Saturday, October 14, 2006
America courts 'thug' to stand up to Hamas
Portrait of a Palestinian thug loved by the U.S.
Telegraph
"To his enemies he is ruthless and corrupt. But to his allies in the West, Mohammed Dahlan is a potential Palestinian saviour to stand up to the radical Islamic group Hamas.
Secular and tough – some say brutal – Mr Dahlan, a member of the Fatah party, is being courted by American diplomats anxious to counter Hamas's rising influence in the occupied territories.
Last week, as the worst inter-factional infighting in 10 years fuelled fears of a Palestinian civil war, US officials described him as a man who could "get things done" in a violent climate.
In less diplomatic terms, that means having the clout, if needed, to summon armed Palestinians into battle with Hamas, which Washington regards as a terrorist group. "He can be viewed as a thug," said one official, "but he is one of the very few people who has authority and can impose some order on the ground who is not from Hamas."
Officials are increasingly reluctant to apply that "can-do" description to Fatah's moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, 71. While outwardly backing him, they privately condemn Mr Abbas as hesitant and timid in taking on Hamas since the Islamic movement came to power in last January's democratic elections.
Sitting in his plush, heavily guarded office in Gaza, Mr Dahlan is openly contemptuous of Hamas's ideological rule. "They thought that running a government was like running a charity," said Mr Dahlan, who ran Palestinian security services in Gaza under Yasser Arafat until 2002. "But we need health care, education, roads, salaries. We don't need speeches and sermons at the mosque on Friday."
The main proposal to re-start international funding, on which the crippled Palestinian economy depends, had been to form a national unity government. But talks between Fatah and Hamas look hopelessly deadlocked.
American officials say they have few options to stop the carnage. Covertly, they are grooming a handful of potential successors to Mr Abbas, including Mr Dahlan.
As security chief he arrested thousands of Hamas members. Some were allegedly tortured while many are said to have had their beards - signs of their religious devotion - forcibly shaved off.
"Dahlan is a gangster. He tortured us and abused us," Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Hamas's militia, said."
Up to 1.6 million Iraqis have fled the country
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The United Nations estimates that up to 1.6 million Iraqis have left their homes for other countries in "a steady, silent exodus" as a result of the war and sectarian violence, forcing the U.N. refugee agency to announce a shift in priorities.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it plans to focus on the deteriorating humanitarian situation facing people who are fleeing, as opposed to those returning home.
"The enormous scale of the needs, the ongoing violence and the difficulties in reaching the displaced make it a problem that is practically beyond the capacity of humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR," it said.
The 2006 budget of $29 million for its Iraq operation was still $9 million short, the agency said, adding that more funding is needed to address the refugee crisis.
At least 40,000 Iraqis a month were arriving in Syria, according to U.N. staffers monitoring the border. Refugees have also fled to Iran, and "tens of thousands" are headed to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gulf states and Europe," the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.
The agency estimated there are half a million Iraqis already in Jordan and 450,000 in Syria, adding that while some have been outside Iraq for a decade or more, arrivals have steadily risen since the war began in 2003.
Within Iraq itself, the Iraqi government and UNHCR estimate "more than 1.5 million people displaced ... including more than 365,000 newly displaced who have fled their homes and communities" since February.
That was when the Askariya mosque, a Shiite shrine in Samarra, was bombed, igniting Shiite-Sunni fighting.
Some of Iraq's 18 provinces have seen a tenfold increase in the number of internally displaced people since the beginning of the year, UNHCR said.
The UNHCR office appealed to neighboring countries "to continue extending hospitality" for Iraqis and for countries beyond the region to do the same.
Iraqis ranked first, with more than 8,100 applications, among some 40 nationalities seeking asylum in Europe in the first half of this year, the agency said.
Iraqi asylum claims went up 50 percent during the first of this year from the same period a year ago, according to statistics received from 36 industrialized countries, the agency said.
So with the 1.6 externally displaced and the 1.5 internally displaced, that's 3.1 million refugees, 12% of the population--Molly
Truthdiggers of the Week: The Lancet Study Researchers
"This week Truthdig celebrates the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad and the Center for International Studies at MIT as well as The Lancet for their commitment to documenting the real number of Iraqi deaths that have resulted from the 2003 U.S. military invasion of Iraq.
The study, which was reviewed by four independent experts, estimates that over 655,000 Iraqis have been killed since the start of the war. According to the Christian Science Monitor, “One of the reviewing experts noted the ‘powerful strength’ of the research methods, ‘which involved house-to-house surveys by teams of doctors across Iraq.’ ”
There is no discrediting of this methodology. I don't think there's anyone who's been involved in mortality research who thinks there's a better way to do it in unsecured areas. I have never heard of any argument in this field that says there's a better way to do it."
Richard Garfield, a public health professor at Columbia University who works closely with a number of the authors of the report says that the most striking result of the survey, to him, is its finding that 2.5 percent of Iraq's population has died as a result of the war. "You can compare that to the civil war, our bloodiest war, in which 1.4 percent of our people died and look at what that meant to the US. Like then, what these numbers are saying is that every family is being touched.
25 Iraqi Police officers murdered daily
CHICAGO: Violence in Iraq forces the interior ministry to budget a loss of 25 police officers each day to death or permanent injury, a US security advisor said.
"We budgeted for 10 Iraqi policemen killed every day and 15 wounded in action to the point where they had to be retired from action" in 2006, Gerald Burke, National Security Advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said.
Burke described the appalling conditions facing police whom he helped train, to a meeting of the Democratic Policy Committee, which includes Democratic legislators.
He blamed much of the current bloodshed on the US government's "failure to recognize the importance of security in the immediate post-conflict environment, in particular our failure to support the rule of law."
An army veteran with more than 25 years' experience in law enforcement, Burke was one of six specialists sent to Iraq in May 2003 by the US Department of Justice to conduct an assessment of the Iraqi criminal justice system.
"We budgeted for 10 Iraqi policemen killed every day and 15 wounded in action to the point where they had to be retired from action" in 2006, Gerald Burke, National Security Advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said.
Burke described the appalling conditions facing police whom he helped train, to a meeting of the Democratic Policy Committee, which includes Democratic legislators.
He blamed much of the current bloodshed on the US government's "failure to recognize the importance of security in the immediate post-conflict environment, in particular our failure to support the rule of law."
An army veteran with more than 25 years' experience in law enforcement, Burke was one of six specialists sent to Iraq in May 2003 by the US Department of Justice to conduct an assessment of the Iraqi criminal justice system.
Meshaal Says not to recognize Israel
Politburo leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Khaled Meshaal has said that his group would not recognize Israel, the independent Syria-News website reported on Friday.
"Hamas will not surrender ... will not recognize Israel and will not abandon armed resistance," Meshaal was quoted as saying Thursday evening in Damascus, where he lives in exile.
He said Hamas wants to join a national unity government and share power with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.
"Hamas does not want to be in power alone," he, adding that "a national unity government should take orders from the Palestinians, not from America or Israel."
Meanwhile, Meshaal said Hamas was ready to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for Palestinian prisoners " if there is a swap deal."
Talks over forming a Palestinian coalition government aimed at lifting an international boycott on the Hamas-led government have stalled as the group has repeatedly refused to recognize Israel.
Haniyeh says no to Israel recognition
GAZA CITY (AP)--Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Friday said the Hamas militant group will never recognize Israel's right to exist, rejecting a key demand of the international community and signaling further deadlock in efforts to forge a Palestinian coalition government.
Haniyeh's declaration was likely to increase tensions with President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been urging Hamas to recognize Israel as a way to ending Western sanctions against the Palestinians. Hamas has refused, and talks over forming a power-sharing government with Abbas' Fatah movement have stalled over the issue.
"Israel might have secured the recognition of some of our people, and some in the Arab world and in the international community. It is now seeking another recognition, Islamic recognition, " Haniyeh said in a sermon after Friday prayers in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. "I say we will not give it this card."
Hamas will not recognize Israel "no matter for how long," he said, adding that the group will not give up its armed struggle against the Jewish state. " Resistance is a legitimate right...We will not give up our right to defend ourselves."
How to Critique Israel Injustices
A Fable About Palestine
By JEAN BRICMONT
CounterPunch
(Jean Bricmont teaches physics in Belgium. He is a member of the Brussells Tribunal. His new book, Humanitarian Imperialism, will be published by Monthly Review Press)
"Let's start with a story. Imagine that Africa has become rich and powerful, and that Euroope has become poor, divided and without real independence. Imagine next that, tired of being repeatedly massacred, the Tutsis decide to found a national home elsewhere. Certain of their leaders designate Wallonia, in Belgium, as that new home. Other Africans, to solve what some call the "Tutsi problem", approve of the project. Thus a flood of Tutsis pack up, weapons and all, and begin to settle in that region, while proclaiming that the people already living there have to go somewhere else. With their wealth, their determination and their weapons, the Tutsis rapidly manage to take possession of the farms, forests and towns and chase away most of the natives, either by legal means or by intimidation. A large part of Wallonia becomes a new Tutsi State, which boasts of being particularly well governed and democratic. All of Africa looks on in admiration.
