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Greek Pensioner Commits Suicide Over Austerity; Look Back at Bosnian War 20 Years Later; Violence Continues Across Syria

Aired April 05, 2012 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MONITA RAJPAL, HOST: Tonight on CONNECT THE WORLD, the pain of austerity laid bare, as tributes were paid to a Greek pensioner who could see no way out other than to take his own life.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN London, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

RAJPAL: In a suicide note, Dimitris Christoulas said the government had wiped out his ability to survive. Tonight, the true human cost of an economic tragedy.

Also this hour, two decades on from the start of a bitter conflict.

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RAJPAL: The former High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina tells me why he fears for the future.

And delving deeper, the campaigners behind "Kony 2012" attempt to silence their critics.

We begin tonight with the death of one man that is stirring the compassion of millions around the world. Greek desperation now has a name: Dimitris Christoulas. Greeks and others are paying tribute to the 77-year- old pensioner who felt he couldn't go on in the face of harsh austerity cuts.

Since he took his own life on Wednesday, protests have erupted and anger is washing over the streets of Greece. The retired pharmacist left a note behind saying there was no dignity in the prospect of looking in the garbage to find enough teat. My colleague Nina Dos Santos looks at what some are saying is a poignant wake-up call for Europe's politicians.

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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing staggering cuts and a six-year recession, many Greeks say that they can't take any more hardship, and some are taking drastic steps.

In Athens, people pause to remember a pensioner who chose to end his life rather than, as he put it, face a future rifling through garbage cans for food.

Seventy-seven-year-old Dimitris Christoulas shot himself at the height of the rush hour in Syntagma Square outside Parliament, a rallying point for Greece's anti-austerity movement.

In a suicide note, the retired pharmacist, a frequent protester himself, charged that recent government reforms had made it impossible for him to survive with dignity. Those paying their respects agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All the people, everyone around the planet, including myself, will be saddened by what happened. The ones who will not be saddened are those 300 up there.

ZOE TSIROGIANNI, HOMEMAKER (through translator): It's a shame, it's a great shame. A shame. He could have been one of us, from our family. We are all heading there. We will all commit suicide.

Today, I got paid my Easter bonus, and instead of 400 euros, I got 180 euros. How will I manage to live on this? There's the rent, my children.

DOS SANTOS: Greeks at both ends of the age spectrum are feeling the pain. Pensions have fallen by as much as 40 percent, while the minimum wage has dropped 32 percent for those under 25.

As the crisis deepens, suicides have also soared, according to the Healthy Ministry. Fifty-five-year-old Apostolis Polyzonis set himself on fire last year after failing to find work. He survived to tell his tale, but he says he has no regrets.

APOSTOLIS POLYZONIS, SURVIVOR: I just wanted to protect -- to protest against a system which destroys people's permanence and fortunes. The situation is becoming every day worse. Every day, jobs close. Every day, people are losing their jobs, and the last step before to do what I did or what another human being yesterday did in Greece.

DOS SANTOS: The death of Dimitris Christoulas has shocked Greece and crystallized anger against austerity weeks before a general election. And as this middle-class activist is laid to rest, Greece is left to weight out the human cost of its economic tragedy as its leaders seek to balance the books.

Nina Dos Santos, CNN, London.

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RAJPAL: Now, keep in mind, Dimitris Christoulas was a trained professional who had paid into his pension for -- pension pot for 35 years. How would you feel if, after all that, you were headed for a soup kitchen?

In a suicide note, this is what he had to say about being turned into a pauper. "Since my advanced age does not allow me a way of dynamically reacting, I see no other solution than this dignified end to my life so I don't find myself fishing through garbage cans for my sustenance."

Well, for his part, family man Yiannis Pantzos is well aware of the suffering of Christoulas and other fellow Greeks caught up in years of recession and austerity. Pantzos was a chief cabin attendant for Olympic Air before being forced into early retirement, and we've been asked -- we've been speaking to him since Greece's crushing debt started to escalate.

Pantzos has seen his monthly income slashed massively. Here's what he told us back in September.

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YIANNIS PANTZOS, GREEK PENSIONER: Personally, I had a 40 percent decrease on my monthly income. My family situation for my wife and four children, so I have to cut further expenses I'm doing on my family budget.

And as this changes rapidly through time, every two months, I'm obliged to do that, so I have an idea that I'm driving myself in no way out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: Well, right now, you're looking at his own pictures of the spontaneous memorial to Dimitris Christoulas. Yiannis Pantzos joins us, now, live from the Greek capital.

