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(CNN) — President Barack Obama recast the U.S. fight against terrorism as no longer a “boundless global war” but a targeted effort to dismantle specific extremist networks.

He said America was at a “crossroads” and should no longer see it as a “self-defeating” perpetual fight, but one that must at some point end, “like all wars.”

Obama said “the core of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on a path to defeat,” but its affiliates elsewhere pose dangers. He also touched on new overseas and homegrown threats, and explained publicly the use of drones against terror suspects overseas.

Obama: U.S. will keep deploying drones — when they are only option

Pres. Obama interrupted by heckler

Obama defends secret drone program

Rumsfeld grades Bush, Obama

Reporter: Obama made world a battlefield

He renewed his push to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and also sought to calm criticism around his administration’s investigation of national security leaks.

Obama, ‘troubled’ by leak investigations, asks for review

He even paused his prepared remarks to take on a woman in the audience from “Code Pink” who interrupted him several times in open disagreement.

Obama interrupted

“I think that the, and I’m going off script as you might expect here …. the voice of that woman is worth paying attention to,” Obama said to applause. “Obviously I do not agree with much of what she said and obviously she wasn’t listening to me in what I said but these are tough issues and the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong.”

Here are five things we learned from the speech:

1. Using drones are OK, but…

The Obama administration for the first time revealed Wednesday that drones had killed four American citizens since 2009. Obama used the speech to more definitively explain the U.S. policy on the use of lethal force and sought stricter review of its use.

Still, he said drones were both legal and effective to combat terrorists, and added that Americans overseas who wish to do the United States harm were fair game, in the most extreme cases.

“When a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America — and is actively plotting to kill U.S. citizens; and when neither the United States, nor our partners are in a position to capture him before he carries out a plot — his citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected from a SWAT team,” Obama said.

He said ordering strikes is a heavy burden, but added that “to do nothing in the face of terrorist networks would invite far more civilian casualties.”

Obama said he is asking his administration to review proposals to extend oversight of lethal actions outside of war zones that go beyond reporting to Congress.

CNN’s senior political analyst Gloria Borger says Obama defends the use of drones.

“But he also really acknowledged that it can be overused, even by a president, and that you cannot just depend on drones for your national security.”

2. I wasn’t kidding about closing Gitmo…

When he was first elected in 2008, Obama vowed to shut down the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, also known as Gitmo.

But in the years since, Congress has enacted significant restrictions on the transfer of detainees from the prison that made its closure impractical. And, as costs of running the facility balloon and detainees wage hunger strikes protesting their imprisonment, the administration has quietly dialed back the intensity of the push to shut down the facility.

But that changed Thursday.

“The original premise for opening GTMO — that detainees would not be able to challenge their detention — was found unconstitutional five years ago,” said Obama. “In the meantime, GTMO has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.”

He called on Congress to “lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from GTMO,” appointed a special envoy to “achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries,” and lifted the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen, where 56 of Gitmo’s 86 detainees are from.

At Guantanamo, a costly confinement

Daily life at Guantanamo: Hunger strikes, sprays of filth

3. No leaks, but there’s that freedom of the press thing…

Obama has come under fire for recent investigations into leaks by his Justice Department where phone records were seized from reporters and editors at The Associated Press and a Fox News reporter was labeled in a Justice Department affidavit as “potentially being an ‘aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator’” to the crime of disclosing secret information.

Justice Department tracked Fox News reporter’s e-mail, movements

So he used the speech to try to quell criticism for those intrusions.

“As commander-in-chief, I believe we must keep information secret that protects our operations and our people in the field,” Obama said. “But a free press is also essential for our democracy. I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable.”

“Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law,” he added.

He vowed to push for a federal shield law for journalists and convene a group of media organizations to review existing guidelines about investigations that involve reporters.

4. A new term brings a new policy

Obama clearly used the speech to redefine U.S. policy on the so-called “war on terror,” acknowledging that where once the battle was fought on foreign soil, the threats have moved.

“Now make no mistake: our nation is still threatened by terrorists. From Benghazi to Boston, we have been tragically reminded of that truth. We must recognize that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11. With a decade of experience to draw from, now is the time to ask ourselves hard questions – about the nature of today’s threats, and how we should confront them.”

“From our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are making now will define the type of nation — and world — that we leave to our children,” Obama said.

“I was listening to a president who was saying to us, ‘Let’s get beyond where we were when I first took office, and let me tell you how my thinking has evolved since I’ve been president of the United States,’” said CNN’s senior political analyst Gloria Borger. “He said, ‘We must define the nature and scope of this struggle or it will define us.’”

But Obama will face opposition as he attempts to shift U.S. policy.

“Both on drones and on Guantanamo, he’s going to get some pushback,” said Borger.

5. Free speech also means ‘you listen’

A loud woman interrupted the president several times during his speech, calling on Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay facility. But the president was talking about just that when he was interrupted.

“You are commander-in-chief — you can close Guantanamo today,” she yelled. “It’s been 11 years!”

Obama stopped in the middle of his remarks and shot back. “This is part of free speech, is you being able to speak but also you listening and me being able to speak, alright?” Obama said.

The woman was identified as Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of the protest group Code Pink and was later escorted out of the building and released.

Photos: The face of Code Pink

Later, he even tweaked his closing line to incorporate the heckler in the audience.

“Victory will be measured in parents taking their kids to school, immigrants coming to our shores, fans taking in a ballgame, a veteran starting a business; a bustling city street, a citizen shouting their concerns at a president,” he concluded.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Elise Labott, Chris Lawrence, Barbara Starr and Dan Merica contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/politics/5-things-obama-terror/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/1A5Zt4mwjB4/5-things-we-learned

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

Drones, by the numbers

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is home to the U.S. naval base that has held terror suspects since January 2002. Early in the war on terror, the Bush administration argued these detainees were “enemy combatants” who didn’t have the protections accorded to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Click through for a look inside the controversial facility. Pictured: A detainee stands at an interior fence at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A Navy sailor surveys the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009. Shortly after his first term began, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within a year, but the move do so has stalled. Congress passed legislation preventing detainees from being transferred into the United States. However, the administration says Obama remains committed to closing the facility, also known as Gitmo.

U.S. military guards move a detainee inside the detention center in September 2010. At its peak, the detainee population reportedly exceeded 750 men at Guantanamo.

Muslim detainees kneel during early morning prayers in October 2009. Cells are marked with an arrow pointing in the direction of Mecca, regarded as Islam’s holy city.

A soldier stands near a placard on the fence line of the detention facility in January 2012.

A Quran sits among a display of items isssued to detainees in September 2010. The suspects are given a prayer mat and a copy of the Muslim holy book as well as a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and clothing.

A U.S. military guard walks out of the maximum security section of the detention center in September 2010.

A German shepherd police dog undergoes training exercises in October 2009 at Guantanamo Bay.

A camp librarian views artwork painted by detainees in September 2010.

A detainee rubs his face while attending a “life skills” class inside the Camp 6 high-security detention facility in April 2009.

A seat and shackle await a detainee in the DVD room of the maximum security Camp 5 detention center in March 2010.

U.S. Marines join in martial arts training at the U.S. naval base in September 2010.

Members of the military walk the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

Guards move a detainee from his cell in Cell Block A of the Camp 6 detention facility in January 2012.

A detainee waits for lunch in September 2010. The cost of building Guantanamo’s high-security detention facilities was reportedly about $54 million.

Marines get an early-morning workout at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in October 2009.

A bus carries military guards from their night shift at the detention center in September 2010.

A military guard puts on gloves before moving a detainee within the detention center in September 2010.

Members of the U.S. Navy move down the hallway of Cell Block C in the Camp 5 detention facility in January 2012.

A U.S. military guard holds shackles before preparing to move a detainee in September 2010.

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Photos: Inside Guantanamo Bay

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

CNN Explains: Drones

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

Holder: Drone strikes have killed four Americans since 2009

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

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Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/opinion/bergen-nine-myths-drones-gitmo/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/VN8SVQSzsCw/opinion-nine-counterterrorism-myths

(CNN) — The eyes of the country will be upon Texas on Thursday.

That’s where 1,400 members of the Boy Scouts of America’s national council are expected to vote on whether to end the 103-year-old group’s outright ban on gay youths.

The outcome, to be announced late afternoon, follows months of intense debate among interest groups and within the ranks of scouting itself.

It comes down to a single sentence at the end of a resolution.

“No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”

If the policy change is approved, the BSA will maintain its ban on openly gay adult leaders.

Boy Scouts of America is an organization that says it is focused on mentoring young men and helping them develop life skills. Here’s a look at BSA by the numbers. (Source: Boy Scouts of America).

102: The number of years since Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. Membership topped 20 million by 1952.

2.7 million: The number of youth members as of 2011. BSA also boasts 1.1 million adult members.

420,000: The number of youth members in units chartered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the most of any faith-based organization. As of 2011, the United Methodist Church had the second strongest membership, followed by the Catholic Church.

181: The number of NASA astronauts that participated in Scouting. Neil Armstrong was an Eagle Scout, the highest ranking in the program.

206: Number of lawmakers in the current session of Congress that have participated in Boy Scouts. Fifteen current governors were Scouts or Scout volunteers.

18: The number of presidents that have served as honorary president of Boy Scouts of America. (That’s every president since BSA was founded).