However, to the surprise of the Africans, most of the Walloons are against that arrangement. Bewildered, sometimes supported by other Europeans who are nevertheless divided and whose leaders are weak and indecisive, they engage in several last ditch fights which only allow the Tutsi State to expand. The Africans can't understand why the Belgians and other Europeans are unable to appreciate the superiority of the system introduced onto their continent by the Tutsis. While Tutsis from all over the world are invited to come and settle, it is explained to the inhabitants who are being pushed out that there are other French-speaking States where they can go. All those who, in Europe or elsewhere, denounce that situation risk being called "anti-Tutsi" racists. When, parked on various scraps of ex-Wallonia, completely surrounded by the Tutsi army, a certain number of natives throw themselves into violent and desperate acts, commentators vie with each other to come up with theories on the peculiarities of Walloon culture that push them to such fanaticism.
The aim of this fable is not at all to compare or to pretend to establish any equivalence between two tragic histories, that of the Jews or that of the Tutsis, but solely to illustrate the fact that the attitude of the Arabs toward Israel is not necessarily due to a strange and violent culture or religion, but is no different from the attitude anyone might have if put in a situation similar to theirs . It is above all the situation that is strange. Recognizing it doesn't mean that one can or should undo what has been done in the past . But if one wants to arrive at a genuine peace, not only between Arabs and Israelis, but also between the West and the Arab-Muslim world, then one must begin by understanding why the others see the world as they do, and by honestly distinguishing the aggressor from the aggressed."
By JEAN BRICMONT
CounterPunch
(Jean Bricmont teaches physics in Belgium. He is a member of the Brussells Tribunal. His new book, Humanitarian Imperialism, will be published by Monthly Review Press)
"Let's start with a story. Imagine that Africa has become rich and powerful, and that Euroope has become poor, divided and without real independence. Imagine next that, tired of being repeatedly massacred, the Tutsis decide to found a national home elsewhere. Certain of their leaders designate Wallonia, in Belgium, as that new home. Other Africans, to solve what some call the "Tutsi problem", approve of the project. Thus a flood of Tutsis pack up, weapons and all, and begin to settle in that region, while proclaiming that the people already living there have to go somewhere else. With their wealth, their determination and their weapons, the Tutsis rapidly manage to take possession of the farms, forests and towns and chase away most of the natives, either by legal means or by intimidation. A large part of Wallonia becomes a new Tutsi State, which boasts of being particularly well governed and democratic. All of Africa looks on in admiration.
However, to the surprise of the Africans, most of the Walloons are against that arrangement. Bewildered, sometimes supported by other Europeans who are nevertheless divided and whose leaders are weak and indecisive, they engage in several last ditch fights which only allow the Tutsi State to expand. The Africans can't understand why the Belgians and other Europeans are unable to appreciate the superiority of the system introduced onto their continent by the Tutsis. While Tutsis from all over the world are invited to come and settle, it is explained to the inhabitants who are being pushed out that there are other French-speaking States where they can go. All those who, in Europe or elsewhere, denounce that situation risk being called "anti-Tutsi" racists. When, parked on various scraps of ex-Wallonia, completely surrounded by the Tutsi army, a certain number of natives throw themselves into violent and desperate acts, commentators vie with each other to come up with theories on the peculiarities of Walloon culture that push them to such fanaticism.
The aim of this fable is not at all to compare or to pretend to establish any equivalence between two tragic histories, that of the Jews or that of the Tutsis, but solely to illustrate the fact that the attitude of the Arabs toward Israel is not necessarily due to a strange and violent culture or religion, but is no different from the attitude anyone might have if put in a situation similar to theirs . It is above all the situation that is strange. Recognizing it doesn't mean that one can or should undo what has been done in the past . But if one wants to arrive at a genuine peace, not only between Arabs and Israelis, but also between the West and the Arab-Muslim world, then one must begin by understanding why the others see the world as they do, and by honestly distinguishing the aggressor from the aggressed."
American Prison Camps Are on the Way
Kellogg Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, is constructing a huge facility at an undisclosed location to hold tens of thousands of Bush's "unlawful enemy combatants." Americans are certain to be among them.
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 governing the treatment of detainees is the culmination of relentless fear-mongering by the Bush administration since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Because the bill was adopted with lightning speed, barely anyone noticed that it empowers Bush to declare not just aliens, but also U.S. citizens, "unlawful enemy combatants."
Bush & Co. has portrayed the bill as a tough way to deal with aliens to protect us against terrorism. Frightened they might lose their majority in Congress in the November elections, the Republicans rammed the bill through Congress with little substantive debate.
Anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on Bush's list of "terrorist" organizations, or who speaks out against the government's policies could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned indefinitely. That includes American citizens.
The bill also strips habeas corpus rights from detained aliens who have been declared enemy combatants. Congress has the constitutional power to suspend habeas corpus only in times of rebellion or invasion. The habeas-stripping provision in the new bill is unconstitutional and the Supreme Court will likely say so when the issue comes before it.
Although more insidious, this law follows in the footsteps of other unnecessarily repressive legislation. In times of war and national crisis, the government has targeted immigrants and dissidents.
In 1798, the Federalist-led Congress, capitalizing on the fear of war, passed the four Alien and Sedition Acts to stifle dissent against the Federalist Party's political agenda. The Naturalization Act extended the time necessary for immigrants to reside in the U.S. because most immigrants sympathized with the Republicans.
The Alien Enemies Act provided for the arrest, detention and deportation of male citizens of any foreign nation at war with the United States. Many of the 25,000 French citizens living in the U.S. could have been expelled had France and America gone to war, but this law was never used. The Alien Friends Act authorized the deportation of any non-citizen suspected of endangering the security of the U.S. government; the law lasted only two years and no one was deported under it.
The Sedition Act provided criminal penalties for any person who wrote, printed, published, or spoke anything "false, scandalous and malicious" with the intent to hold the government in "contempt or disrepute." The Federalists argued it was necessary to suppress criticism of the government in time of war. The Republicans objected that the Sedition Act violated the First Amendment, which had become part of the Constitution seven years earlier. Employed exclusively against Republicans, theSedition Act was used to target congressmen and newspaper editors who criticized President John Adams.Subsequent examples of laws passed and actions taken as a result of fear-mongering during periods of xenophobia are the Espionage Act of 1917, the Sedition Act of 1918, the Red Scare following World War I, the forcible internment of people of Japanese descent during World War II, and the Alien Registration Act of 1940 (the Smith Act).
During the McCarthy period of the 1950s, in an effort to eradicate the perceived threat of communism, the government engaged in widespread illegal surveillance to threaten and silence anyone who had an unorthodox political viewpoint. Many people were jailed, blacklisted and lost their jobs. Thousands of lives were shattered as the FBI engaged in "red-baiting." One month after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, United States Attorney General John Ashcroft rushed the U.S.A. Patriot Act through a timid Congress. The Patriot Act created a crime of domestic terrorism aimed at political activists who protest government policies, and set forth an ideological test for entry into the United States.
In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the internment of Japanese and Japanese-American citizens in Korematsu v. United States. Justice Robert Jackson warned in his dissent that the ruling would "lie about like a loaded weapon ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need."
That day has come with the Military Commissions Act of 2006. It provides the basis for the President to round-up both aliens and U.S. citizens he determines have given material support to terrorists. Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Cheney's Halliburton, is constructing a huge facility at an undisclosed location to hold tens of thousands of undesirables.
In his 1928 dissent in Olmstead v. United States, Justice Louis Brandeis cautioned, "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." Seventy-three years later, former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, speaking for a zealous President, warned Americans "they need to watch what they say, watch what they do."
We can expect Bush to continue to exploit 9/11 to strip us of more of our liberties. Our constitutional right to dissent is in serious jeopardy. Benjamin Franklin's prescient warning should give us pause: "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, is president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the U.S. representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. Her new book, "Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law," will be published in 2007 by PoliPointPress.
Academic to quit post in anger over Israel
PROMINENT left-wing Israeli academic and author Tanya Reinhart plans to quit as emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University in protest against her Government's handling of the Palestinian issue.
Professor Reinhart, who will give a public lecture at the University of Melbourne tomorrow night, said Israel's walling of the large and prosperous West Bank was cutting off the Palestinian people from their lands and each other.
She said she could no longer live in Israel while it did what she said was the first attempt in history to imprison a nation with a wall that cut off villages from their farmland.
"Palestinians should not have to pay the price of the Holocaust," she said.
"It seems that it has been forgotten that this is a simple and classical conflict over Palestinian land and resources that Israel has been occupying since 1967." She said the recent attacks on Lebanon were similarly unjustified and that Israel used the capture of their soldier, Gilad Shalit, as a pretext for war with Hezbollah. But the war had been planned for some time and was based on a vision of Israel that extended into southern Lebanon.