Yiannis, thank you very much for being with us. When we see these images of the memorial and the people paying tribute to Mr. Christoulas and, of course, your own story as well, help us understand the desperation that Greeks are feeling at this time.

PANTZOS: The desperation is into everyone, all of us. And I believe this desperation is not expressed with the same -- I could not say courage of this 77-year-old man that suicided yesterday.

But what astonished me and surprised me is that we talk about suicide after over 2,000 suicides that happened in Greece the last year. And the poem for this suicide that happened yesterday is specific because it happened in the shadow of the political house of the Greek parliament. That's why we are talking so much.

But I want to include that the loss of lives, it's not one life of yesterday, it's over 2,000 lives for the year 2011.

RAJPAL: I want to read to you the statements that the Greek prime minister, Lucas Papademos had released through his office. He says in a quote, "It is tragic when a fellow human being takes his own life. In those difficult times for our society, we must all, state and citizens, support those next to us who stand in despair." What do those words mean to you, Yiannis, if anything at all?

PANTZOS: She did not know that the end is tragic. She did not know the course upon these things that happened in Greece the last two years that they are mathematically scheduled to end in a tragic end.

I think she knew. I think that she declared this yesterday that he shot, because elections are coming, and they have to be said, where have they been for two years now that 2,000 Greeks have suicided from pauper to robes and from Patras to Thessalonika, to be sad for a bigger amount of people.

This happened in front of the parliament. That's why they're sad, because Greek people are approaching, they're coming closer to a better future.

RAJPAL: Yiannis, I want to -- I want you to stand by, because we want to bring in Greece's former Deputy Finance Minister, Petros Doukas, who has voiced his concern over the country's growing anger in 2004.

Now, in 2004, he discovered that Greece had a big budget deficit, which the previous government had failed to mention. He joins us now, live, from Athens.

Sir, thank you very much for being here with us. What does this development, this event, the fact that this suicide -- and I understand the Greek Health Ministry itself is saying that the number of suicides and attempted suicides have soared. They're going up now because of all these stiff austerity measures that the government feels it has to make. What goes through your mind when you're seeing this?

PETROS DOUKAS, FORMER GREEK DEPUTY FINANCE MINISTER: Very sadly so. We are all very, very distraught. It's a saddening and depressing, actually, situation. Greek people are with their back on the wall, and the worst thing is that they don't see any prospect.

Half the stores around this studio are empty and out of business. Most people are taking their children out of private schools because they cannot afford private schools.

RAJPAL: See, the problem is, sir, I'm going to jump in there --

(CROSSTALK)

DOUKAS: Youth joblessness is over 60 percent --

RAJPAL: -- Greeks are going to be looking to the government, people like you. We understand that you were the former Deputy Finance Minister. They're going to be looking to you for some answers --

DOUKAS: After 2007.

RAJPAL: Yes, up to -- granted. But they are looking to people like you for answers and for help and guidance.

DOUKAS: Let me give you three answers. Let me give you three answers. Answer number one -- first of all, I'm out of government since 2007, I'm back to the private sector investment banking.

But anyhow, first thing that we need to do, we need to understand that Greece cannot repay its current huge debt burden even after the so-called PSI private sector involvement haircut. Their remaining debt is still huge.

We need to chop off that debt through private negotiations with our friends and allies. Over 80 billion. It's not serviceable again, I repeat, despite the big haircut of a few weeks ago.

Second thing, we need to have a new Marshall or call it Merkel Plan, and we need to draw some investment in the country, but because of the state the country is in today, because of the depressing state, there's absolutely nobody who's putting even a euro cent in the country.

We need to develop a massive amount -- it could be 15, it could be 20 billion euros to start with, and then once the engines start rolling, then the outlook will be there, the whole market and consumer psychology will eventually change. Without these two measures, we're going to see more of what depressing events we have seen recently.

Also, we in Greece need to do our share. Not any more of salary and pension cutting, as John (sic) told you before. You know, 40 percent and 50 percent salary and pension cuts cannot afford a living to anybody.

Not only do people lose their houses, they cannot take their kids to school, there are absolutely no jobs for young people, and when people feel that their back is on the wall, who knows what they will do after that?

But however, I insist that I'm not saying that we don't have responsibility to fix some of our own wrongdoings, some of our own things in our house, but not any more pensions and salaries. We need to find ways to improve those.