161: The number of countries with Boy Scouts, as of 2010.

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Photos: Boy Scouts by the numbers

Boy Scouts consider ending gay ban

Land: Gays in Boy Scouts ‘a catastrophe’

In February, the Boy Scouts’ national executive board postponed a vote on the issue and ordered a survey of its members. That survey showed an organization that is divided — by age and, in some cases, by region.

While most adults in the scouting community support the BSA current policy of “excluding open and avowed homosexuals, young parents and teens tend to oppose the policy.”

Survey: Should gay and straight Boy Scouts share a tent?

A BSA spokesman conceded the issue was “among the most complex and challenging issues facing the BSA and society today.”

A recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll showed that 63% of Americans support allowing gay youths to join the Boy Scouts.

But 61% of surveyed adult members say they support the current BSA policy, which excludes gay youths and adult leaders, the group said.

The vote comes more than a decade after a Supreme Court ruling that found the organization has the right to keep gays out, but also amid declining participation in the venerable American institution.

Membership in Boy Scouts has declined by about a third since 1999. About 2.7 million people now participate nationwide.

The Boy Scouts relies on “chartered organizations” to provide facilities and sponsorship for the individual units.

More than 70% of troops are affiliated with a church or religious groups. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Catholic Church sponsor 43% of Scout troops in the country.

In April, the Utah-based Mormons said, “while the church has not launched any campaign either to effect or prevent a policy change, we have followed the discussion and are satisfied that BSA has made a thoughtful, good-faith effort to address issues …”

The vote could have an impact in at least two Western states

If the policy proposal is approved, 97% of chartered organizations in the heavily Mormon populated states of Utah and Idaho would be likely to leave the organization, local councils say.

The Catholic Church in the United States says it will strive to maintain ties with the BSA, regardless of the outcome.

“We would hope that the Boy Scouts of America will continue to provide young people a formative experience grounded in virtue and directed by service to God and others,” the National Catholic Committee on Scouting said in February.

A full picture of opinions was not captured in the survey, according to the BSA.

“When the survey process was originally announced, several chartered organizations, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Baptist church, and many parents asked that their youth members not be contacted as part of the survey.”

There’s been no shortage of lobbying on the issue, which will be taken up at the BSA’s annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas.

“This (current) ban hurts kids and undermines key scouting values like helpfulness, friendliness and courteousness,” says the Human Rights Campaign. “It’s time to send a message of inclusion — not discrimination.”

James Dale, an Eagle Scout and former assistant troop leader who was kicked out of the Boy Scouts in 1990 because he is gay, said the issue is about fairness.

“Each of us has the power to make positive change,” he says in a video posted by GLAAD (The Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).

In an opinion piece for USA Today on Wednesday, BSA President Wayne Perry endorsed the policy change. “Parents, adults in the Scouting community and teens alike tend to agree that youth should not be denied the benefits of Scouting,” Perry wrote. “The resolution is not about adults; it is about what is best for young people.”

Conservative groups and some religious organizations have argued against making any change, saying it would dilute the Boy Scout message of morality and potentially destroy the organization.

The Family Research Council says the vote is “critically important to the future of the Scouts and the moral fiber of our nation.”

It urged people to visit OnMyHonor.net, a group opposing the policy change, to send their thoughts to scout leaders and executives.

That website reposted an article by the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, who said the BSA was “at the brink.”

“The culture wars came to the Boy Scouts many years ago. For the last few decades, the Boy Scouts have had to fight battles with both secularists and homosexual activists,” wrote R. Albert Mohler Jr.

“How, exactly, are openly gay boys to be included in the activities of scouting? We are talking about boys who will now be expected to participate in everything from camping trips to travel with boys who are openly gay,” says Mohler. “Boys of these ages just might be the least equipped of all God’s creatures to deal with the complexities of the situation. Most parents are likely to decide that, all things considered, this is just not something they want imposed on their sons.”

President Barack Obama has been become outspoken in his support of gay rights and same-sex marriage.

When asked about the BSA policy in February, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama believes the Boy Scouts is a valuable organization that has helped educate and build character in American boys

“He also, as you know, opposes discrimination in all forms. And as such, believes — that gay Americans ought to be able to participate in the Boy Scouts. But in terms of the process of their evaluation of their policies, I don’t have a comment.”

If approved, the new BSA rules would take effect January 1.

CNN’s Katia Hetter and Ed Payne contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/23/us/boy-scouts-sexual-orientation/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/WP7FWgK2TEI/u-s-scouts-to-vote-on-gay-youth-ban

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An aerial view of the destruction caused by the massive tornado that struck areas south of Oklahoma City on Monday, May 20, shows the magnitude of damage left in its path. The storm’s winds topped 200 mph as it carved a 17-mile path of destruction through Oklahoma City suburbs. On Tuesday, May 21, CNN sent photographer David McNeese to capture the story from above:

The storm, which touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma, spanned 1.3 miles. Some areas along the path were completely flattened.

Officials from the National Weather Service gave the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20 a preliminary EF5 rating — the highest score on the scale that measures tornado intensities.

The tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs, hitting the town of Moore the hardest. It packed winds that topped 200 mph.

A search-and-rescue effort to find survivors shifted Tuesday to one of recovery, officials said.

The devastation in Moore was so complete that the mayor said city officials were racing to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through a suddenly twisted and unfamiliar landscape.

A group of homes was reduced to rubble.

Debris from homes and structures was strewn for miles around.

In some areas, the homes of an entire street were destroyed.

Rescuers and first responders immediately began searching through the rubble of structures on May 20.

Large trees were uprooted and flattened.

Given its breadth and power, the tornado ranks among some of the strongest storms ever to strike the United States, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

Homes in some areas were relatively undamaged while others very nearby were destroyed.

Police, firefighters, volunteers and nearly 180 National Guard troops joined forces Tuesday in searching the rubble and securing areas hit by the storm.

In 1999 and then again in 2003, Moore took direct hits from tornadoes that took eerily similar paths to 2013′s twister. The 1999 storm packed the strongest wind speeds in history, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said.

A section of a bridge outside of Oklahoma City was blown off its foundation.

The path of the tornado is clearly visible with dirt and debris painting a wide path across the Oklahoma landscape.

The scene — block after block of flattened homes and businesses, the gutted remains of a hospital and hits on two elementary schools — left even seasoned veterans of Oklahoma’s infamous tornadoes reeling.

View more galleries: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma City area and The devastating Oklahoma tornado of 1999.

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For local coverage of Monday’s devastating storms in Oklahoma, go to these CNN affiliates: KFOR, KOCO and KOKH.

(CNN) — With everyone missing now accounted for from this week’s deadly tornado, the long and difficult work of recovery can begin.

“We are beginning the recovery operations,” Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN’s Piers Morgan late Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of debris removal going on throughout the public areas of the street,” she said.

“You see a lot of utility crews that are out here. There’s a lot of construction trucks. You’re seeing people walking down the street pulling some wagons, going back into their homes to get their prized possessions.”

A woman searches for belongings at a home in Moore, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, May 22, two days after it was destroyed by a tornado that ripped through the area. View more photos of the aftermath in the region and another gallery of aerial shots of the damage.

Michael Pritz swings a golf club while taking a break from helping his friend to salvage belongings on May 22.

Debris litters what remains of a classroom at Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22. Seven children died at the school in Monday’s tornado.

A makeshift shelter stands next to a home destroyed by the tornado on May 22.

Casey Angle walks on the bunk bed she shared with her sister Sydney, who was among the students killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School during the tornado.

Tara McDonald shows some items salvaged from her home on May 22.

A swing set sits warped at Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22.

Plaza Towers Elementary School students Monica Boyd and Lavontey Rodriguez sit at the parking lot of their tornado devastated school.

Travis French and his wife, Amy, of Capitol Hill Baptist Church hand out fresh fruit, water and hygiene packs to Thomas and Kelcy Trowbridge.

Teachers from Fairview Elementary School help clean up former school counselor Kay Taylor’s home in south Oklahoma City on May 22, two days after an extremely powerful tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma.

Jake English, 12, cleans up retired school counselor Kay Taylor’s home on May 22 in south Oklahoma City, just west of Moore. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that began in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, May 19.

A man talks on his cell phone in front of a destroyed house on May 22.

A man looks through a pile of clothing at a roadside relief camp on May 22 in Moore.

Volunteers form a chain to retrieve clothing and other household items on May 22.

Jon Booth moves a piece of debris from his mother’s destroyed home across the street from Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22.

Matt Johnson salvages items from his grandparents’ home on Tuesday, May 21.

Two men fold an American flag found in the debris of a house on May 21 in Moore.

A young girl stands among the rubble outside Briarwood Elementary School on May 21.

A doll covered in dirt is among the rubble scattered throughout a neighborhood in Moore on May 21.

Bonnie Lolofie, left, and Ashley Do carry belongings from their apartment, which has no power, on May 21.

Residents salvage belongings from their demolished homes in Moore on May 21.

Kelli Kannady weeps after finding a box of photographs of her late husband in the rubble near where her home once stood in Moore on May 21.

Tufts of pink insulation hang from the rafters of a store in Moore on May 21 that was destroyed in the storm.