"Lebanese know that (1948 prime minister David) Ben-Gurion's vision for the state of Israel was based on the Litani as the natural northern border of Israel," she said. "Everything they did suggested they have never given up the idea of the Litani."
She said Israeli people would never defend taking land from Lebanon but the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier was used by the Government as a failed pretext for attempting to ethnically cleanse southern Lebanon.
أبو مرزوق: إقالة الحكومة المنتخبة تعني انقلاباً سياسياً
دمشق - المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام
حذّر الدكتور موسى أبو مرزوق، نائب رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة المقاومة الإسلامية "حماس"، محمود عباس رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية من مغبة اتخاذ خطوات متسرعة، لا سيما بشأن إقالة الحكومة الفلسطينية المنتخبة من قبل الشعب قبل أشهر قليلة.
وقال الدكتور أبو مرزوق في تصريح صحفي، "يستطيع الرئيس عباس أن يقيل الحكومة، والأجهزة الأمنية بيد رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية، ولكن إن حصل ذلك فهو يعني الخروج من القانون إلى الفوضى"، محذراً من أنّ ذلك سيكون "انقلاباً سياسياً على خيار الشعب الفلسطيني، ومن يأتي لا يتمتع بأي شرعية".
وشدّد القيادي الفلسطيني على أنّ حركة "حماس" لا تستطيع، لا من ناحية الحق ولا الشرع ولا من حيث مصالح الشعب الفلسطيني الاعتراف بالكيان الصهيوني، "لأنّ ذلك هو إنهاء القضية الفلسطينية وإبقاء الشعب الفلسطيني مشرداً، وأن يعيش على جزء صغير من أرضه مجزّأة وهذا ما لا نقبل به".
وحمّل الدكتور موسى أبو مرزوق حركة "فتح" مسؤولية تدهور الأوضاع في الأراضي الفلسطينية، وقال "فتح لم تصدق أنها خرجت من الحكومة، وأنها في مقعد المعارضة أو خارج الحكم، وكل ما يحدث على الساحة الفلسطينية في الداخل هو لإعادة الأمور لما كانت عليه قبل الانتخابات".
وأضاف نائب رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة "حماس" قوله "نحن لم نقم بانقلاب لأخذ السلطة، والصحيح هو أننا بعد هذا التفويض الشعبي لا يمكن أن نتخلى عن مسؤولياتنا، وحركة فتح تريد العودة إلى السلطة".
وأشار أبو مرزوق إلى أنّ الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية بدأت بتطوير حركة فتح وإعادة تسليحها وتقديم واشنطن "برامج تنموية" لإعادة تأهيل الحركة من أجل أن تبقى في السلطة، حتى على الصعيد الأمني هناك تدريبات عسكرية باسم حرس الرئاسة، مؤكداً أنّ هناك تمويلاً كبيراً لتدريب كوادر فتح، وبدا ذلك من خلال العصيان والإضرابات وإيجاد خلل أمني واضح في وجهة الحكومة، مشدداً على أنّ "حماس تواجه انقلاباً سياسياً على خيار الشعب الفلسطيني في الوقت الحاضر، فمن هو طالب السلطة؟".
وفيما يتعلق بالموقف العربي السياسي والعلني؛ أكد نائب رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة "حماس"، أنّ هذا الموقف ليس كما كان سابقاً فيما يتعلق بالصراع العربي – الصهيوني، "بل أصبح ينحاز للموقف الأمريكي والصهيوني في الضغط على الشعب الفلسطيني وحصاره، وهذا الأمر يختلف من دولة إلى أخرى، وهو في العموم غير مُرض لشعبنا ولا يتوافق مع الشعارات الطويلة" التي رفعتها الأطراف العربية، مشيراً إلى أنّ دولاً عربية قليلة هي التي التزمت بتقديم مساعدات للشعب الفلسطيني.
Iraq for Sale: As Not Seen on TV
John Patterson
Friday October 6, 2006
The Guardian
Iraq for Sale, the latest documentary from Robert Greenwald, tells a depressingly familiar tale of corporate corruption and war-profiteering in Iraq. Focusing on companies like Halliburton, CACI International and Blackwater Security Consulting, it recites a litany of rapacity and exploitation that ought to have American citizens swarming Congress, demanding heads on pikes.
Friday October 6, 2006
The Guardian
 |  Not coming soon to a TV near you, especially if you live in the US... Iraq for Sale |
It's all here: Halliburton charging $45 for a six-pack of sodas; undertrained and poorly safeguarded mercenaries earning megabuck salaries that dwarf the pittances awarded to regular troops; gigantic corporate profit margins netted by shafting the recipient at both ends of the process (lousy and dangerous services for mindbendingly exorbitant fees); and an unsupervised, no-bid, payment-guaranteed contracting system that utterly contradicts any defensible notion of free-market capitalism.
Like the bibliophobic Ronald Reagan, these days we apparently can't understand anything until we see it on TV. Greenwald has answered that need for us, and Iraq for Sale proves two things: first, that the gung-ho, warmongering capitalism of Joseph Heller's Milo Minderbinder is alive and well in the war zone; and second, that it is easier for the chairmen of Blackwell and Exxon/Mobil to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a serious and necessary dissident documentary to be seen by the broad American public.
Greenwald has earned praise for establishing an alternative distribution system for his movies, which have so far covered the entire spectrum of what is wrong with 21st-century America, including Fox News, Wal-Mart, the 2000 election, Enron, and the Tom DeLay-corrupted House of Representatives. Although most of his films achieve a nominal basic release, Greenwald also pioneered "watch-and-discuss" parties that allow citizens to download the film for free and discuss it in large groups in their homes. This is an excellent way to raise consciousness and build networks of dissent, but it also falls prey to the accusation that it is preaching to the converted. I think Greenwald is a hero, but his work should be seen by the widest possible audience. It's not as if his films deal with minor social and political nuances; they address the central realities of our age.
Well, fat chance of seeing his work on US television. The world of canned news is a total shut-out for anything to the left of John McCain. The best that most left-liberal documentaries can hope for (if not made by Michael Moore) is a limited release and a showing on cable. Take James Longley's remarkable documentary about life in Iraq since April 2003, Iraq in Fragments. It won awards at Sundance but has no US distributor. Michael Winterbottom's The Road to Guantánamo had its poster censored by the MPAA and ran for about a week. Winterbottom himself was treated like a pariah on US cable news shows, with mendacious Pentagon spokesmen trotted out to defame his movie - and not face-to-face. Corporate lobbyists and spokes-hacks even show up at film festivals to denounce movies such as Fast Food America and An Inconvenient Truth. And good luck seeing The Power of Nightmares in the United States, the one country that most needs to see it.
This is all very different from the Vietnam/ Watergate era, when the US media had full access to the battle zone, when Walter Cronkite's CBS Evening News could report on near-revolutionary dissidence within the US military, without being accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and when journalists relentlessly asked the necessary questions that finally felled Richard Nixon.
The rise of a bought-and-paid-for news media means that the very notion of objectively verifiable truth is now suspect, and that facts themselves are derided as inherently leftwing and unpatriotic. Fox News, the bellwether of these trends, may presently be losing viewers and credibility and slashing costs in desperation, but the truth is that it won the war against reality a long time ago in the United States - and reality may no longer be in any condition to stage a comeback.
Cartoon of the day, part itnein
Bush Urges Nation To Be Quiet For A Minute While He Tries To Think
WASHINGTON, DC—In a nationally televised address Monday, President Bush urged all citizens, regardless of race, creed, color, or political affiliation, "to quiet down for just one minute" so he could have "a chance to think."
"Every American has an inalienable right to free speech and self-expression," Bush said. "Nonetheless, I call upon the American people to hold off on it for, say, 60 seconds. Just long enough for me to get this all sorted out in my head."
"Please," Bush added.
While the president said achieving a unilateral peace and quiet "would not be easy," he hoped that citizens would respect his wish and work toward a temporary cease-talk so that he could can hear his own thoughts "for once."
"Make no mistake: It will take patience and sacrifice," Bush said. "But such drastic measures could lead to a better tomorrow for all of us, especially for your commander in chief."
Bush then closed his speech by exhaling sharply, tightly closing his eyes, and massaging his temples. "I just—Christ, I just need a goddamn minute, you know?" he said.
Why Dannatt is right about the forces of occupation
Cartoon by Martin Rowson, The Guardian
(Click on cartoon to enlarge)
By Patrick Cockburn
The Independent
"Iraq is one of the most complicated countries on earth but some of the most important aspects of the present crisis are very simple: few countries welcome foreign invaders however much they dislike their own rulers. Occupations are seldom popular and their unpopularity grows the longer they continue.