But we really need a Merkel Plan which will actually help European nations itself, because every euro spent on Greece will help markets breathe. You will see the European stock markets and bond markets and European psychology and European investments pick up as soon as we solve the Greek problem.

RAJPAL: All right.

DOUKAS: Because we understand, the Greek problem is causing ricochet effects to the rest of Europe. And we also, I repeat, we need to cut further down on our debt. We cannot -- people work here only to pay taxes and see their salaries and pensions further reduced.

We need to change that momentum, and that momentum will change once everybody in Europe understands that even the remaining Greek debt is not serviceable.

For example, even if we pay a 3.5 percent interest, which appears low for Greek standards --

RAJPAL: All right.

DOUKAS: -- and the economy is collapsing by 5 to 7 percent per year, it's like paying 10 percent real interest rates. We really cannot afford - - there is no way of doing it. We need to sit down with our European partners, honestly look each other in the face, and solve these issues.

RAJPAL: All right, gentlemen, I'd like to thank you both for being with us on the show tonight. We appreciate your time. Greece's former Deputy Finance Minister, Petros Doukas, and Yiannis Pantzos, they're both in Athens. Thank you both so much.

Our top story tonight, the public suicide of an elderly pensioner has sparked rioting in Athens. A retired pharmacist shot himself near the Greek parliament, saying the government's austerity cuts had made it impossible for him to live.

Greece isn't the only one suffering. The European debt crisis is also biting hard in Spain, which has the highest unemployment rate in the EU.

You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD live from London. Still to come --

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RAJPAL: Remembering one of the darkest chapters in European history 20 years on. We'll get some perspective on the Bosnian Civil War from our Christiane Amanpour.

And the Syrian government says troops are pulling out of cities, but Kofi Annan says the violence hasn't stopped and more needs to be done. We'll bring you the latest next.

Plus, he's just left his school exams with straight A's, now British diver Tom Daley is aiming for perfection in the pool. Our Big Interview with the young Olympian is still to come when CONNECT THE WORLD continues.

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RAJPAL: You're watching CNN, this is CONNECT THE WORLD, welcome back.

Twenty years ago this week, the first shots were fired in what would become Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II. Civil war broke out in Bosnia-Herzegovina after its Serb minority refused to accept independence from Yugoslavia, supported by Bosnian Muslims and Croats.

Bosnian Serbs, backed by the federal Yugoslav army, laid siege to Sarajevo and carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing, most brutally symbolized by the massacre at Srebrenica.

Our Chief International Correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, covered the war for CNN. She made headlines in 1994 when she publicly challenged US president Bill Clinton to take action.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIER INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why in the absence of a policy have you allowed the US and the West to be held hostage to those who do have a clear policy, the Bosnian Serbs?

And do you not think that the constant flip-flops of your administration on the issue of Bosnia sets a very dangerous precedent and would lead people to take you less seriously than you would like to be taken?

BILL CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, but speeches like that may make them take me less seriously than I'd like to be taken.

There have been no constant flip-flops, madam. I ran for president saying that I would do my best to limit ethnic cleansing and to see the United States play a more active role in resolving the problem in Bosnia.

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RAJPAL: I spoke with Christiane just a short time ago, asking her about that heated exchange.

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AMANPOUR: Well, what was happening right then was that the world was in really paralysis. The United States and Europe were sitting on the sidelines still, apart from humanitarian intervention, and basically watching the slaughter continue. There was no desire by the international community in 1994 to get involved any more than they were.

And so, I was really questioning the president of the United States from the perspective of standing in besieged and shelled and bombarded city of Sarajevo and asking why it looked like the international community had no plan, and why there was significant shifts in policy, and also why there was no intervention to stop an ethnic cleansing and a genocide happening in Europe.

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RAJPAL: Later this month, you can catch the debut of Christiane's new nightly interview show. Each month, she'll bring you face-to-face with people shaping the news. It all begins April 16th in Europe, the 17th in Asia, only here on CNN.

And we will have much more on the anniversary of the Bosnian War ahead in the show, including the story of childhood sweethearts whose love dared to cross the brutal ethnic divide.

Here's a look, now, at some of the other stories connecting our world tonight. Violence continues to rage across Syria as the UN urges government forces to carry out a peace plan. Opposition sources say more than 60 people have been killed across Syria on Thursday. The violence comes as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says attacks on civilian areas show no signs of abating.