Natalie Johnson searches through her mother’s destroyed car outside Briarwood Elementary School in Moore on May 21.

Rescuers dig out a house in Moore on May 21.

June Simson embraces her cat Sammi after she found him standing among the rubble of her destroyed home in Moore on May 21.

A man stands on the roof of a destroyed home in Moore on May 21.

A man helps move a resident’s belongings from a destroyed home on May 21 in Moore.

Air Force Airman First Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law’s home in Moore on May 21.

People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore.

People sort through a leveled home in Moore on May 21.

Debris lies among headstones in the Moore Cemetery on May 21.

Workers clean up the Warren movie theater in Moore on May 21.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett surveys damage in Moore on May 21.

Piles of debris lie around the north side of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore on May 21.

As dawn breaks, storm clouds roll in over a devastated neighborhood in Moore on May 21.

Members of the Oklahoma National Guard look for survivors in rubble in Moore on May 21.

A National Guardsman assists in the search for victims on May 21.

A rescue worker leads a horse from the wreckage of a day care center and barns on Monday, May 20, in Moore.

Men tie an American flag on debris in a neighborhood off Telephone Road in Moore on May 20.

Children wait for their parents to arrive at Briarwood Elementary School in south Oklahoma City on May 20.

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20.

Teachers lead children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. Read more about the photo.

A fire official drives through the rubble of Moore Medical Center on May 20.

Abby Madi, left, and Peterson Zatterlee comfort Zatterlee’s dog, Rippy, on Monday, May 20, in Moore.

A woman is treated for her injuries on May 20 at a triage area set up for the wounded.

Two girls stand in rubble in Moore.

Rescue workers help free one of more than a dozen people who were trapped at a medical center in Moore on May 20.

Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp on May 20 as he sits in his rocking chair where his home once stood.

A nurse helps an older man who suffered a head injury on May 20 in Moore.

Cars marked with an orange X, meaning they have been checked for occupants, are piled up in front of the entrance to the damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20.

Jim Routon hugs his neighbor, 7-year-old Hezekiah, after the tornado strikes on May 20. An earlier version of this caption incorrectly stated that Routon was Hezekiah’s teacher. See an interview with the pair.

People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20.

Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house in Moore on May 20.

Residents look through the debris in Moore on May 20.

A man looks through the remains of a home after the massive tornado struck Moore on May 20.

A woman is transported on a stretcher after she was rescued from the damaged medical center in Moore on May 20.

A woman walks through debris in Moore on May 20.

A man is taken away from the IMAX Theater in Moore that was used as a triage center on May 20.

A girl wraps herself in a blanket near the Moore Hospital on May 20.

A nurse walks by the destruction at a Moore hospital on May 20.

Destroyed cars scatter the landscape in Moore, Oklahoma, where hundreds of homes and buildings were put to ruin on May 20.

A woman with an arm injury is helped on May 20 in Moore.

Extensive damage from the tornado destroyed cars and demolished structures in Moore on May 20.

Onlookers stop to view a portion of the destruction left behind on May 20 in Moore.

Overturned cars are among the rubble from the tornado that hit Moore on May 20.

A woman is comforted after the May 20 tornado in Moore.

A shredded tree stands amid debris in the aftermath of the storm in Moore on May 20.

A shopping center parking lot is covered with debris and damaged cars on May 20.

Law enforcement officers block a roadway in Moore where there was extensive damage from the tornado.

A massive tornado approaches Moore on May 20. The storm first touched down to the west of the city near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Visit CNN.com/impact for ways to help the victims.

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Photos: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma

Rescue dogs help find storm survivors

Storm Chaser pulls 15 people from rubble

Doctors protected patients during twister

At least 24 people, including 10 children, were killed in Monday’s monster tornado. Another 353 people were injured.

The twister ripped through 17 miles of central Oklahoma and pummeled 2,400 homes. The hardest-hit city was Moore.

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis told CNN’s Jake Tapper, also Wednesday, that six people previously unaccounted for have been located.

Five were found alive. The sixth is dead, and the body was located at the medical examiner’s office. The mayor was not sure whether that death was included in the official count of 24.

He also told CNN that he would push for a law requiring storm shelters or safe rooms in new homes.

“What we will do is get the stakeholders here in the city … and we’ll discuss what we think we need to have,” he said.

“Anybody that lives in any tornado area should have (a storm shelter), but it’s just the matter of cost.”

Young lives remembered

One of the most heartbreaking scenes in Moore is a pile of wreckage where Plaza Towers Elementary School once stood.

Seven of the 10 children killed in the storm were inside the school when it collapsed.

Heroes or just doing their jobs? Teachers save lives during tornado

Terrified children, teachers’ heroics, no shelter: Inside a tornado-ravaged school

The children were in a classroom, Moore Fire Chief Gary Bird told CNN on Wednesday. He also said their deaths “had nothing to do with flooding, from what I understand.” On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told CNN the youngsters had drowned in a school basement.

Local resident Adam Baker said he rushed to the school to help in the aftermath. He found some children who had died in a shallow space.

“The ones that were deceased had bumps, scrapes, and they probably would have made it if they weren’t pinned. It looked like most of them just drowned — all blue and stuff.” Pieces of pipe, metal, desks, 2-by-4s, and other debris were on them, he said.

Officials have not yet released official causes of death.

Opinion: We love and fear the Oklahoma skies

Kyle Davis, 8, was among the victims.

His family said he loved going with his grandpa to see Monster Trucks and playing soccer.

“I am angry to an extent. I know the schools did what they thought they could do but with us living in Oklahoma, tornado shelters should be in every school,” Kyle’s mother, Mikki Dixon Davis, told CNN.

Her daughter, who was also at Plaza Towers when the storm struck, survived.

“There should be a place that if this ever happened again during school that kids can get to a safe place,” she said. “That we don’t have to sit there and go through rubble … and may not ever find what we’re looking for.”

Read more: The photo that shows the best of us

Heroes or just doing their jobs? Teachers save lives during Okla. tornado

Woman reveals grandparents missing

Teacher impaled while protecting class

Reality sets after deadly tornado

Photographer on tornado: It’s shocking

‘We’re going to help them recover‘

Damage assessments showed the tornado had winds over 200 mph at times, making it an EF5 — the strongest category of tornadoes measured, the National Weather Service said.

Mayor Lewis said the devastation was so catastrophic that city officials rushed to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through the newly mangled and unfamiliar landscape.

President Obama will travel to the area Sunday to witness the damage.

He spoke about the people of Oklahoma, briefly, during a presentation at the White House on Wednesday.

“While the road ahead will be long, their country will be with them every single step of the way. That’s who we are, and that’s how we treat our family and friends and our neighbors wherever they are in the country,” he said.

“We’re going to help them recover.”

Insurance claims related to Monday’s tornado and storm in metropolitan Oklahoma City are likely to top $2 billion, said Kelly Collins, a representative of the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

Craig Fugate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, told CNN the agency is in “good shape” to support the recovery in Oklahoma and in other disaster zones, such as rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York.

“We got full allocation last year with the Sandy supplemental funds. We are looking to continue the response here as well as the previous disasters.”

But “if we have another hurricane, we may need more money,” he said Wednesday.

Severe weather moves east

For her part, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano traveled to Moore to thank first responders and show her support.

“Our commitment is to be here for the duration — to work with our federal, state, tribal, local and community partners in the coming days, weeks and months to help you recover and rebuild from this terrible tragedy and emerge even stronger,” she said.

Those helping in Moore include police and firefighters from Joplin, Missouri — a city all too familiar with grief and devastation.

Wednesday marks the second anniversary of a tornado that pulverized Joplin, killing at least 158 people. It was the deadliest single U.S. tornado since federal record-keeping began in 1950.

“We remember the amount of assistance that we received following the tornado two years ago, and we want to help others as they helped us,” said Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr.

“We know too well what their community is facing, and we feel an obligation to serve them as they have served us.”

Opinion: We love and fear the Oklahoma skies

‘We just didn’t get there fast enough’

Help came from seemingly everywhere the day the tornado struck.

Dustin Ellison ran to the rubble of a convenience store to help get at people trapped in a freezer, which had collapsed.

“It was one big pile of rubble. We knew people had went in the freezer, and we knew that there was no way they had come out,” he told CNN’s Tapper.

“We just didn’t get there fast enough.”

One of the victims Ellison and the others found there was 29-year-old Megan Futrell. Another was her infant son, Case.

“She was protecting him,” he said.

“Your instinct, when you see that is, for me, I ran towards it. There’s probably a lot of people that didn’t, or that wouldn’t, but not around here.”

Basements scarce in tornado-prone area — here’s why

Moore in bull’s-eye twice, science may know why

CNN’s Chelsea J. Carter, Kyung Lah, Sara Weisfeldt, Nick Valenica, Brian Todd, Mayra Cuevas, Anderson Cooper, Gary Tuchman, Ed Lavandera, Pamela Brown and George Howell contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/us/oklahoma-tornado/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/2UUyxwcKyXc/we-are-beginning-recovery-operations

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MAY 23 – NEW DELHI, INDIA: A boy minds his family’s containers as people fill theirs with water. High temperatures are causing a strain on water supplies in Delhi, with many residents having to rely on water being brought in by trucks on a daily basis.