"Nobody loves armed missionaries," said Robespierre, the French revolutionary leader. It is this obvious but crucial point which is at the heart of General Sir Richard Dannatt's critique of present government policy. His exact words are "our presence exacerbates the security problems." This has been self- evident to anybody visiting Iraq over the past three years.
For a few days after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 opinion polls showed that Iraqis were equally divided between those who thought they had been liberated and those who said Iraq had been occupied. But ever since polls have shown that the majority of Iraqis outside Kurdistan believe their country is occupied and most want this occupation to end as soon as possible.
This is the central political fact in Iraq. Occupation provokes resistance. This is why guerrilla warfare erupted so swiftly. It was not foreign fighters or remnants of Saddam's regime who imposed a war on Iraqis, but armed groups that could operate in a sympathetic environment.
"We are in a Muslim country and Muslims' views of foreigners in their country are quite clear," continued General Dannatt. "As a foreigner you can be welcomed by being invited into a country, but we weren't invited... Let's face it, the military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in."
General Dannatt is quite right to point to the fundamental lack of legitimacy of the foreign military presence in Iraq flowing from the fact that in 2003 American and British armies "kicked the door in." A final Downing Street myth punctured by General Dannatt is that in Iraq " we put in place a liberal democracy that was an exemplar for the region, was pro-West and might have a beneficial effect on the balance within the Middle East." In reality, the US and Britain delayed elections, knowing that Shia religious parties sympathetic to Iran would win them."
Why the Lebanese won and the Palestinians did not yet?
A Well-Written Article
By Salim Nazzal
(Dr. Salim Nazzal is a Palestinian historian. He has written extensively on social and political issues in the Middle East)
"Examples from history of national movements and resistances demonstrate that each experience is unique. The only common thread between all national movements and resistances is the rejection of the status quo imposed by the occupational power.
The post-war period following the July 2006 war in Lebanon witnessed a wave of criticisms toward the Palestinian national movement which were filled with calls to imitate the methods of Hizbullah. These calls focused in my view on the results of the conflict in southern Lebanon while overlooking the complications in the Palestinian, Israeli conflict. Most comments tended to marginalize the complexity of the Palestinian struggle. In the study of conflicts, political scientists distinguish between two forms of conflict, the first is the "interest conflict" (border conflict for instance) and the second is the "value conflict" which takes the form of total confrontation. The Palestinian struggle belongs to the "value conflict"; the conflict is about the land, the identity and even about the Palestinian traditions which the Polish and Russians immigrant Jews claimed to be theirs. The major complicating factor of the Palestinian struggle is the nature of the Israeli occupation in Palestine. The Israeli occupation in Palestine is both ideological and political, while the Israeli occupation to south Lebanon was only political. In other words Zionists view their conflict with Palestinians as existential, while perhaps they do not hold that view in others conflicts.
Apart from Hamas and the Palestinian Communist party the Palestinian parties were the product of the Palestinian Diaspora in the absence of a Palestinian national state. Consequently in the absence of a unifying political culture, the party culture has become a dominant factor, functioning as a Mini-Palestine for its members. In other words party identification replaced prior self-identifiers such as family and clan. The Oslo agreement put Palestinians in a situation where they had no clear position: they were neither a state nor were they a liberation movement as it was before 1993. In the view of many Palestinians such as the Palestinian writer Lubna Hamad the Palestinian leadership had been reduced from a liberation movement to a subsidiary of the Israeli occupation.
The Lebanese resistance fights the extension of the Zionist project, while Palestinians fight the heart of the Zionist project which naturally makes the Palestinian struggle more difficult and more complicated.
The second problem lies in the absence of a united Palestinian national discourse. Perhaps more than any time since the Oslo agreement in 1993, Palestinian political parties need to debate new approaches in dealing with the Israeli occupation. There is a great need to redefine the Palestinian liberation project in order to come to a united Palestinian course. One point which may explain the Lebanese victory is that the Lebanese struggle is straightforward; it was directed against the Israeli military occupation of south Lebanon. Therefore the major difference between the Lebanese and Palestinians struggle lies in one major point; the Lebanese struggle is against the Israeli military occupation, while the Palestinian struggle is against the whole Zionist project. To win the national struggle, Palestinian leaders need to prepare the right conditions for victory. The first step towards victory is to reorganize the Palestinian national project."
By Salim Nazzal
(Dr. Salim Nazzal is a Palestinian historian. He has written extensively on social and political issues in the Middle East)
"Examples from history of national movements and resistances demonstrate that each experience is unique. The only common thread between all national movements and resistances is the rejection of the status quo imposed by the occupational power.
The post-war period following the July 2006 war in Lebanon witnessed a wave of criticisms toward the Palestinian national movement which were filled with calls to imitate the methods of Hizbullah. These calls focused in my view on the results of the conflict in southern Lebanon while overlooking the complications in the Palestinian, Israeli conflict. Most comments tended to marginalize the complexity of the Palestinian struggle. In the study of conflicts, political scientists distinguish between two forms of conflict, the first is the "interest conflict" (border conflict for instance) and the second is the "value conflict" which takes the form of total confrontation. The Palestinian struggle belongs to the "value conflict"; the conflict is about the land, the identity and even about the Palestinian traditions which the Polish and Russians immigrant Jews claimed to be theirs. The major complicating factor of the Palestinian struggle is the nature of the Israeli occupation in Palestine. The Israeli occupation in Palestine is both ideological and political, while the Israeli occupation to south Lebanon was only political. In other words Zionists view their conflict with Palestinians as existential, while perhaps they do not hold that view in others conflicts.
Apart from Hamas and the Palestinian Communist party the Palestinian parties were the product of the Palestinian Diaspora in the absence of a Palestinian national state. Consequently in the absence of a unifying political culture, the party culture has become a dominant factor, functioning as a Mini-Palestine for its members. In other words party identification replaced prior self-identifiers such as family and clan. The Oslo agreement put Palestinians in a situation where they had no clear position: they were neither a state nor were they a liberation movement as it was before 1993. In the view of many Palestinians such as the Palestinian writer Lubna Hamad the Palestinian leadership had been reduced from a liberation movement to a subsidiary of the Israeli occupation.
The Lebanese resistance fights the extension of the Zionist project, while Palestinians fight the heart of the Zionist project which naturally makes the Palestinian struggle more difficult and more complicated.
The second problem lies in the absence of a united Palestinian national discourse. Perhaps more than any time since the Oslo agreement in 1993, Palestinian political parties need to debate new approaches in dealing with the Israeli occupation. There is a great need to redefine the Palestinian liberation project in order to come to a united Palestinian course. One point which may explain the Lebanese victory is that the Lebanese struggle is straightforward; it was directed against the Israeli military occupation of south Lebanon. Therefore the major difference between the Lebanese and Palestinians struggle lies in one major point; the Lebanese struggle is against the Israeli military occupation, while the Palestinian struggle is against the whole Zionist project. To win the national struggle, Palestinian leaders need to prepare the right conditions for victory. The first step towards victory is to reorganize the Palestinian national project."
Excess Death in Iraq
by Dahr Jamail
"655,000 Iraqis killed as a result of the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.
I have worked for eight months in Iraq as a journalist, witnessing the carnage on a daily basis, visiting the morgues with bodies and body parts piled into them, meeting family after family who had lost a loved one, or more ... Finally, we get an accurate figure that shows how immense the scale of the long drawn carnage really is.
The first Lancet Report, published on October 29, 2004, reported that there were 100,000 "excess" Iraqi deaths as the result of the US invasion and occupation. (Excess deaths are the difference between pre-invasion and post-invasion mortality rates.) Whenever I have given public presentations about the occupation, I have invariably found myself in a difficult position due to the lack of a more realistic and recent figure I can cite, knowing full well that the number was grossly higher than 100,000.
The least I could do was mention that Les Roberts, one of the authors of that report, is known to have said this past February that the number of Iraqi casualties could be over 300,000. And now, we know it is far higher, which merely confirms what most Iraqis already know.
This study is the only one, other than the first study published in The Lancet, that calculates mortality in Iraq using scientific methods. It is a technique of "cluster sampling" also used to estimate mortality caused by famines and after natural disasters.
The controversial results of the first survey were backed by Bradley Woodruff, a medical epidemiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who was quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education on January 27, 2005: "Les [Les Roberts, co-author of the first survey] has used, and consistently uses, the best possible methodology ... Indeed, the United Nations and the State Department have cited mortality numbers compiled by Mr. Roberts on previous conflicts as fact – and have acted on those results. [He] has studied mortality caused by war since 1992, having done surveys in locations including Bosnia, Congo, and Rwanda. His three surveys in Congo for the International Rescue Committee, a nongovernmental humanitarian organization, in which he used methods akin to those of his Iraq study, received a great deal of attention. 'Tony Blair and Colin Powell have quoted those results time and time again without any question as to the precision or validity,' he added."