The Syrian government says it has begun withdrawing troops under the international peace plan, but special envoy Kofi Annan says Damascus needs to do more, and stopping the violence is crucial.

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KOFI ANNAN, SPECIAL ENVOY, UNITED NATIONS-ARAB LEAGUE: All points of the plan are crucial, but one is most urgent: the need for cessation of violence. Clearly, the violence is still continuing. Alarming levels of casualties and other abuses continue to be reported daily. Military operations in civilian population centers have not stopped.

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RAJPAL: French president Nicolas Sarkozy promises a budget surplus in five years. He unveiled his economic manifesto less than three weeks ahead of the first round of voting in the presidential election. He's promising spending cuts and a new law committing France to a balanced budget.

Separatist rebels who captured northern areas of Mali have called for a cease-fire, saying they have achieved their mission. The Azawad National Liberation Movement says it has captured enough territory and the north should become independent.

The movement was bolstered by the chaos after last month's military coup toppled Mali's government. The spokesman for the rebels warned Mali's neighbors against sending in troops.

Sky News says that it authorized journalists to illegally hack into e- mails. The British news channel says private e-mails were hacked on two occasions. In one case, a Sky News journalist assessed -- accessed the e- mail of a man who notorious -- who was notorious for faking his own death.

The head of Sky News says the channel's actions were in the public interest. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is a major shareholder of the company.

We're going to take a short break here on CONNECT THE WORLD, but when we come back, the Masters is now underway, as Tiger Woods looks to claim his first green jacket since 2005. We'll have details on that when we come back.

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RAJPAL: Tiger Woods had an adventurous start at the Masters on Thursday but has steadied the ship and is right in the mix as the first round of play is coming to an end at Augusta. Don Riddell joins us now from CNN Center with details on that. Hello, Don.

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Monita, how are you doing? Yes, Tiger Woods is in the mix, but he could have been even more in the mix if it wasn't for a couple of bogies on his last two holes. Tiger Woods took the scenic route towards an even par round of 72 at Augusta today, but as I say, two bogies on the last two holes meant that he is only on even par.

Let's take a look at the leader board. Three under par is so far the best score of the day, as you can see, Paul Lawrie, the Scotsman, shot a 69 today, a terrific round of golf from him. It was his first Masters since 2004. He's never had an eagle or never broken 70 at Augusta but, of course, he broke 70 today, and he actually had two eagles in the space of three holes, so a terrific round of golf from Paul Lawrie.

Also on three under in the clubhouse is Miguel Angel Jimenez and also the Italian, Francesco Molinari. Lee Westwood and Bubba Watson are still on the course there around about the tournament Augusta, both three under at the moment.

And I've got to talk about Henrik Stenson. The Swedish golfer was having an absolutely phenomenal round, Monita. At one point, it looked as though he was on to break or at least equal the course record.

But he had an absolutely nightmare on the 18th. He took a quadruple bogey, eight strokes on the final hole. And in a jiffy, he dropped from five under to one under. I wonder how he'll sleep tonight.

RAJPAL: Yes. I want to switch gears a little bit, Don. I want to talk about Mohammed Ali, still revered around the world, but apparently his latest public appearance was heartbreaking.

RIDDELL: Yes, well, you'll know exactly why when you watch this video, Monita. This was just -- devastating to watch for fans of Mohammed Ali, and there are still millions of those around the world.

This was his appearance at the Miami Marlins last night, the inaugural game of their new baseball season. He was due to come out and throw the first pitch but, as you can see, he wasn't even able to throw it. He was barely able to deliver it.

A bit of criticism, I think, of the Marlins today. The fans in the stadium were just absolutely stunned. It was heartbreaking to see a man in this condition. The Marlins say that they'd booked this two months ago, they'd been planning this for two months, but clearly Mohammed Ali's health has deteriorated quite drastically in the last couple of months.

He turned 70 years old in January. He's been suffering from Parkinson's Disease for some 30 years now. But it's just devastating to see the state that he is in now.

RAJPAL: Yes, really sad, indeed. All right, Donny, we'll check in with you a little bit later on here on the show, so we'll see you then. Thanks a lot for that.

Still to come here on CONNECT THE WORLD, it was the longest siege in the history of modern warfare. Sarajevo looks back on the terrifying days of the Bosnian Civil War.

Plus, the latest installment of "Kony 2012." Find out why the producers say the sequel will answer critics who bash their first viral video.

Plus, the Olympic diver who is also a straight-A student. Tom Daley tells us how he juggles his success.