May 22 – VALPARAISO, CHILE: Demonstrators are dispersed by police water cannons during clashes in Valparaiso. Students in Chile have been demanding a fairer education system which would allow those from poorer backgrounds access to the best schools.

MAY 21 – MOORE, OKLAHOMA : Debris covers the ground after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20. It tore through a highly populated area, wiping out entire neighborhoods, schools and other buildings.

MAY 20 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Young South Koreans participate in a traditional Confucian coming-of-age ceremony in Seoul. The ceremony celebrates young people who have turned, or are going to turn, 20 this year and is meant to increase their awareness about the responsibilities of adulthood.

MAY 17 – SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Name cards with wishes of Buddhist followers are attached to lotus lanterns during a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of Buddha at Jogye temple. Buddhism is one of South Korea’s largest and most active religions with millions of followers. Although the exact date is unknown, Buddha’s official birthday is celebrated according to the lunisolar calendar, on the eighth day of the fourth month.

MAY 15 – NEW YORK, U.S.: The new “Rain Room” installation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City creates a field of falling water that stops in the area where people walk through, allowing them to remain dry. The piece releases a 260-gallon of water per minute.

MAY 14 – POPOCATEPETL, MEXICO: Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano has been rumbling with explosions and expulsions of ash and gas, prompting authorities to bar people from getting close to a crater that is within sight of Mexico City and many of its 19 million residents.

MAY 13 – WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron meet in the White House to foster the “special relationship” between their countries. Despite talk of Britain considering an EU exit, the bonds between U.S. and UK remain strong.

MAY 11 – CAIRO, EGYPT: A supporter of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak holds his portrait outside the Egyptian police academy in Cairo, on the first day of the retrial on May 11, 2013. Mubarak is appealing against his conviction for the murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters during the 2011 uprising.

MAY 10 – LAHORE, PAKISTAN: Supporters of former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif stand on a wall overlooking the field where he held the closing rally of his campaign on May 9, 2013. 86 million voters are due to go to the polls on May 11; the election will be the first civilian-to-civilian transition of power in the country’s 66-year history.

MAY 09 – MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russian soldiers march in Red Square during a Victory Day parade. Fighter jets scream overhead and heavy tanks rumble over cobblestones as Russia flexes its military muscle on the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

MAY 08 – LONDON, ENGLAND: Queen Elizabeth II arrives to the State Opening of Parliament in London. The monarch will mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation later this year and despite being 87 years of age, she’s shown no inclination to step down.

MAY 07 – NEW DELHI, INDIA: Om Dubey, 20, shows off his moves as elderly yoga practitioners sit in the courtyard of a mosque. India’s under-30s, comprising 60% of its 1.2 billion population, represent what experts call the “demographic dividend” of young workers that can help power the economy.

MAY 06 – KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor cut a cake to celebrate the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition victory, which has ruled for 56 years. Vote-rigging allegations and violence marred the most hotly contested election in Malaysian history.

MAY 03 – SAVAR, BANGLADESH: A lady believes her missing relative may be trapped in the rubble of an eight-storey garment factory collapse in Savar on April 24. The rising death toll has surpassed 500 and the country’s PM says Western retailers are partly to blame.

MAY 02 – KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan woman takes part in a pro-democracy demonstration condemning the victory of former mujahideen groups that led to the start of Afghanistan’s 1992-1996 civil war. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the conflict.

MAY 01 – JAKARTA, INDONESIA : Protestors around the world took to the streets to mark the May Day. In Jakarta, crowds demanded higher minimum wages and better working conditions.

APRIL 30 – AMSTERDAM: Queen Beatrix abdicates in favor of her son, King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands. Now known as Princess Beatrix, she greets the crowds accompanied by princesses Amalia, Alexia and Ariane.

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Editor’s note: Each day, CNN brings you an image capturing a moment to remember, defining the present and claiming its place in history. The photographs we select will look ahead to the future and chronicle our changing world.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/defining-moments/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/36E_2VfO1v8/thirst-in-new-delhi

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In March this year, the town of Meiktila in central Myanmar was engulfed in deadly sectarian violence that destroyed whole blocks of housing, shops and mosques.

Thidar Hla (right) pictured at home in Meiktila with her two daughters: Hnin Ei Phyu (far left) and Moe Ei Phyu. They are one of thousands of families was forced to flee during clashes between Muslims and Buddhists.

The remains of one of Meiktila’s mosques after it was attacked and destroyed in the March violence.

They family’s modest home survived the unrest, while thousands of other homes were burned to the ground.

Many other families have not been as lucky, with large parts of Meiktila razed to the ground.

Myanmar’s government has said it will replace all of the houses destroyed during the rioting.

As a result, Muslims like Hnin Ei Phyu can only pray at home.

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Meiktila, Myanmar (CNN) — Nineteen-year-old Hnin Ei Phyu is on her knees at home, whispering her prayers. It’s a small sign of normality in a community where things have been anything but normal in recent months.

This young Muslim woman can’t go inside her family’s mosque because it was shut down after being vandalized. And for more than a month, she had to say her prayers from inside a shelter at a nearby sports stadium in Meiktila, a city in central Myanmar.

Fearing for their lives, Hnin Ei Phyu’s family fled their home on March 20 during the first of three days of rioting that tore apart this city of 100,000 people.

A wave of sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims resulted in the deaths of at least 43 people and displaced thousands more, according to the Myanmar government.

Ethnic violence threatening Myanmar?

Why Buddhists, Muslims clash in Myanmar

Myanmar’s minorities fight for survival

Obama on Myanmar’s ‘flickers of progress’

During the clashes, reportedly set off by a dispute between a Muslim gold shop owner and two Buddhist sellers, rioters set fire to houses, schools and mosques, while people were also beaten, doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Many Muslims complain that the police stood by and did nothing during the violence. The rioting was only stopped after President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency and called in the military. By then thousands had fled their homes in terror.

READ: Despite reforms violence continues

Meiktila’s Muslims were heavily outnumbered and suffered the bulk of the casualties. Few remained in their homes because they were either destroyed by rampaging mobs or it simply wasn’t safe for them to stay there.

It wasn’t until earlier this month that Muslims whose houses were not destroyed were able to leave the shelters and return home.

“Tears came out of my eyes when I got back home,” said Hnin Ei Phyu’s mother, Thidar Hla. “I’m extremely happy to be back home.” But the 43-year old said that when she walks down the streets of this predominantly Buddhist city, it’s clear things are not the way they were before the riots. “We (Muslims and Buddhists) don’t interact with each other the way we used too,” she said. “People are keeping a mental distance between each other.”

Thidar Hla and her extended family share a collection of rickety houses along a side street in a modest neighborhood of Meiktila. A security post manned by police and soldiers has been set up just a short walk away.

Similar arrangements are in place in other parts of the city where Muslims live — a sign of the times since March. “There are soldiers and security guards on each end of the street,” Thidar Hla said, before adding that she hopes they can keep her family safe.

But in areas that bore the brunt of the rioting, little has been rebuilt more than two months on. The blackened frames of burned down homes are all that stand in some places.

Metal sheets that once served as roofs now lie in pieces on the ashen ground. The government says it will replace all of the approximately 1,600 homes that were destroyed — an easier task than repairing the trust between Muslims and Buddhists.

READ: Myanmar accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’

“Right now we don’t trust them and they don’t trust us,” said U Aung Khin, a 50-year-old Buddhist man. Aung Khin is married with five kids between the ages of five and 24. He says he has numerous Muslim friends, but things have been strained since the riots.

“After this we don’t really have to talk. It isn’t necessary for us to talk with each other at all,” he said. “I’m afraid to trust them right now.” He said he used to buy meat from a Muslim butcher but won’t now because he’s afraid his food might be poisoned.

Meanwhile, Thidar Hla’s family says they’re playing it safe by buying their food from other Muslims. She has also instructed her daughter to stay close to home. She’s a student at a local university that has not reopened since the riots.

Hnin Ei Phyu says she has several Buddhist friends at school and is hoping her relationships with them go back to normal. But she hasn’t contacted them since the violence and they haven’t been in touch with her.

Though Myanmar is about 90% Buddhist, Muslims have generally coexisted peacefully with the Buddhist majority — their children go to school together and their parents often work together. But as with Meiktila, ethnic fault lines have been exposed in some areas as the country emerges from decades of military repression.

READ: What’s behind ethnic violence?

Last year, at least 110 people were killed in attacks on Muslims in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The Muslim Rohingya people are a stateless Muslim minority living in Rakhine — thought to number between 800,000 and one million — who claim they were persecuted by Myanmar’s military during its decades of authoritarian rule.

Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or as one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups living in the country. Much of this is rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, now called Bangladesh.

Though many Rohingya have only known life in Myanmar, they are viewed by the Buddhist majority as intruders from across the border.

Across the country, a budding movement known as “969″ has been spreading anti-Muslim sentiment by encouraging Buddhists to avoid Muslim-run businesses. “969″ stickers are increasingly found in businesses and taxis in Yangon, the country’s largest and most ethnically diverse city.

Police recently stepped up patrols in Yangon following the Meiktila clashes, though serious fighting has yet to spread there. However, in several communities within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Yangon, Buddhist mobs reportedly vandalized mosques as well as Muslim businesses and houses.