Ronald Waldman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University who worked at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for several years, said that the survey method is "tried and true," and that "this is the best estimate of mortality we have." His view was backed by Sarah Leah Whitson at the Human Rights Watch in New York, who testified, "We have no reason to question the findings or the accuracy."
Most of what we have heard reported, prior to this survey, had been deaths in Baghdad, with headlines like "50 Bodies Found in Baghdad" and "Baghdad Morgue Reporting 100 Bodies per Day." They are stories that have failed to take into account the rest of the country, although Baghdad is roughly 20% of the total population of Iraq. What has been happening in the rest of the country is a question that the latest survey answers: that there are approximately 500 unexpected violent deaths every single day throughout Iraq.
The survey found that 87% of the deaths had occurred during the occupation rather than during the initial invasion, and that 31% of them were a consequence of attacks and air strikes by the coalition forces.
For over a year now many Iraqis have been referring to what is happening in their country as genocide. With over 500 Iraqis being killed every single day as a direct result of the occupation, it is difficult to argue with them."
Friday, October 13, 2006
قاسم: بين قيادات الإضراب متهمون بالفساد وشركاء في الحصار
نابلس – المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام
كشف الدكتور عبد الستار قاسم، أستاذ العلوم السياسية بجامعة النجاح الوطنية، النقاب عن أنه "ربما لا يعلم العديد من المدرسين المضربين (عن العمل)، أنّ عدداً من الذين يحرضونهم على الاستمرار في الإضراب؛ هم شركاء في الحصار المالي المضروب على الشعب الفلسطيني".
وأضاف الدكتور قاسم مؤكداً أنّ "هؤلاء القيادات الذين يظهرون على شاشات التلفاز وهم يحاولون ذرف الدموع على الشعب الفلسطيني؛ يتعاونون مع أمريكا و(إسرائيل) من أجل الاستمرار في منع الأموال، وفي نفس الوقت يحرضون على الإضراب".
وحذّر قاسم في مقال جديد حمل عنوان "تعطيل المدارس تدمير لفلسطين"، من أنّ "هؤلاء أيضاً هم من كبار المتهمين بالفساد، والذين تجب محاسبتهم على ما سرقوه من الشعب"، لافتاً الانتباه إلى أنهم يستعملون الموظفين من أجل إسقاط حكومة حماس ليحلوا محلها، وهم يستعملون الناس من أجل مصالحهم الخاصة المرتبطة بـ (إسرائيل) وأمريكا"، كما قال.
وأعاد الدكتور عبد الستار قاسم إلى الأذهان أنّ "هؤلاء هم الذين وقفوا ضد إضراب المعلمين في السابق (الحكومات السابقة)، وبثوا في صفوفهم عناصر من الأجهزة الأمنية لتخريب الإضراب، وهم الذين اعتقلوا معلمين من لجنة الإضراب"، وقال إنهم "عملوا على إفشال الإضراب في حينه لأنه كان يطالبهم بتحسين ظروف المعلم، وهم الآن يقفون مع المعلم لأنه ضد حماس"، وفق تعبيره.
وتطرق الكاتب الفلسطيني وأستاذ العلوم السياسية، إلى "أنه ما من أمة تريد أن تتقدم أو تتحرّر إلاّ ركزت على النهوض العلمي والأخلاقي؛ وما من أمة حيّة تجد أنّ نظامها الأخلاقي قد بدأ يتدهور إلاّ وحسبت أن نظامها التعليمي آخذ بالانهيار وعليها مراجعته وتحديثه والنهوض به".
وأكد الدكتور قاسم أنه "يدافع عن البحث عن أساليب تحقق الضغط المطلوب على الجهة التي تمنع الراتب، وفي ذات الوقت لا تترك أبناءنا في الشارع"، وأضاف "أبحث عن المنطق وراء هذا الإضراب الطويل فلا أجده، لأنّ المتحكم بالأموال ليس جهة داخلية وإنما جهات خارجية"، مشدداً على أنّ "الحكومة الفلسطينية لا تملك مالاً تمنعه عن الناس، وهي محاصرة من قبل (إسرائيل) وأمريكا وجهات محلية، مثلما أنّ الشعب الفلسطيني محاصر، وإذا كان هناك من يتهم حماس بأنها توزع أموالاً على أركانها، فإنني أرى بأنّ فتح أيضاً توزع أموالاً على أقطابها".
وأشار قاسم الى أنّ "القيادات لا تعاني العوز والحاجة المادية، ومن مسؤوليتنا نحن أهل فلسطين أن نصرّ على فتح الملفات لكي نعرف الحقيقة، ونعرف من يغدر الشعب ومن يصدقه"، وتابع "أنا أذهب إلى أبعد من ذلك لأقول بأنّ قيادات فلسطينية لا تتلقى أموالاً من الخارج فقط؛ وإنما تتلقى أيضاً أسلحة من (إسرائيل) بدعم مالي أمريكي، وقد أعلن الرئيس الأمريكي عن هذا مراراً".
ورأى الكاتب أنه "إذا كنا لا نريد توجيه أسهمنا ضد الذين يحاصرون الشعب الفلسطيني مالياً؛ فعلى الأقل علينا ألا نعرقل عملية التعليم"، وأضاف "للمعلم أن يُضرِب، لكن ليس من حقه أن يمنع الطالب من الذهاب إلى المدرسة، أو أن يقفل المدرسة، أو أن يرسل مسلحين لإطلاق النار أمام المدارس لإرهاب الطلاب والطالبات".
وخلص قاسم إلى القول "على الشعب الفلسطيني أن يتحرك نحو فتح المدارس، واجبنا أن نجتمع، وأن نخوض تجربة فتح المدارس، وترتيب أوضاعنا الشعبية لغاية انتهاء مشكلة الرواتب والإضراب".
REAR-VIEW MIRROR GENOCIDES
A COMMENT ABOUT GENOCIDES
By Tony Sayegh
One can't help contrasting two news stories during the past couple of days. The first was that the French parliament voted Thursday to make it a criminal act to deny an Armenian genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I. The other was the publication in the medical journal, The Lancet, of a year-long study conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Al Mustansiriya University in Iraq, in the excess mortality in Iraq as a result of the US invasion in March, 2003. The study was published on Wednesday, just the day before the passing of the French law.
The study in Iraq concluded that a reliable estimate of the increased deaths attributable to the US invasion is 650,000. If we add to this number the conservative estimate of 1,000,000 Iraqis who died due to the severe sanctions imposed on that country at the behest of the US, in the years prior to the invasion (of those, UNICEF estimated that 500,000 were children), we arrive at the conclusion that 1,650,000 Iraqis have been killed due to deliberate and calculated
US policy!
The number of Armenians who died as a result of forced resettlement and other actions by Turkey is estimated at 1-1.5 millions.
If the death of a million Armenians is a genocide (and it is), what do you call the death of almost 2 million Iraqis? That number of Iraqis is increasing rapidly and could easily reach 3 millions if this modern day genocide is not stopped.
Why is it that the West can only see genocides in its rear-view mirror? Why pass laws that criminalize people for their opinion of historical events while allowing a current genocide to proceed unfettered with no penalties? Is this the rationality and objectivity of the West?
By Tony Sayegh
One can't help contrasting two news stories during the past couple of days. The first was that the French parliament voted Thursday to make it a criminal act to deny an Armenian genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I. The other was the publication in the medical journal, The Lancet, of a year-long study conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Al Mustansiriya University in Iraq, in the excess mortality in Iraq as a result of the US invasion in March, 2003. The study was published on Wednesday, just the day before the passing of the French law.
The study in Iraq concluded that a reliable estimate of the increased deaths attributable to the US invasion is 650,000. If we add to this number the conservative estimate of 1,000,000 Iraqis who died due to the severe sanctions imposed on that country at the behest of the US, in the years prior to the invasion (of those, UNICEF estimated that 500,000 were children), we arrive at the conclusion that 1,650,000 Iraqis have been killed due to deliberate and calculated
US policy!
The number of Armenians who died as a result of forced resettlement and other actions by Turkey is estimated at 1-1.5 millions.
If the death of a million Armenians is a genocide (and it is), what do you call the death of almost 2 million Iraqis? That number of Iraqis is increasing rapidly and could easily reach 3 millions if this modern day genocide is not stopped.
Why is it that the West can only see genocides in its rear-view mirror? Why pass laws that criminalize people for their opinion of historical events while allowing a current genocide to proceed unfettered with no penalties? Is this the rationality and objectivity of the West?
"GAZA. INEXPLICABLE WOUNDS AND NEW WEAPONS"
Click Here To Watch This Video By Rai News
This report has been triggered by the warning launched in mid-july by some doctors of Gaza hospitals, who, for the first time, have treated inexplicable wounds which, in at least 62 cases, have caused the amputation of a lower limb. The doctors have often asked the help of the international community in order to understand the causes of these strange wounds which presented small fragments, often invisible to x-rays and inexplicable excisions caused by heat in lower limbs.
Several articles have appeared on national and international newpapers.