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RAJPAL: A warm welcome to those of you in Europe and around the world. I'm Monita Rajpal, and these are the latest world headlines from CNN.

Syria's opposition activists now say clashes and raids have killed more than 60 people this Thursday. Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, told the UN General Assembly today that a six-point peace plan must be implemented urgently and in its entirety.

The public suicide of an elderly pensioner has sparked rioting in Athens. The retired pharmacist shot himself near Parliament. He left a note blaming the government for austerity measures, saying they had made it impossible for him to live.

The British news channel Sky News is admitting it hacked into private e-mails twice. The hacking apparently included the e-mails of a notorious canoe man who faked his own death. The head of Sky News defends the hacking saying it was in the public interest.

Convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout is to be sentenced at this hour in a New York courtroom. He faces possible life in prison. Dubbed the "Merchant of Death" by his accusers, Bout was found guilty last year of dealing in anti-aircraft missiles and providing force to a terrorist organization.

Sniper bullets took the lives of two young women 20 years ago, triggering Europe's deadliest war in decades. Well, Bosnia-Herzegovina is marking a dark anniversary, the beginning of an ethnic conflict that lasted three and a half years and cost 100,000 lives.

Many of Bosnia's Muslims and Croats wanted independence from Yugoslavia, but its Serb population did not. Bosnian Serbs laid siege to Sarajevo, keeping civilians in a constant state of terror and unleashed a campaign of ethnic cleansing to seize territory.

Bosnia's Muslims and Croats fought back, and also fought each other for a time. The war finally ended in 1995 with the Dayton Peace Accords. Amid all the atrocities, a bittersweet story rose from the ashes of Sarajevo. Nic Robertson joins us, now, to tell us about love that defied the ethnic hatred. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Monita, back during the war, there were still many people here who wanted in this city who cherished the idea of a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi -- sort of religious country.

And two of those people fell in love. They'd been in love for nine years, Bosko Brkic and Admira Ismic. He was a Serb and she was a Muslim, and they'd been in love for nine years. When the war started, they decided to stay in Sarajevo, but after a year, they tried to escape, and when they did, they were killed.

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ROBERTSON (voice-over): Their daughter's photos are fading, but memories of her are not. "It's like it happened yesterday," her father says.

"It changed our lives," his wife adds. "We have fewer friends, go out less.

Admira Ismic was shot in Sarajevo May 18th 1993. She was fleeing the city and the deadly civil war with her boyfriend, Bosko Brkic. She was a Muslim. He was an Eastern Orthodox Serb. Childhood sweethearts from opposite sides of the ethnic religious divide. They were just 25.

ROBERTSON (on camera): They were walking across this bridge -- it was incredibly dangerous, right between the two front lines -- and then a shot rang out. Bosko fell dead to the ground, killed by a sniper's bullet. Then another shot, and Admira was hit. Instead of crawling away, she moved over to her lover, put her arm around him, and died there.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): For eight days, no one dared get their bodies. Eventually, Serb soldiers took them to a nearby barracks for burial.

Admira's Muslim parents couldn't cross the front line.

(WOMAN CRYING)

ROBERTSON: Only Bosko's Serb mother could get there. Nineteen years later, her pain has barely ebbed.

"I keep trying to make sense of it," she says. "They were innocent. There was no battle going on there."

Admira and Bosko's love defied the corrosive, ethnic hatred that erupted in Bosnia following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. In death, they became known as Romeo and Juliet.

"I don't care I don't know who the killer is," she says. "Even if they gave him a hundred years in jail, even killed him, what difference would it make?"

For Admira's parents, too, retribution no longer important.

"I kept thinking, what would I do if the killer came to my door?" her mother says. "My husband wouldn't look at him. I always thought I could strangle him. But after all this time, I wouldn't care. What would it mean now?"

Romeo and Juliet, Admira and Bosko, now share a grave in Sarajevo's famous Lion Cemetery. At their feet, the grave of the world-class American reporter, Kurt Schork, who first told their story and helped their parents.

Bosko's mother is ill, now lives half a day's drive away in neighboring Serbia, unable to visit as much as she'd like. But still good friends with the in-laws she almost had. Across the ethnic divide, both families united in blaming their political leaders.

"I'm sorry the war happened," she says. "It needn't have been. So many people died in vain."

"May war not happen again," he says, his wife adding, "So no mother need cry over her baby again."