The wave of religious unrest has prompted the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urge Burmese authorities to allow a delegation to visit Myanmar to discuss the issue — a request the authorities in Naypyidaw have so far rebuffed.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/world/asia/myanmar-religious-violence/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/oOZOs6XGFP0/in-myanmars-sectarian-storm

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An aerial view of the destruction caused by the massive tornado that struck areas south of Oklahoma City on Monday, May 20, shows the magnitude of damage left in its path. The storm’s winds topped 200 mph as it carved a 17-mile path of destruction through Oklahoma City suburbs. On Tuesday, May 21, CNN sent photographer David McNeese to capture the story from above:

The storm, which touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma, spanned 1.3 miles. Some areas along the path were completely flattened.

Officials from the National Weather Service gave the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20 a preliminary EF5 rating — the highest score on the scale that measures tornado intensities.

The tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs, hitting the town of Moore the hardest. It packed winds that topped 200 mph.

A search-and-rescue effort to find survivors shifted Tuesday to one of recovery, officials said.

The devastation in Moore was so complete that the mayor said city officials were racing to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through a suddenly twisted and unfamiliar landscape.

A group of homes was reduced to rubble.

Debris from homes and structures was strewn for miles around.

In some areas, the homes of an entire street were destroyed.

Rescuers and first responders immediately began searching through the rubble of structures on May 20.

Large trees were uprooted and flattened.

Given its breadth and power, the tornado ranks among some of the strongest storms ever to strike the United States, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

Homes in some areas were relatively undamaged while others very nearby were destroyed.

Police, firefighters, volunteers and nearly 180 National Guard troops joined forces Tuesday in searching the rubble and securing areas hit by the storm.

In 1999 and then again in 2003, Moore took direct hits from tornadoes that took eerily similar paths to 2013′s twister. The 1999 storm packed the strongest wind speeds in history, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said.

A section of a bridge outside of Oklahoma City was blown off its foundation.

The path of the tornado is clearly visible with dirt and debris painting a wide path across the Oklahoma landscape.

The scene — block after block of flattened homes and businesses, the gutted remains of a hospital and hits on two elementary schools — left even seasoned veterans of Oklahoma’s infamous tornadoes reeling.

View more galleries: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma City area and The devastating Oklahoma tornado of 1999.

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Country star Toby Keith tours the damage in his hometown of Moore, Oklahoma on AC360 tonight, 8pm ET.

For local coverage of Monday’s devastating storms in Oklahoma, go to these CNN affiliates: KFOR, KOCO and KOKH.

(CNN) — With everyone missing now accounted for from this week’s deadly tornado, the long and difficult work of recovery can begin.

“We are, we hope, in the recovery stages now,” Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.

“It’s going to take a while to get through all this, and we certainly are making a plan to move by stages.”

Teachers from Fairview Elementary School help clean up former school counselor Kay Taylor’s home in south Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 22, two days after an extremely powerful tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma. View more photos of the aftermath in the region and another gallery of aerial shots of the damage.

Jake English, 12, cleans up retired school counselor Kay Taylor’s home on May 22 in south Oklahoma City, just west of Moore. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that began in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, May 19.

A man talks on his cell phone in front of a destroyed house on May 22.

A man looks through a pile of clothing at a roadside relief camp on May 22 in Moore.

Volunteers form a chain to retrieve clothing and other household items on May 22.

Jon Booth moves a piece of debris from his mother’s destroyed home across the street from Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22.

Matt Johnson salvages items from his grandparents’ home on Tuesday, May 21.

Two men fold an American flag found in the debris of a house on May 21 in Moore.

A young girl stands among the rubble outside Briarwood Elementary School on May 21.

A doll covered in dirt is among the rubble scattered throughout a neighborhood in Moore on May 21.

Bonnie Lolofie, left, and Ashley Do carry belongings from their apartment, which has no power, on May 21.

Residents salvage belongings from their demolished homes in Moore on May 21.

Kelli Kannady weeps after finding a box of photographs of her late husband in the rubble near where her home once stood in Moore on May 21.

Tufts of pink insulation hang from the rafters of a store in Moore on May 21 that was destroyed in the storm.

Natalie Johnson searches through her mother’s destroyed car outside Briarwood Elementary School in Moore on May 21.

Rescuers dig out a house in Moore on May 21.

June Simson embraces her cat Sammi after she found him standing among the rubble of her destroyed home in Moore on May 21.

A man stands on the roof of a destroyed home in Moore on May 21.

A man helps move a resident’s belongings from a destroyed home on May 21 in Moore.

Air Force Airman First Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law’s home in Moore on May 21.

People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore.

People sort through a leveled home in Moore on May 21.

Debris lies among headstones in the Moore Cemetery on May 21.

Workers clean up the Warren movie theater in Moore on May 21.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett surveys damage in Moore on May 21.

Piles of debris lie around the north side of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore on May 21.

As dawn breaks, storm clouds roll in over a devastated neighborhood in Moore on May 21.

Members of the Oklahoma National Guard look for survivors in rubble in Moore on May 21.

A National Guardsman assists in the search for victims on May 21.

A rescue worker leads a horse from the wreckage of a day care center and barns on Monday, May 20, in Moore.

Men tie an American flag on debris in a neighborhood off Telephone Road in Moore on May 20.

Children wait for their parents to arrive at Briarwood Elementary School in south Oklahoma City on May 20.

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20.

Teachers lead children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. Read more about the photo.

A fire official drives through the rubble of Moore Medical Center on May 20.

Abby Madi, left, and Peterson Zatterlee comfort Zatterlee’s dog, Rippy, on Monday, May 20, in Moore.

A woman is treated for her injuries on May 20 at a triage area set up for the wounded.

Two girls stand in rubble in Moore.

Rescue workers help free one of more than a dozen people who were trapped at a medical center in Moore on May 20.

Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp on May 20 as he sits in his rocking chair where his home once stood.

A nurse helps an older man who suffered a head injury on May 20 in Moore.

Cars marked with an orange X, meaning they have been checked for occupants, are piled up in front of the entrance to the damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20.

Jim Routon hugs his neighbor, 7-year-old Hezekiah, after the tornado strikes on May 20. An earlier version of this caption incorrectly stated that Routon was Hezekiah’s teacher. See an interview with the pair.

People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20.

Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house in Moore on May 20.

Residents look through the debris in Moore on May 20.

A man looks through the remains of a home after the massive tornado struck Moore on May 20.

A woman is transported on a stretcher after she was rescued from the damaged medical center in Moore on May 20.

A woman walks through debris in Moore on May 20.

A man is taken away from the IMAX Theater in Moore that was used as a triage center on May 20.

A girl wraps herself in a blanket near the Moore Hospital on May 20.

A nurse walks by the destruction at a Moore hospital on May 20.

Destroyed cars scatter the landscape in Moore, Oklahoma, where hundreds of homes and buildings were put to ruin on May 20.

A woman with an arm injury is helped on May 20 in Moore.

Extensive damage from the tornado destroyed cars and demolished structures in Moore on May 20.

Onlookers stop to view a portion of the destruction left behind on May 20 in Moore.

Overturned cars are among the rubble from the tornado that hit Moore on May 20.

A woman is comforted after the May 20 tornado in Moore.

A shredded tree stands amid debris in the aftermath of the storm in Moore on May 20.

A shopping center parking lot is covered with debris and damaged cars on May 20.

Law enforcement officers block a roadway in Moore where there was extensive damage from the tornado.

A massive tornado approaches Moore on May 20. The storm first touched down to the west of the city near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Visit CNN.com/impact for ways to help the victims.

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Photos: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma

Rescue dogs help find storm survivors

Storm Chaser pulls 15 people from rubble

Doctors protected patients during twister

At least 24 people, including 10 children, were killed in Monday’s monster tornado. Another 353 people were injured.

The twister ripped through 17 miles of central Oklahoma and pummeled 2,400 homes. The hardest-hit city was Moore.

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis told Tapper, also Wednesday, that six people previously unaccounted for have been located.

Five were found alive. The sixth is dead, and the body was located at the medical examiner’s office. The mayor was not sure whether that death was included in the official count of 24.

He also told CNN that he would push for a law requiring storm shelters or safe rooms in new homes.

“What we will do is get the stakeholders here in the city … and we’ll discuss what we think we need to have,” he said.

“Anybody that lives in any tornado area should have (a storm shelter), but it’s just the matter of cost.”

Young lives remembered

One of the most heartbreaking scenes in Moore is a pile of wreckage where Plaza Towers Elementary School once stood.

Seven of the 10 children killed in the storm were inside the school when it collapsed.

Heroes or just doing their jobs? Teachers save lives during tornado

Terrified children, teachers’ heroics, no shelter: Inside a tornado-ravaged school

The children were in a classroom, Moore Fire Chief Gary Bird told CNN on Wednesday. He also said their deaths “had nothing to do with flooding, from what I understand.” On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told CNN the youngsters had drowned in a school basement.

Local resident Adam Baker said he rushed to the school to help in the aftermath. He found some children who had died in a shallow space.

“The ones that were deceased had bumps, scrapes, and they probably would have made it if they weren’t pinned. It looked like most of them just drowned — all blue and stuff.” Pieces of pipe, metal, desks, 2-by-4s, and other debris were on them, he said.

Officials have not yet released official causes of death.

