentine's Day."

Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Chris Matthews worked as an aide for former House Speaker Tip O'Neill and as the top speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter. He volunteered for the Peace Corps in Swaziland and spent more than a decade as a reporter with the San Francisco Examiner.

"I know in my heart that there is not a man in America who would not vote for the guy"

"Is it the torture that causes them to go all weak-kneed? That's obviously part of it. Is it that he resonates with the balls most men know they don't have? Maybe. Is it that he seems to have so much testosterone that it's catching? I don't know. But when I see John McCain on television being interviewed by Chris Matthew, I know in my heart that there is not a man in America who would not vote for the guy."

Read the story at:

http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2045412.html

When this story was posted in March 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
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History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.
The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world.
Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh
Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say.
Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks
The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: Volkart reverses stance, takes new assignment in Paraguay.
March 1, 1961: Keeping Kennedy's Promise
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order #10924, establishing the Peace Corps as a new agency: "Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed--doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language. But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps--who works in a foreign land--will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace. "
Paid Vacations in the Third World?
Retired diplomat Peter Rice has written a letter to the Wall Street Journal stating that Peace Corps "is really just a U.S. government program for paid vacations in the Third World." Director Vasquez has responded that "the small stipend volunteers receive during their two years of service is more than returned in the understanding fostered in communities throughout the world and here at home." What do RPCVs think?
RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps
Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.
Military Option sparks concerns
The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program
Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger
When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.
Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong
170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: PCOL Exclusive

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; PCOL Magazine: Year 06 Issue 3

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