After a long research, the investigation team of Rai News 24 has identified the possible cause of these effects: it seems a new weapon dropped by unmanned drones, which is precisely teleguided to the target.
The weapon, according to the military magazine "Defence Tech", is called DIME which means "Dense Inert Metal Esplosive". It is a carbon shell that when it goes off breaks into small splinters. At the same time, there is the explosion of a charge which shoots a blade of tungsten dust charged with energy which burns and destroys everything in the radius of four meters with a really precise slant.
This technology is part of a new kind of "low lethality" weapons which downside collateral damages and restrain lethal effects.
Ugo Intini, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the representatives of national and international press will participate into the broadcasting of the report.
U.S. begins $42 million program to bolster Hamas opponents
By Reuters
"The United States has quietly started a campaign projected to cost up to $42 million to bolster Hamas's political opponents ahead of possible early Palestinian elections, say officials linked to the program.
The plan to promote alternatives to Hamas includes funding to help restructure Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group and provide training and strategic advice to politicians and secular parties opposed to Hamas Islamists.
"This project supports (the) objective to create democratic alternatives to authoritarian or radical Islamist political options," one official U.S. document obtained by Reuters said.
The U.S. campaign coincides with signs that Abbas is considering sacking the government led by Hamas, which defeated Fatah in January elections, in a process that could lead to a new parliamentary vote.
U.S. officials and consultants say the effort is being conducted without fanfare in order to protect the Palestinians who are receiving U.S. help -- some already branded by Hamas leaders as collaborators with Washington and Israel.
"We don't operate with firecrackers and neon signs to attract attention to ourselves," said one of the contractors working with Fatah on behalf of the U.S. State Department.
U.S. funds will also be used to encourage "watchdog" groups and local journalists to investigate the activities of the Hamas-led government and parliament. Up to $5 million would support private Palestinian schools offering an alternative to the Hamas-controlled public education system.
The documents obtained by Reuters repeatedly call these new programmes that began in recent weeks.
Some Hamas leaders have accused Abbas and Fatah of serving the interests of Israel's ally, the United States, which has led a Western aid embargo to force Hamas to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past accords with the Jewish state.
Washington is also helping Abbas expand his presidential guard as a possible counterweight to Hamas.
Senior Hamas political leader and lawmaker Fathi Hammad called the U.S. money part of a plot to bring down the Hamas-led government. "It is a challenge that we are aware of and we will confront it," he said.
In U.S. budget terms, e42 million is a small amount.
But in the cash-strapped Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, it could go a long way - over three times the total spent by the main parties and candidates in the January election.
Ahead of that election, the United States tried to help the then Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, but critics said the push came too late to assist the long-dominant movement, which was handicapped by infighting and accusations of corruption.
The U.S.-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) said it recently began talks with the leaders of Fatah and other parties about how they could improve their performance in any election.
Michael Murphy, who runs NDI operations in the West Bank and Gaza, said the focus for now was on internal party reform, but that the programme, in close coordination with the State Department, would also look for ways to help Fatah and others get their message across to voters.
The International Republican Institute, which has also worked in the West Bank and Gaza for years, recently received funds for a new programme to give training and strategic advice to several Palestinian independent parties, though it said politicians would not get direct financial help.
"We're hammering into them they need to start organising now," said Scott Mastic, deputy director of the Institute's Middle East and North Africa division.
"There could be another election. It should be an incentive to them to get moving and get their act together."
One group, the Arab Thought Forum, said it had been approached by Washington to help two months ago, but that it turned down funding for a programme that would have meant excluding Hamas politicians.
"We couldn't be in a position not to recognise a government elected by the people," said director general Abdel Rahman Abu Arafeh. "So we are not receiving any U.S. money.""
***
HOW DO YOU SPELL TREASON? F-A-T-A-H.
Iraq: Resistance to Occupation Not Just for Fighters
by Dahr Jamail
"The children are growing up in occupied Iraq – and they are resisting it.
"Americans are bad," said 11-year-old Mustafa. "They killed my family." His family was killed in Operation Phantom Fury of November 2004 as they tried to flee the city, teachers said. That operation killed thousands and destroyed much of Fallujah and towns around it.
"How can we teach them forgiveness when they see Americans killing their family members every day?" the teacher in the classroom who gave her name as Shyamaa asked. "Words cannot cover the stream of blood and these signs of destruction, and words cannot hide the daily raids they see."
For the headmaster, the idea of a clash of civilizations is not just an idea.
"The gap between civilizations is widening thanks to the U.S. administration's crimes against humanity all over the world," he said. "They seem determined to tear the world apart, and their footprints cannot be removed for the coming generations."
"They keep asking us to hand over resistance fighters to them," a farmer at a village in the area told IPS. "So that they can torture them in Abu Ghraib, Falcon base, Baghdad airport, and other detention centers." But resistance fighters are gaining support, not being handed over.
Resistance attacks often take the shape of a small car that appears from nowhere. The men inside attack U.S. tanks or trucks carrying soldiers and disappear fast. Local people never provide U.S. forces with information on where the men came from or where they went."
Iraq: The Hidden Horror
650,000 Iraqis dead – now that's 'liberation'!
by Justin Raimondo
"That Bush has the gall to challenge anyone's credibility is a testament to his complete cluelessness. Here, after all, is a president who went to war under false pretenses, and now demands that we "stay the course" right over a cliff. Let him look at his own methodology, which involves reading – or, at least, skimming – a presidential daily briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike U.S." and then going blithely on his merry way, oblivious to all dangers but a nonexistent one in Iraq.
Are we to be spared nothing?
When Truman dropped nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was no national outcry: rather, there was a celebration of unassailable American power. Likewise, the bombing of Dresden caused nary a ripple of protest. A long string of American-sponsored and -countenanced atrocities, ranging from the torture methods employed by the shah of Iran's U.S.-trained SAVAK to the "free-fire zones" of Vietnam, to the terror manual written by the CIA for the Nicaraguan contras during the 1980s, and on and on – none of this bothered much of anyone, either in Washington or in the country at large. We withdrew from Vietnam not because we were repulsed by our murderous tactics, and those of our Vietnamese sock-puppets, but because we were beaten militarily by a ragtag bunch of insurgents.
The U.S. military has steadfastly refused to maintain Iraqi body counts: for obvious reasons, they'd rather we didn't know how many Iraqi souls have been permanently "liberated" from their bodies. More importantly, they'd rather the Iraqis didn't know.
The study has proved controversial, and anyone can summon their favorite experts to either support or debunk it. Yet one has to say that, even if the figure of 650,000 is off by half, the vastness of U.S. war crimes in Iraq is quite a shocker. No wonder the Americans are denying it: they can't stand the sight of their own ruthlessness. And the hypocrisy! Here, after all, is a nation that was supposed to be "liberated" – and, instead, it has been turned into a slaughterhouse. Whatever the numbers, that is the cruel reality.
The hidden horror is so much worse than we imagine, yet the invisibility of evil isn't at all unusual when it comes to the modern world. The sheer scale of the crimes committed by the Nazis, the Soviets, the Khmer Rouge, and all the other mad tyrannies of the 20th century didn't come to light until well after their demise. One wonders if it will take the fall of the American Empire to uncover the full extent of Washington's war crimes."
Army chief says British troops should be pulled out of Iraq
The Independent
"Tony Blair has received a public warning from the country's most senior military commander that the British presence in Iraq is threatening disaster there and in the UK.
General Sir Richard Dannatt, who took over as Chief of Staff six weeks ago, has warned the commitment to Iraq "exacerbates" problems faced by the UK in other parts of the world. He urged Mr Blair to give up his ambition to see a liberal democracy established in Iraq and settle for a "lower ambition", warning that British troops were not invited into Iraq and the time when they were welcome has passed.
He said: "Let's face it, the military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance. I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them.""
CARTOON OF THE DAY
A Last Wild Ride on the Titanic: Bush Leading the Ship to Destruction
By Mike Whitney
"Even if the Democrats sweep both houses in November, it is doubtful that the enfeebled congress will have the power to confront the omnipotent “unitary” executive. Bush has all the power now; and what he says, goes.
America is presently in a long, downward spiral. It could be years before we hit rock bottom. Our military is grinding down, our alliances are increasingly frayed and tenuous, and public opinion has begun to wane. The tectonic-plates of political good-fortune have begun to shift. There won’t be any more “good news” coming from Iraq.
Still, in the face of mounting pressure and widespread public unease, Bush has ordered a carrier group to the Gulf; steaming ahead for an apocalyptic confrontation with Iran. When the time is right, he’ll blow the whistle and the bombs will start pelting down like a Texas hailstorm.
It’s a death-wish.
Bush is chugging inexorably towards Tehran and we’re all being swept along in his wake. It’s like one last wild ride on the Titanic before we hit the ice in the open seas and slip slowly beneath the waves.
Glub, glub!"