Opinion: We love and fear the Oklahoma skies

Kyle Davis, 8, was one of the victims.

His family said he loved going with his grandpa to see Monster Trucks and playing soccer.

“I am angry to an extent. I know the schools did what they thought they could do but with us living in Oklahoma, tornado shelters should be in every school,” Kyle’s mother, Mikki Dixon Davis, told CNN.

Her daughter, who was also at Plaza Towers when the storm struck, survived.

“There should be a place that if this ever happened again during school that kids can get to a safe place,” she said. “That we don’t have to sit there and go through rubble … and may not ever find what we’re looking for.”

Read more: The photo that shows the best of us

Heroes or just doing their jobs? Teachers save lives during Okla. tornado

Woman reveals grandparents missing

Teacher impaled while protecting class

Reality sets after deadly tornado

Photographer on tornado: It’s shocking

Destruction on a colossal scale

Damage assessments showed the tornado had winds over 200 mph at times, making it an EF5 — the strongest category of tornadoes measured, the National Weather Service said.

Mayor Lewis said the devastation was so catastrophic that city officials rushed to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through the newly mangled and unfamiliar landscape.

President Obama will travel to the area Sunday to witness the damage, the White House announced.

Insurance claims related to Monday’s tornado and storm in metropolitan Oklahoma City are likely to top $2 billion, said Kelly Collins, a representative of the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

Craig Fugate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, told CNN the agency is in “good shape” to support the recovery in Oklahoma and in other disaster zones, such as rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York.

“We got full allocation last year with the Sandy supplemental funds. We are looking to continue the response here as well as the previous disasters.”

But “if we have another hurricane, we may need more money,” he said Wednesday.

Severe weather moves east

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano traveled to Moore on Wednesday to thank first responders and show her support.

“Our commitment is to be here for the duration — to work with our federal, state, tribal, local and community partners in the coming days, weeks and months to help you recover and rebuild from this terrible tragedy and emerge even stronger,” she said.

Those helping in Moore include police and firefighters from Joplin, Missouri — a city all too familiar with grief and devastation.

Wednesday marks the second anniversary of a tornado that pulverized Joplin, killing at least 158 people. It was the deadliest single U.S. tornado since federal record-keeping began in 1950.

“We remember the amount of assistance that we received following the tornado two years ago, and we want to help others as they helped us,” said Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr.

“We know too well what their community is facing, and we feel an obligation to serve them as they have served us.”

Opinion: We love and fear the Oklahoma skies

‘Still can’t believe this’

Some residents of Moore ventured back to where their homes once stood, only to find unrecognizable scraps of their lives.

“You just want to break down and cry,” Steve Wilkerson said, his voice trembling.

He held a laundry basket that contained the few intact belongings he could find.

“I still can’t believe this is happening. You work 20 years, and then it’s gone in 15 minutes.”

Basements scarce in tornado-prone area — here’s why

Moore in bull’s-eye twice, science may know why

CNN’s Chelsea J. Carter, Kyung Lah, Sara Weisfeldt, Nick Valenica, Brian Todd, Mayra Cuevas, Anderson Cooper, Gary Tuchman, Ed Lavandera, Pamela Brown and George Howell contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/us/oklahoma-tornado/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/vwy4y5kp4V4/no-more-missing-in-tornado-torn-area

Editor’s note: Peter Bergen is CNN’s national security analyst, a director at the New America Foundation and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden — From 9/11 to Abbottabad,” the basis for the HBO documentary “Manhunt” that will be shown on CNN on May 24. Jennifer Rowland is a research associate at the New America Foundation.

(CNN) — On Thursday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech in Washington about his administration’s counterterrorism policies, focusing on the rationale and legal framework for the controversial CIA drone program and his plans to wind down the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

So we thought it might be useful to examine some common myths about the drone program and the prison population at Guantanamo.

1. Drone strikes largely target the leaders of terrorist groups that threaten the United States.

In fact, of the thousands who have been killed in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, only 37 were leaders of al Qaeda or affiliated organizations, according to a tally by the New America Foundation. And even if we add to that list the leaders of the Taliban who have been killed in drone strikes, only 2% of the victims of the CIA strikes in Pakistan have been militant leaders.

The drone program, which began more than a decade ago as a tool to kill leaders of terrorist groups, has evolved today into a counterinsurgency air force whose principal victims in Pakistan are lower-level members of the Taliban.

2. Drone strikes target specific terrorists who pose some kind of imminent threat to the U.S.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser and now CIA Director John Brennan said in a speech last year that “in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives — the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists.”

That’s only partly true, because the CIA has also has occasionally conducted “signature strikes” against groups of men who display a particular behavioral “signature” that indicates they may be militants. In these cases, the targeter does not know the identity of the persons in the drone cross hairs.

3. Drone strikes kill a lot of civilians.

That was certainly once the case. Under President George W. Bush, the proportion of those killed by drones in Pakistan who were identified in reliable news reports as civilians or “unknowns” — people who were not identified definitively as either civilians or militants — was around 40%, according to data assembled by the New America Foundation.

But the civilian and “unknown” casualty rate from drone strikes has fallen steadily over the life of the program. Under Obama that number has fallen to 16%. And in 2012 it was around 11%.

In 2012, 2% of the drones’ victims were characterized as civilians in news reports and 9% were described in a manner that made it ambiguous whether they were militants or civilians.

And in 2013, civilian casualties are at their lowest ever. That is partly the result of a sharply reduced number of drone strikes in Pakistan — 12 so far in 2013, compared with a record 122 in 2010 — and also more precise targeting. According to data collected by the New America Foundation, three to five “unknown” individuals have been killed so far in drone strikes in 2013. Two other organizations that track the CIA drone program in Pakistan, the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Long War Journal, report zero to four civilian deaths and 11 civilian deaths respectively.

4. The United States has no reason to worry about the legal framework governing drone strikes because it is so dominant in drone technology.

Only three countries currently are confirmed to possess armed drones — Israel, the United Kingdom and the U.S. But some 80 countries have drones, according to a count by the New America Foundation, and a number of them may already be able to arm them.

In February, a Chinese state-run newspaper reported that the Chinese government had contemplated deploying an armed drone in a remote, mountainous area to kill a drug lord, but decided instead to capture him.

Iran unveiled what it claimed was its first armed drone in 2010.

During a speech last week at the New America Foundation, the U.N. special rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson, estimated that “within a matter of certainly a year or two, other states will be deploying the technology, and within five years or so we will see a number of states and possibly nonstate actors deploying similar types of combat technology.”

Emmerson also pointed out that the rapid proliferation of drone technology means whatever legal framework the United States puts together to justify its targeted killing campaign “has to be a framework that we can live with if it is being used by Iran when it is deploying drones against Iranian dissidents hiding inside the territory of Syria or Turkey or Iraq.” A sobering and instructive thought.

5. The Pakistani government gives a wink and a nod to the drone program, providing tacit approval for its continuation.

It is true that Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf quietly agreed to allow the CIA’s targeted killing campaign to begin in 2004. But the program has become deeply controversial and unpopular in Pakistan because of the perception that it kills many civilians and that it erodes Pakistan’s national sovereignty.

In April 2012, the Pakistani parliament voted unanimously to rescind any previous permission that had been granted by the government for the CIA to conduct the targeted killing program.

During Ben Emmerson’s visit to Pakistan in March to discuss the CIA drone program with top officials, the point made to him “consistently, right across government, at the highest level and throughout, was that there is no continuing consent to the use of drones on Pakistani territory.”

The next Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected on May 11 with a clear mandate, has urged an end to the drone strikes, telling reporters, “Drones indeed are challenging our sovereignty. Of course we have taken this matter up very seriously. I think this is a very serious issue, and our concern must be understood properly.”

6. Obama is soft on terrorists.

The CIA has conducted 355 drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions since the targeted killing program began there in 2004. The vast majority of these — 307 to be precise — were carried out under Obama.

Even if you take the most conservative estimate of the numbers of people the Obama administration has killed in drone strikes in Pakistan, 1,600, that is around twice the total number of prisoners that Bush sent to Guantanamo.

7. Many of the Guantanamo detainees who have been released return to the battlefield.

Gitmo prisoners being force-fed

The U.S. government claims that 27% of those released from Guantanamo are suspected or confirmed to have taken up arms. For security reasons the government hasn’t released the names of these men since 2009, but a review of the public record suggests that number is quite inflated.

According to a review by the New America Foundation of news articles, Pentagon reports, and other relevant documents, of the 603 detainees who have been released from the prison, only 17 individuals (2.8%) are confirmed to have engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities against the United States or its citizens, while 21 individuals (3.5%) are suspected of engaging in such activities.

8. The detainees still held at Guantanamo are too dangerous to release.

Some undoubtedly are, such as the operational commander of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But contrary to the fulminations of officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina — who said last year that Guantanamo detainees are “crazy bastards that want to kill us all” — half of the men still held at the prison camp were cleared for release three years ago by a task force of Department of Justice and Pentagon officials.

To be exact, 86 of the 166 men still imprisoned at Guantanamo were either found to be guilty of nothing, or were low-level fighters who could be repatriated subject to some continued monitoring by their home country’s government.