Nineteen years after their death, Admira and Bosko still a beacon for a better future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: And there's many people here still believe in that. Both the parents that we talk to spoke of all the other people that had died. They didn't make their children into grand martyrs, if you will. There's still a real sense here that everyone suffered and everyone will need to pull together. And indeed, that is what is happening to the country now, Monita.

RAJPAL: All right, Nic, thank you for that. Nic Robertson reporting live.

Well, the war ended decades ago, but Bosnia-Herzegovina is still deeply divided, and some warn it could become a failed state. The Dayton Accords effectively locked in wartime divisions, separating the country into two entities, a Muslim-Croat federation, and a Serb Republic.

Politics are completely divided along ethnic lines, and even the education of children is segregated according to ethnic group.

For some perspective on the lessons the world has learned from Bosnia, I spoke earlier with Lord Paddy Ashdown. He spent a great deal of time there as the High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006. I began by asking for his thoughts on this 20th anniversary of the war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PADDY ASHDOWN, FORMER HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Well, sadness in many ways. Sadness, obviously, for the terrors of the war, which I knew closely because I used to visit there twice a year every year during the siege.

Sadness, too, however, that I fear the international community's lost interest, and -- as it does, indeed, so often. And the consequence of that is that Bosnia is not now going forward, it's going backwards.

By the way, the blame for that, I think, lies more with Brussels than anywhere else because Brussels has the lead. But the truth about Bosnia was that they were the poster boy for post-conflict reconstruction from 1995, the Dayton Agreements through until about 2006, 2007.

And I think in that period, Bosnia did more to put itself back onto the post par for the stable peace than any other country anywhere in the world. A million refugees returned home. But in 2006, 07, and Brussels took the lead, then, they sort of decided that it was all over, it's all been done, they don't have to do more.

And the result is that the dynamic that had been so firmly established for the first 11 years after the Dayton Agreement, which was towards a sustainable peace and a unified, functional state, has now been reversed in a very dangerous way, in my view, towards disunity and dysfunctionality.

And the consequence of that, I think, is that Bosnia, not necessarily that we'll return to conflict. I don't think that's likely, though I can't discount it, I'm afraid, now. But a Bosnia that alone and unique in the whole of the Western Balkans which is moving towards Europe, a Bosnia that is corrupt and dysfunctional and moving towards break-up, and I think that's extremely dangerous.

RAJPAL: On a personal level, when you think of -- when you look at what's actually happening now in Bosnia and the fact that so much good will had gone into it in order for it to become a successful state, and it has not reached its potential yet, is there a level of frustration that you feel?

ASHDOWN: Well, not just good will. I mean, huge amounts of money. Huge amounts of money. I don't think there's any country in the world that has had more per capita put in in order to be able to create the peace.

Look, I make two points to you. First of all, you must have strategic patience. These things don't take 10 years or 20 years, they take decades, as we've seen in Northern Ireland. And that, I think, is the first mistake we have made. We have failed to understand that the job is not over, and you do not turn your back on anything until the situation is properly sustainable.

And the second point is that of course the people of the country have to build their own state, but your job is there to help them, and if you simply stand aside, then do not be surprised that the dynamic that operated during the war will then begin to operate during the peace, and that's exactly what's happened in Bosnia.

RAJPAL: There are those who would say that there are many lessons that could be learned from the Bosnian War to what is happening now within the Middle East, particularly Syria right now. If Bosnia was seen as the poster child, if you will, of the post-conflict reconstruction, what do you think could be applied for what's happening in Syria?

ASHDOWN: No, I'm sorry, that really is the wrong way around. Every country has to be dealt with in its own specific way. One of the big mistakes we made, for instance, in Iraq, and it was made, I regret to say, by Washington, was that it looked at Bosnia and said, "It's a wonderful success in Bosnia, we'll try and replicate it in Iraq."

It didn't succeed because you need policies that are specific to the country. You cannot do by numbers post-conflict reconstruction. It would be catastrophic if in Syria we were to follow the policies we had in Bosnia. It's a wholly different situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Lord Paddy Ashdown speaking to me earlier.

"Kony 2012" was a social media phenomenon, but not everyone liked it or its message. The producers heard those complaints and now, they've come out with a sequel. That's next on CONNECT THE WORLD.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "KONY 2012")

JASON RUSSEL, INVISIBLE CHILDREN: He's recently changed his tactics, making it even more difficult to capture him, and international support could be removed at any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: So, were you one of the millions of people who watched part one of the "Kony 2012" video online? It's a prime example of the power of social media.