"Even if the Democrats sweep both houses in November, it is doubtful that the enfeebled congress will have the power to confront the omnipotent “unitary” executive. Bush has all the power now; and what he says, goes.
America is presently in a long, downward spiral. It could be years before we hit rock bottom. Our military is grinding down, our alliances are increasingly frayed and tenuous, and public opinion has begun to wane. The tectonic-plates of political good-fortune have begun to shift. There won’t be any more “good news” coming from Iraq.
Still, in the face of mounting pressure and widespread public unease, Bush has ordered a carrier group to the Gulf; steaming ahead for an apocalyptic confrontation with Iran. When the time is right, he’ll blow the whistle and the bombs will start pelting down like a Texas hailstorm.
It’s a death-wish.
Bush is chugging inexorably towards Tehran and we’re all being swept along in his wake. It’s like one last wild ride on the Titanic before we hit the ice in the open seas and slip slowly beneath the waves.
Glub, glub!"
Is War with Iran the October Surprise?
By Captain Eric H. May
(Captain May, a former intelligence and public affairs officer, is the founder and commander of Ghost Troop, a cyber-intelligence unit on a mission of conscience to inform the American People of the dangers of the Bush administration.)
"If they're up to their duty, a new Congress could impeach him as a man who was brought to power by a war cabal for the sole purpose of starting a war in the Middle East. They could say that his allegiances are not -- and never were -- to the American People. Rather, he has been bought and paid for by the Oil Lobby, the Military-Industrial Lobby and the Israel Lobby.
Officers from the Eisenhower have reached out to the government, military and media ever since the orders came, protesting that they don't want to be used to initiate a war with Iran. They assert that this is against their service oath to the Constitution, which clearly states that only the Congress -- not the president -- can start a war. Their distress signal has reached official circles, thanks to a September article by The Nation magazine. It's a confirmation of a New Yorker story in the spring, by Seymour Hersh, alleging that the Pentagon was then putting the brakes on a Bush administration itching for a war with Iran.
A false flag attack is one in which you or your war partners attack your own forces while pretending to be someone else -- then blame it on that someone else. As a lifelong soldier and military historian, it seems quite possible to me a false flag attack on a U.S. ship in the Persian Gulf could be planned to alter the upcoming U.S. elections. The war would be blamed on Iran, of course.
Have the same powerful officials decided that a Persian Gulf Pearl Harbor is what we must suffer to start World War III?
If we don't want to do the unsavory job of a performing a false flag attack on ourselves, we can always count on Israel to do anything necessary to keep us fighting against their Middle Eastern enemies. In 1967, they launched an unsuccessful day-long assault against our U.S.S. Liberty, then sailing well outside its territorial waters in the Eastern Mediterranean. They intended to scuttle the ship, kill its survivors, then blame the attack on Egypt, against whom they wanted us to go to war. Not one in a hundred Americans know about the event; both media and government have colluded to keep the fact silent.
The same cooperative media that led the American People against Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 could lead it against Iran in 2006. The United States would mobilize the economy and initiate the draft."
(Captain May, a former intelligence and public affairs officer, is the founder and commander of Ghost Troop, a cyber-intelligence unit on a mission of conscience to inform the American People of the dangers of the Bush administration.)
"If they're up to their duty, a new Congress could impeach him as a man who was brought to power by a war cabal for the sole purpose of starting a war in the Middle East. They could say that his allegiances are not -- and never were -- to the American People. Rather, he has been bought and paid for by the Oil Lobby, the Military-Industrial Lobby and the Israel Lobby.
Officers from the Eisenhower have reached out to the government, military and media ever since the orders came, protesting that they don't want to be used to initiate a war with Iran. They assert that this is against their service oath to the Constitution, which clearly states that only the Congress -- not the president -- can start a war. Their distress signal has reached official circles, thanks to a September article by The Nation magazine. It's a confirmation of a New Yorker story in the spring, by Seymour Hersh, alleging that the Pentagon was then putting the brakes on a Bush administration itching for a war with Iran.
A false flag attack is one in which you or your war partners attack your own forces while pretending to be someone else -- then blame it on that someone else. As a lifelong soldier and military historian, it seems quite possible to me a false flag attack on a U.S. ship in the Persian Gulf could be planned to alter the upcoming U.S. elections. The war would be blamed on Iran, of course.
Have the same powerful officials decided that a Persian Gulf Pearl Harbor is what we must suffer to start World War III?
If we don't want to do the unsavory job of a performing a false flag attack on ourselves, we can always count on Israel to do anything necessary to keep us fighting against their Middle Eastern enemies. In 1967, they launched an unsuccessful day-long assault against our U.S.S. Liberty, then sailing well outside its territorial waters in the Eastern Mediterranean. They intended to scuttle the ship, kill its survivors, then blame the attack on Egypt, against whom they wanted us to go to war. Not one in a hundred Americans know about the event; both media and government have colluded to keep the fact silent.
The same cooperative media that led the American People against Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 could lead it against Iran in 2006. The United States would mobilize the economy and initiate the draft."
NEW AL-JAZEERA ONLINE POLL
The poll asks:
What is the best solution to resolve the internal Palestinian crisis?
Here are the results, with 1,750 people responding:
Resignation of the Hamas government------9.8%
Resignation of Mahmoud Abbas-------------59.5%
Forming a national unity government------30.7%
It is important to save these results, which have held steady so far. As experience shows, when Fatah finds out about the poll it will instruct its supporters to vote en masse to dramatically change the results, against Hamas and in favor of Abbas. At that point the poll will become meaningless. But up to this point, the poll has been random and the results should be viewed as representative.
***
AN UPDATE
The results have held relatively steady, but are beginning to change, indicating that Fatah may have found out about the poll. In that case, the volume will increase enormously. In a similar recent poll, the total number of respondents exceeded one million!
With 5,900 people responding:
Resignation of the Hamas government------11.3%
Resignation of Mahmoud Abbas---------------60%
Forming a national unity government------28.7%
What is the best solution to resolve the internal Palestinian crisis?
Here are the results, with 1,750 people responding:
Resignation of the Hamas government------9.8%
Resignation of Mahmoud Abbas-------------59.5%
Forming a national unity government------30.7%
It is important to save these results, which have held steady so far. As experience shows, when Fatah finds out about the poll it will instruct its supporters to vote en masse to dramatically change the results, against Hamas and in favor of Abbas. At that point the poll will become meaningless. But up to this point, the poll has been random and the results should be viewed as representative.
***
AN UPDATE
The results have held relatively steady, but are beginning to change, indicating that Fatah may have found out about the poll. In that case, the volume will increase enormously. In a similar recent poll, the total number of respondents exceeded one million!
With 5,900 people responding:
Resignation of the Hamas government------11.3%
Resignation of Mahmoud Abbas---------------60%
Forming a national unity government------28.7%
COMPLETE 3-PART SERIES: HOW HEZBOLLAH DEFEATED ISRAEL
HOW HEZBOLLAH DEFEATED ISRAEL
PART 3: The political war
Asia Times
"Mubarak and the two Abdullahs are not the only ones scrambling for the exits - the United States' foreign policy in the region, even in light of its increasingly dire deployment in Iraq, is in a shambles.
A talisman of this collapse can be seen in the itinerary of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose inability to persuade President George W Bush to halt the fighting and her remark about the conflict as marking "the birth pangs" of a new Middle East in effect destroyed her credibility.
The US has made it clear that it will attempt to retrieve its position by backing a yet-to-be-announced Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, but America's continued strangulation of the democratically constituted government of the Palestinian Authority has transformed that pledge into a stillborn political program.
First, the Hezbollah victory has shown that Israel - and any modern and technologically sophisticated Western military force - can be defeated in open battle, if the proper military tactics are employed and if they are sustained over a prolonged period.
Second, the Hezbollah victory has shown the people of the Muslim world that the strategy employed by Western-allied Arab and Muslim governments - a policy of appeasing US interests in the hopes of gaining substantive political rewards cannot and will not work.
Third, the Hezbollah victory has had a shattering impact on America's allies in the region.
A future war - perhaps a US military campaign against Iran's nuclear sites - might not unseat the government in Tehran, but it could well unseat the governments of Egypt, Jordan and perhaps Saudi Arabia.
Fourth, the Hezbollah victory has dangerously weakened the Israeli government.
Fifth, the Hezbollah victory spells the end of any hope of a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at least in the short and medium terms. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas castigated those who cheered on Hezbollah's victory, calling them "Hamas supporters" and "enemies of Israel". Abbas is in a far more tenuous position than Mubarak or the two Abdullahs - his people's support for Hamas continues, as does his slavish agreement with George W Bush, who told him on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council meeting that he was to end all attempts to form a unity government with his fellow citizens.
Sixth, the Hezbollah victory has had the very unfortunate consequence of blinding Israel's political leadership to the realities of their geostrategic position.
Seventh, Hezbollah's position in Lebanon has been immeasurably strengthened, as has the position of its most important ally.