9. There are no benefits for the U.S. to release additional prisoners from Guantanamo.

Obama correctly said of Guantanamo in April, “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

The cost per year to keep one prisoner at Guantanamo is estimated to be $800,000, more than 30 times the cost of keeping a prisoner in a jail in the United States. And the Pentagon is asking Congress to approve a $200 million renovation plan for the prison.

The prisoners at Guantanamo have also featured frequently in jihadist propaganda, making it a recruitment tool for would-be al Qaeda members.

There is also a way forward through Guantanamo to obtaining some kind of peace deal with the Taliban. As a “confidence-building measure” for peace negotiations, theTaliban have agreed to release the only U.S. prisoner of war, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in exchange for a handful of senior Taliban figures being held at Guantanamo, who would then be held under some form of house arrest in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. This deal is a precondition for continuing serious peace talks with the Taliban.

The 27-year-old soldier has been in captivity since the Taliban seized him on June 30, 2009.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter.

Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/opinion/bergen-nine-myths-drones-gitmo/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/-qTeznZXnk8/9-counterterrorism-myths

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An aerial view of the destruction caused by the massive tornado that struck areas south of Oklahoma City on Monday, May 20, shows the magnitude of damage left in its path. The storm’s winds topped 200 mph as it carved a 17-mile path of destruction through Oklahoma City suburbs. On Tuesday, May 21, CNN sent photographer David McNeese to capture the story from above:

The storm, which touched down near Newcastle, Oklahoma, spanned 1.3 miles. Some areas along the path were completely flattened.

Officials from the National Weather Service gave the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20 a preliminary EF5 rating — the highest score on the scale that measures tornado intensities.

The tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs, hitting the town of Moore the hardest. It packed winds that topped 200 mph.

A search-and-rescue effort to find survivors shifted Tuesday to one of recovery, officials said.

The devastation in Moore was so complete that the mayor said city officials were racing to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through a suddenly twisted and unfamiliar landscape.

A group of homes was reduced to rubble.

Debris from homes and structures was strewn for miles around.

In some areas, the homes of an entire street were destroyed.

Rescuers and first responders immediately began searching through the rubble of structures on May 20.

Large trees were uprooted and flattened.

Given its breadth and power, the tornado ranks among some of the strongest storms ever to strike the United States, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said.

Homes in some areas were relatively undamaged while others very nearby were destroyed.

Police, firefighters, volunteers and nearly 180 National Guard troops joined forces Tuesday in searching the rubble and securing areas hit by the storm.

In 1999 and then again in 2003, Moore took direct hits from tornadoes that took eerily similar paths to 2013′s twister. The 1999 storm packed the strongest wind speeds in history, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb said.

A section of a bridge outside of Oklahoma City was blown off its foundation.

The path of the tornado is clearly visible with dirt and debris painting a wide path across the Oklahoma landscape.

The scene — block after block of flattened homes and businesses, the gutted remains of a hospital and hits on two elementary schools — left even seasoned veterans of Oklahoma’s infamous tornadoes reeling.

View more galleries: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma City area and The devastating Oklahoma tornado of 1999.

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Country star Toby Keith tours the damage in his hometown of Moore, Oklahoma on AC360 tonight, 8pm ET.

For local coverage of Monday’s devastating storms in Oklahoma, go to these CNN affiliates: KFOR, KOCO and KOKH.

(CNN) — The mayor of tornado-ravaged Moore, Oklahoma, will push for a law requiring storm shelters or safe rooms in new homes, he told CNN Wednesday.

“We’ll try to get it passed as soon as I can,” Glenn Lewis said.

The ordinance would apply to single-family and multifamily homes.

At least 24 people, including 10 children, were killed in Monday’s mammoth tornado, the state medical examiner’s office said. Another 324 people were injured, Gov. Mary Fallin said Wednesday.

Lewis said he does not expect the death toll to rise.

But Albert Ashwood, the state’s emergency management director, said six people remain unaccounted for.

The twister ripped through 17 miles of central Oklahoma and pummeled 2,400 homes.

Teachers from Fairview Elementary School help clean up former school counselor Kay Taylor’s home in south Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 22, two days after an extremely powerful tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma. View more photos of the aftermath in the region and another gallery of aerial shots of the damage.

Jake English, 12, cleans up retired school counselor Kay Taylor’s home on May 22 in south Oklahoma City, just west of Moore. The storm was part of a tornado outbreak that began in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday, May 19.

A man talks on his cell phone in front of a destroyed house on May 22.

A man looks through a pile of clothing at a roadside relief camp on May 22 in Moore.

Volunteers form a chain to retrieve clothing and other household items on May 22.

Jon Booth moves a piece of debris from his mother’s destroyed home across the street from Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 22.

Matt Johnson salvages items from his grandparents’ home on Tuesday, May 21.

Two men fold an American flag found in the debris of a house on May 21 in Moore.

A young girl stands among the rubble outside Briarwood Elementary School on May 21.

A doll covered in dirt is among the rubble scattered throughout a neighborhood in Moore on May 21.

Bonnie Lolofie, left, and Ashley Do carry belongings from their apartment, which has no power, on May 21.

Residents salvage belongings from their demolished homes in Moore on May 21.

Kelli Kannady weeps after finding a box of photographs of her late husband in the rubble near where her home once stood in Moore on May 21.

Tufts of pink insulation hang from the rafters of a store in Moore on May 21 that was destroyed in the storm.

Natalie Johnson searches through her mother’s destroyed car outside Briarwood Elementary School in Moore on May 21.

Rescuers dig out a house in Moore on May 21.

June Simson embraces her cat Sammi after she found him standing among the rubble of her destroyed home in Moore on May 21.

A man stands on the roof of a destroyed home in Moore on May 21.

A man helps move a resident’s belongings from a destroyed home on May 21 in Moore.

Air Force Airman First Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law’s home in Moore on May 21.

People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore.

People sort through a leveled home in Moore on May 21.

Debris lies among headstones in the Moore Cemetery on May 21.

Workers clean up the Warren movie theater in Moore on May 21.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett surveys damage in Moore on May 21.

Piles of debris lie around the north side of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore on May 21.

As dawn breaks, storm clouds roll in over a devastated neighborhood in Moore on May 21.

Members of the Oklahoma National Guard look for survivors in rubble in Moore on May 21.

A National Guardsman assists in the search for victims on May 21.

A rescue worker leads a horse from the wreckage of a day care center and barns on Monday, May 20, in Moore.

Men tie an American flag on debris in a neighborhood off Telephone Road in Moore on May 20.

Children wait for their parents to arrive at Briarwood Elementary School in south Oklahoma City on May 20.

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20.

Teachers lead children away from Briarwood Elementary School on May 20. Read more about the photo.

A fire official drives through the rubble of Moore Medical Center on May 20.

Abby Madi, left, and Peterson Zatterlee comfort Zatterlee’s dog, Rippy, on Monday, May 20, in Moore.

A woman is treated for her injuries on May 20 at a triage area set up for the wounded.

Two girls stand in rubble in Moore.

Rescue workers help free one of more than a dozen people who were trapped at a medical center in Moore on May 20.

Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp on May 20 as he sits in his rocking chair where his home once stood.

A nurse helps an older man who suffered a head injury on May 20 in Moore.

Cars marked with an orange X, meaning they have been checked for occupants, are piled up in front of the entrance to the damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20.

Jim Routon hugs his neighbor, 7-year-old Hezekiah, after the tornado strikes on May 20. An earlier version of this caption incorrectly stated that Routon was Hezekiah’s teacher. See an interview with the pair.

People look through the wreckage of their neighborhood after a tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20.

Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house in Moore on May 20.

Residents look through the debris in Moore on May 20.

A man looks through the remains of a home after the massive tornado struck Moore on May 20.

A woman is transported on a stretcher after she was rescued from the damaged medical center in Moore on May 20.

A woman walks through debris in Moore on May 20.

A man is taken away from the IMAX Theater in Moore that was used as a triage center on May 20.

A girl wraps herself in a blanket near the Moore Hospital on May 20.

A nurse walks by the destruction at a Moore hospital on May 20.

Destroyed cars scatter the landscape in Moore, Oklahoma, where hundreds of homes and buildings were put to ruin on May 20.

A woman with an arm injury is helped on May 20 in Moore.

Extensive damage from an EF4 tornado destroyed cars and demolished structures in Moore on May 20.

Onlookers stop to view a portion of the destruction left behind on May 20 in Moore.

Overturned cars are among the rubble from the tornado that hit Moore on May 20.

A woman is comforted after the May 20 tornado in Moore.

A shredded tree stands amid debris in the aftermath of the storm in Moore on May 20.

A shopping center parking lot is covered with debris and damaged cars on May 20.

Law enforcement officers block a roadway in Moore where there was extensive damage from the tornado.

A massive tornado approaches Moore on May 20. The storm first touched down to the west of the city near Newcastle, Oklahoma. Visit CNN.com/impact for ways to help the victims.

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Photos: Deadly tornado hits Oklahoma

Rescue dogs help find storm survivors

Storm Chaser pulls 15 people from rubble

Doctors protected patients during twister

Heroes or just doing their jobs? Teachers save lives during tornado

Cassandra Jenkins has no idea what happened to her grandparents, more than a day after the twister struck their hometown of Moore.