It turned Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony into a household name almost overnight, and it offered vivid details of Kony's Lord's Resistance Army. His soldiers have killed thousands and kidnapped children and turned them into fighters or sex slaves.

Now, the number of people who watched that Kony video is staggering. It got 100 million views on YouTube in less than a week. But not everyone came away impressed. Critics say the video oversimplified a complex issues. Some claim it actually did more harm than good.

So, in response, the advocacy group, Invisible Children, has released a sequel, "Kony 2012 Part II: Beyond Famous." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "KONY 2012 PART II: BEYOND FAMOUS")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Releasing this film to explain the creation of the campaign, the progress that's already been made, and what we can all do now to support the ongoing efforts to stop the violence of the LRA.

JOLLY OKOT, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, INVISIBLE CHILDREN: The world should know that this war is complex. If it wasn't complex, it wouldn't have stayed for 36 years. I have been in the forefront from day one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: Well, Invisible Children says the "Kony" sequel should answer some of the biggest complaints about the original. We want to bring in Errol Barnett from CNN Johannesburg with more on that. Errol, you've seen this video. Will it be effective?

ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think the potential is there, Monita. Let's not forget how huge that international backlash was, though, that you referred to in March when this video was released.

It wasn't just that they oversimplified Joseph Kony and his forces, but some argued that the group wasn't transparent about how it spent its money. People criticized them for selling wristbands and t-shirts saying "Kony 2012."

Also, there was the scandal just a few weeks ago. One of the directors, who features prominently in the half-hour documentary, Jason Russel, was found on videotape half naked in San Diego suffering from what his doctors describe as a psychotic breakdown.

The attempt, now, with this video, is to address those concerns. And I've got the video pulled up here. It's on Invisible Children's website. You can just go to kony2012.com. What's the same is that slick production value, those emotive aspects used in the documentary.

What's different is more context. They explain that Joseph Kony has moved outside of Uganda. They explain the Lord's Resilience Army is only a few hundred strong. But they put that in context and say that can still cause a lot of fear and displace many people, as well.

So, the goal is to use this video. The views so far, only about 16,000, so it's not on track to compete with the previous video, but they are trying.

RAJPAL: Errol, what is the Invisible Children's thing about why this sequel was necessary?

BARNETT: Well, they acknowledge some of the things we've mentioned and, in fact, their CEO, Ben Keesey, has been making the rounds, the media rounds, today kind of trying to explain that they are -- they have very ambitious goals, but the truth is, a video can really only do so much.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN KEESEY, CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INVISIBLE CHILDREN: We want to maintain a culture of honesty and transparency. That's what we started at the beginning, and we want to do that now.

And so, yes, in some ways, the film is going deeper. It absolutely is a follow-on turning the kind of high-level awareness of the first film into informed action.

But to be clear and to be honest, this is a 26-year-long war. The LRA situation is complex, it's unique. There's no short film that can capture all the complexities. But this is a good start. It's a good next step.

But there's literally been books written about the LRA, and we're linking to a lot of those resources, now, on our web page, so that people can go as deep as they can, as deep as they want to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And Monita, there's information that supports what Invisible Children is doing. Some criticize them for taking on an issue that was already completed, but the UN refugee agency has come out with a report this week saying that Lord's Resistance Army has been responsible for dozens of deaths in the Central African region, as well as thousands of displacements.

Of course, we know the US has dedicated 100 special advisers to aid in the fight to find Joseph Kony, and the African Union just a few weeks ago dedicated 5,000 soldiers, boots on the ground, based in South Sudan, led by Uganda, being aided by the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic in aiming to find Joseph Kony. So, the fight is serious and it continues.

RAJPAL: All right, Errol, thank you. Errol Barnett, there, at CNN Johannesburg.

You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD. When we come back, the diver who has become a pinup for the London Games. Stay with us for our Big Interview with British Olympian Tom Daley.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJPAL: All this week on CONNECT THE WORLD, we've been riding a wave of momentum that is building for the London Games. We were there for the unveiling of The Dove, a British Airways plane that was given an Olympic makeover by acclaimed UK artists, chefs, and filmmakers.

We've also looked at how the stage is being set for the event and spoke to the architects about what legacy they hope the venues will leave for London.

Well tonight, we hear from one of the athletes, British medal hope Tom Daley. The young diver has been studying throughout his Olympic preparations and recently announced he achieved straight-A's in his school exams. Don Riddell caught up with Daley before he sat for tests to find out just how he was managing to juggle all of his talents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIDDELL (voice-over): Tom Daley is just 17 years old, but already he's a superstar, having dived for Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics. He will be a home favorite for a gold medal in London.

TOM DALEY, BRITISH OLYMPIC DIVER: The Beijing Olympics were just incredible. I -- it was such a whirlwind, it's hard to remember things from it, because I was quite young, as well.

But I can just remember standing on top of ten-meter looking down at the bottom of the pool and seeing the Olympic rings and just being completely overwhelmed thinking, "Oh, my God, this is -- this is it. I'm at the pinnacle of my career. I'm competing at an Olympic Games." It's what every athlete wants to be able to do.

So, it was just amazing, and I couldn't -- it's definitely going to stand me in good stead for 2012 to have an Olympic experience under my belt.

RIDDELL (on camera): Did you feel like you were a man at the time, or did you feel like you were a little kid, or what?

DALEY: Well, I kind of felt like I was a little kid in a toy shop, almost. Because everything was new, everything was interesting, I was running around, and I was thinking, everything was new, everything was cool. I was taking photos of everything and things like that. So, it's just something that you automatically just absolutely love the whole time that you were there.

RIDDELL (voice-over): Daley is already a world champion, but for all the ups that he's experienced in his young life, there have been plenty of downs, too. His coach recently revealed the pressure of training had led to suicide threats. He's been bullied at school, and his father recently died of cancer.

RIDDELL (on camera): Now, you're, what, 17 years old at the moment?

DALEY: Yes.

RIDDELL: You're an Olympian already. You're a diver. You're still a school kid. You're a celebrity, you're a pinup, you're an icon, you're a role model. How does that all feel? How do you deal with it?

DALEY: It's weird, but I don't see it like that. I'm just normal Tom. I'm doing -- still got my A Levels to do, I've still got to go to school, still got my normal friends, we do normal stuff. I've got -- still got two annoying young brothers. So, it's like -- it's normal. Everything's normal. I just dive at the same time.

RIDDELL: Did you always want to be a diver?

DALEY: Well, I never thought I would be a diver. I did loads of sports when I was younger, such as judo, squash, tennis, I've tried football, was terrible at that. And yet, diving just seems to be the one that I just love doing.

I was doing from the age of three. Started diving just by chance going to the local pool, and took it up, and here I am now.

RIDDELL: Ten meters is really high, isn't it?

DALEY: Yes.

RIDDELL: I've been up there just to have a look. I didn't dare jump off. What did it feel like the first time you got up there?

DALEY: It's very high, and it feels really weird when you get up there for the first time. I felt like I needed to crawl, because when you stand on ten-meter, it's quite a wide board, and then when you stand out there, it feels like it just slims and just goes into like a balance beam, and you feel like you're going to follow of either side. It's quite scary. But once you've done it once, you want to do it again and again.

RIDDELL (voice-over): Competing in a home Olympics, though, is something you only get to do once, if at all, in a lifetime.

RIDDELL (on camera): Do you think London's going to put on a good Games?

DALEY: I think London's going to be an amazing Olympic Games. It's going to do a great job no matter what, really, because for me, it's the home crowd atmosphere is going to be incredible no matter how the Games goes itself.

So, it'll be really interesting to see what the opening ceremony's going to be like, because they just need to put a bit of British culture into it. And I'm sure that Britain's just going to be absolutely loving it, so the atmosphere is going to be incredible anyway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJPAL: Don Riddell speaking there to Olympic hopeful Tom Daley.

Well, in tonight's Parting Shots, you know that SmartPhone you paid hundreds of dollars for? Well, if Google gets its way, it could be a thing of the past. Why carry a phone in your bag when, like this lady, you can wear it on your face.

So, imagine, you're wearing these glasses and heading to the subway. Take a look at what they can do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh.

TEXT: Subway service suspended.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Aw, man.

TEXT: Walking route...

Walk towards 17th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, there, guy. Hey, there little guy.

(DOG WHINES)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJPAL: Well, Project Glass, as it's being called, gives you all the functionality of a SmartPhone in a device you can wear like a pair of glasses, with the see-through lens displaying everything from text messages to maps and reminders.

But don't get too excited. This device is still at its concept stage, and there's no indication if it will ever make it to market.

I'm Monita Rajpal and that was CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you for watching. The world headlines are up next after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END