“All we know is that their home is still left standing. However, they have not been seen or heard from since the storm hit,” she said as her daughters clutched photos of their great-grandparents.

Terrified children, teachers’ heroics, no shelter: Inside a tornado-ravaged school

“We’ve tried to locate them at every hospital, every shelter, every Red Cross. Anything we could possibly reach out to, we have.”

President Obama will travel to the area Sunday to witness the devastation first-hand, the White House announced.

Young lives remembered

One of the most heartbreaking scenes in Moore is the pile of wreckage where Plaza Towers Elementary School once stood.

Seven of the 10 children killed in the storm were inside the school when it collapsed.

The children were in a classroom, Moore Fire Chief Gary Bird told CNN Wednesday. He also said their deaths “had nothing to do with flooding, from what I understand.” On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told CNN the youngsters had drowned in a school basement.

Local resident Adam Baker told CNN he rushed to the school to help in the aftermath. He found some children who had died in a shallow space.

“The ones that were deceased had bumps, scrapes, and they probably would have made it if they weren’t pinned. It looked like most of them just drowned — all blue and stuff.” Pieces of pipe, metal, desks, 2-by-4s, and other debris were on them, he said.

Officials have not yet released official causes of death.

Ja’Nae Hornsby, 9, was one of them.

Opinion: We love and fear the Oklahoma skies

“There’s no other kid like her,” Ja’Nae’s aunt Angela Hornsby said. “She’s the sweetest thing, the bossiest thing, the most fun, always trying to make us laugh.”

Ja’Nae’s father, Joshua Hornsby, isn’t ready to accept that his little girl is gone.

“I’m still hoping for that call to say, ‘We’ve made a mistake,’” he said. “I just pray that’s what it is.”

Read more: The photo that shows the best of us

Heroes or just doing their jobs? Teachers save lives during Okla. tornado

Woman reveals grandparents missing

Teacher impaled while protecting class

Reality sets after deadly tornado

Photographer on tornado: It’s shocking

Destruction on a colossal scale

Damage assessments Tuesday showed the tornado had winds over 200 mph at times, making it an EF5 — the strongest category of tornadoes measured, the National Weather Service said.

Lewis said the devastation was so catastrophic that city officials rushed to print new street signs to help guide rescuers and residents through the newly mangled and unfamiliar landscape.

Insurance claims related to damage from Monday’s tornado and storm in metropolitan Oklahoma City are likely to top $2 billion, said Kelly Collins, a representative of the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

Craig Fugate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, told CNN the agency is in “good shape” to support the recovery in Oklahoma and in other disaster zones, such as rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York. “We got full allocation last year with the Sandy supplemental funds. We are looking to continue the response here as well as the previous disasters.”

But “if we have another hurricane, we may need more money,” he said Wednesday.

About 10,000 customers remained without power on Wednesday, down from 37,000, Governor Fallin said.

Severe weather moves east

Those helping in Moore include police and firefighters from Joplin, Missouri — a city all too familiar with grief and devastation.

Wednesday marks the second anniversary of the tornado that pulverized Joplin, killing at least 158 people. It was the deadliest single U.S. tornado since federal record-keeping began in 1950.

“We remember the amount of assistance that we received following the tornado two years ago, and we want to help others as they helped us,” Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said.

“We know too well what their community is facing, and we feel an obligation to serve them as they have served us.”

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Some residents of Moore ventured back to where their homes once stood, only to find unrecognizable scraps of their lives.

“You just want to break down and cry,” Steve Wilkerson said, his voice trembling.

He held a laundry basket that contained the few intact belongings he could find.

“I still can’t believe this is happening. You work 20 years, and then it’s gone in 15 minutes.”

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CNN’s Sara Weisfeldt, Nick Valenica, Josh Levs, Brian Todd, Mayra Cuevas, Anderson Cooper, Gary Tuchman, Ed Lavandera, Dana Ford, Pamela Brown and George Howell contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/us/oklahoma-tornado/index.html?eref=edition

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In March this year, the town of Meiktila in central Myanmar was engulfed in deadly sectarian violence that destroyed whole blocks of housing, shops and mosques.

Thidar Hla (right) pictured at home in Meiktila with her two daughters: Hnin Ei Phyu (far left) and Moe Ei Phyu. They are one of thousands of families was forced to flee during clashes between Muslims and Buddhists.

The remains of one of Meiktila’s mosques after it was attacked and destroyed in the March violence.

They family’s modest home survived the unrest, while thousands of other homes were burned to the ground.

Many other families have not been as lucky, with large parts of Meiktila razed to the ground.

Myanmar’s government has said it will replace all of the houses destroyed during the rioting.

As a result, Muslims like Hnin Ei Phyu can only pray at home.

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Meiktila, Myanmar (CNN) — Nineteen-year-old Hnin Ei Phyu is on her knees at home, whispering her prayers. It’s a small sign of normality in a community where things have been anything but normal in recent months.

This young Muslim woman can’t go inside her family’s mosque because it was shut down after being vandalized. And for more than a month, she had to say her prayers from inside a shelter at a nearby sports stadium in Meiktila, a city in central Myanmar.

Fearing for their lives, Hnin Ei Phyu’s family fled their home on March 20 during the first of three days of rioting that tore apart this city of 100,000 people.

A wave of sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims resulted in the deaths of at least 43 people and displaced thousands more, according to the Myanmar government.

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During the clashes, reportedly set off by a dispute between a Muslim gold shop owner and two Buddhist sellers, rioters set fire to houses, schools and mosques, while people were also beaten, doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Many Muslims complain that the police stood by and did nothing during the violence. The rioting was only stopped after President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency and called in the military. By then thousands had fled their homes in terror.

READ: Despite reforms violence continues

Meiktila’s Muslims were heavily outnumbered and suffered the bulk of the casualties. Few remained in their homes because they were either destroyed by rampaging mobs or it simply wasn’t safe for them to stay there.

It wasn’t until earlier this month that Muslims whose houses were not destroyed were able to leave the shelters and return home.

“Tears came out of my eyes when I got back home,” said Hnin Ei Phyu’s mother, Thidar Hla. “I’m extremely happy to be back home.” But the 43-year old said that when she walks down the streets of this predominantly Buddhist city, it’s clear things are not the way they were before the riots. “We (Muslims and Buddhists) don’t interact with each other the way we used too,” she said. “People are keeping a mental distance between each other.”

Thidar Hla and her extended family share a collection of rickety houses along a side street in a modest neighborhood of Meiktila. A security post manned by police and soldiers has been set up just a short walk away.

Similar arrangements are in place in other parts of the city where Muslims live — a sign of the times since March. “There are soldiers and security guards on each end of the street,” Thidar Hla said, before adding that she hopes they can keep her family safe.

But in areas that bore the brunt of the rioting, little has been rebuilt more than two months on. The blackened frames of burned down homes are all that stand in some places.

Metal sheets that once served as roofs now lie in pieces on the ashen ground. The government says it will replace all of the approximately 1,600 homes that were destroyed — an easier task than repairing the trust between Muslims and Buddhists.

READ: Myanmar accused of ‘ethnic cleansing’

“Right now we don’t trust them and they don’t trust us,” said U Aung Khin, a 50-year-old Buddhist man. Aung Khin is married with five kids between the ages of five and 24. He says he has numerous Muslim friends, but things have been strained since the riots.

“After this we don’t really have to talk. It isn’t necessary for us to talk with each other at all,” he said. “I’m afraid to trust them right now.” He said he used to buy meat from a Muslim butcher but won’t now because he’s afraid his food might be poisoned.

Meanwhile, Thidar Hla’s family says they’re playing it safe by buying their food from other Muslims. She has also instructed her daughter to stay close to home. She’s a student at a local university that has not reopened since the riots.

Hnin Ei Phyu says she has several Buddhist friends at school and is hoping her relationships with them go back to normal. But she hasn’t contacted them since the violence and they haven’t been in touch with her.

Though Myanmar is about 90% Buddhist, Muslims have generally coexisted peacefully with the Buddhist majority — their children go to school together and their parents often work together. But as with Meiktila, ethnic fault lines have been exposed in some areas as the country emerges from decades of military repression.

READ: What’s behind ethnic violence?

Last year, at least 110 people were killed in attacks on Muslims in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The Muslim Rohingya people are a stateless Muslim minority living in Rakhine — thought to number between 800,000 and one million — who claim they were persecuted by Myanmar’s military during its decades of authoritarian rule.

Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or as one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups living in the country. Much of this is rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, now called Bangladesh.

Though many Rohingya have only known life in Myanmar, they are viewed by the Buddhist majority as intruders from across the border.

Across the country, a budding movement known as “969″ has been spreading anti-Muslim sentiment by encouraging Buddhists to avoid Muslim-run businesses. “969″ stickers are increasingly found in businesses and taxis in Yangon, the country’s largest and most ethnically diverse city.

Police recently stepped up patrols in Yangon following the Meiktila clashes, though serious fighting has yet to spread there. However, in several communities within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Yangon, Buddhist mobs reportedly vandalized mosques as well as Muslim businesses and houses.

The wave of religious unrest has prompted the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urge Burmese authorities to allow a delegation to visit Myanmar to discuss the issue — a request the authorities in Naypyidaw have so far rebuffed.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/22/world/asia/myanmar-religious-violence/index.html?eref=edition

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