Eighth, Iran's position in Iraq has been significantly enhanced.
Ninth, Syria's position has been strengthened and the US-French program for Lebanon has failed.
Tenth, and perhaps most important, it now is clear that a US attack on Iranian nuclear installations would be met with little support in the Muslim world. It would also be met by a military response that would collapse the last vestiges of America's political power in the region. We would now dare say the obvious - if and when such an attack comes, the United States will be defeated.
Conclusion
The victory of Hezbollah in its recent conflict with Israel is far more significant than many analysts in the United States and Europe realize. The Hezbollah victory reverses the tide of 1967 - a shattering defeat of Egypt, Syria and Jordan that shifted the region's political plates, putting in place regimes that were bent on recasting their own foreign policy to reflect Israeli and US power. That power now has been sullied and reversed, and a new leadership is emerging in the region."
Asia Times
"Mubarak and the two Abdullahs are not the only ones scrambling for the exits - the United States' foreign policy in the region, even in light of its increasingly dire deployment in Iraq, is in a shambles.
A talisman of this collapse can be seen in the itinerary of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose inability to persuade President George W Bush to halt the fighting and her remark about the conflict as marking "the birth pangs" of a new Middle East in effect destroyed her credibility.
The US has made it clear that it will attempt to retrieve its position by backing a yet-to-be-announced Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, but America's continued strangulation of the democratically constituted government of the Palestinian Authority has transformed that pledge into a stillborn political program.
First, the Hezbollah victory has shown that Israel - and any modern and technologically sophisticated Western military force - can be defeated in open battle, if the proper military tactics are employed and if they are sustained over a prolonged period.
Second, the Hezbollah victory has shown the people of the Muslim world that the strategy employed by Western-allied Arab and Muslim governments - a policy of appeasing US interests in the hopes of gaining substantive political rewards cannot and will not work.
Third, the Hezbollah victory has had a shattering impact on America's allies in the region.
A future war - perhaps a US military campaign against Iran's nuclear sites - might not unseat the government in Tehran, but it could well unseat the governments of Egypt, Jordan and perhaps Saudi Arabia.
Fourth, the Hezbollah victory has dangerously weakened the Israeli government.
Fifth, the Hezbollah victory spells the end of any hope of a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at least in the short and medium terms. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas castigated those who cheered on Hezbollah's victory, calling them "Hamas supporters" and "enemies of Israel". Abbas is in a far more tenuous position than Mubarak or the two Abdullahs - his people's support for Hamas continues, as does his slavish agreement with George W Bush, who told him on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council meeting that he was to end all attempts to form a unity government with his fellow citizens.
Sixth, the Hezbollah victory has had the very unfortunate consequence of blinding Israel's political leadership to the realities of their geostrategic position.
Seventh, Hezbollah's position in Lebanon has been immeasurably strengthened, as has the position of its most important ally.
Eighth, Iran's position in Iraq has been significantly enhanced.
Ninth, Syria's position has been strengthened and the US-French program for Lebanon has failed.
Tenth, and perhaps most important, it now is clear that a US attack on Iranian nuclear installations would be met with little support in the Muslim world. It would also be met by a military response that would collapse the last vestiges of America's political power in the region. We would now dare say the obvious - if and when such an attack comes, the United States will be defeated.
Conclusion
The victory of Hezbollah in its recent conflict with Israel is far more significant than many analysts in the United States and Europe realize. The Hezbollah victory reverses the tide of 1967 - a shattering defeat of Egypt, Syria and Jordan that shifted the region's political plates, putting in place regimes that were bent on recasting their own foreign policy to reflect Israeli and US power. That power now has been sullied and reversed, and a new leadership is emerging in the region."
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Meanwhile in Iraq
Randi Rhodes Interviews Dr. Les Roberts; co-author of the Johns Hopkins Iraq Mortality Study: The Iraqi death toll has reached 655,000! Johns Hopkins University has just released the only truly scientific accounting on the matter since their 2004 report on the post-invasion death toll.
At least 34 killed in ongoing U.S. Occupation of Iraq: Gunmen raided the offices of al-Shaabiya Iraqi satellite television channel in Baghdad and killed 11 people, including guards, technicians and administrative staff
Aura of fear and death stalks Iraq: As the Lancet releases shocking figures on the death toll in Iraq, Peter Beaumont describes the daily carnage across Baghdad
UK ex-minister urged Aljazeera bombing: David Blunkett, the UK's former home secretary, has said that during the 2003 invasion of Iraq he suggested to Tony Blair that Britain's military should bomb Aljazeera's television transmitter in Baghdad.
Baker's Panel Rules Out Iraq Victory: A commission formed to assess the Iraq war and recommend a new course has ruled out the prospect of victory for America, according to draft policy options shared with The New York Sun by commission officials.
Data Suggests Vast Costs Loom in Disability Claims : Nearly one in five soldiers leaving the military after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan has been at least partly disabled as a result of service, according to documents of the Department of Veterans Affairs obtained by a Washington research group.
Gunmen Storm Iraqi TV Station, Kill 11: Gunmen, some of them in police uniforms, stormed the downtown Baghdad headquarters of a new satellite television station Thursday, killing the board chairman and 10 others in the second attack on an Iraqi station in the capital in as many weeks."Excess Death in Iraq": It is the single most important statistic regarding the illegal US invasion and occupation of Iraq. How many Iraqis have been killed? 655,000.
"Resistance Growing Up at School": KHALDIYA, Oct 12 (IPS) - The bomb went off just outside the school as the IPS correspondent stood speaking to children and teachers within.
Iraqi cop academy to shut despite surge in violence: The Bush administration plans to shut down a highly successful Iraqi police academy in Jordan even as security in Iraq worsens, the Daily News has learned.
Meanwhile in Palestine
AIPAC Runs Right: The Republicanization and increasing hawkishness of the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has continued apace, with little heed paid to the ramifications of this shift or its increasing alliance with the far right.
Israeli Occupation Forces kill six Palestinians in occupied Gaza : A spokesman for the Hamas military wing on Thursday vowed the group would take harsh revenge for an Israel Occupation Forces operation in Gaza, in which six people - including four militants - were killed.
Israel's bombs Hamas man's Gaza home kills three including 8-year-old girl: Farwana survived the attack, but the strike killed his brother, 25-year-old Aiman Farwana, and a 8-year-old girl.
Gideon Levy : Collateral damage : Sometimes tragedies happen, but the tragedy of the Hamad family is almost too much to describe.
"Gaza. Inexplicable Wounds And New Weapons" : Video report: This report has been triggered by the warning launched in mid-july by some doctors of Gaza hospitals, who, for the first time, have treated inexplicable wounds which, in at least 62 cases, have caused the amputation of a lower limb.
Gaza sliding into civil war: As soon as Hamas formed a government after winning January's elections, Israel withheld $60m (£32m) in monthly tax revenues and the international community halted direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. That, combined with frequent Israeli closures of the crossing points into Gaza, has prompted a severe economic crisis and left hundreds of young men, who have ready access to weapons, without salaries.
The logic behind Rice's grin: In its struggle for the regional order it wants, the US is reaching new lows in its deceitful and disingenuous stance towards the Palestinians
Israeli Rights group: Israeli denies vital health treatment to Palestinians : The Shin Bet security service is systematically preventing Palestinians who need medical treatment unavailable in the territories from entering Israel, a new report by the nonprofit organization Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) charges
Roadblocks up by 40% in West Bank: The number of Israeli military road blocks in the West Bank grew by nearly 40% in the past year, part of an increasingly sophisticated lockdown that disrupts all aspects of Palestinian life, a UN aid agency said yesterday.
Academic to quit post in anger over Israel: PROMINENT left-wing Israeli academic and author Tanya Reinhart plans to quit as emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University in protest against her Government's handling of the Palestinian issue.
Rice: Palestinians should live free of 'humilation of occupation': Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Palestinians deserve to live under better conditions than they are subjected to and be "free of the humiliation of occupation" in a state of their own. "I promise you my personal commitment to that goal," Rice said at a dinner marking the third anniversary of the American Task Force on Palestine.Holy Land Christian leaders call for "open" Jerusalem: Slamming the impact of walls recently erected by the Israeli government, Catholic and other Christian leaders in Israel and Palestine have called for a renewed effort to reach agreement on a special status for Jerusalem as an "open city" as part of an effort for a definite and just peace.
Bil’in to Demonstrate in Solidarity With Cameraman held by Israel: At midday, Friday the 13th of October, the villagers of Bil’in will march in solidarity with Emad Bornat, the Reuters cameraman and video-journalist, also a resident of Bil’in. The demonstrators will hold up cameras as a sign of solidarity with Emad and protest against the Israeli army’s crackdown on freedom of press. Today, October 11th, at the appeal hearing, the Israeli military decided to launch an indictment against Emad. The judge will make a ruling tomorrow at 4pm, but that might not be the end of his captivity.
Nonviolent resistance: I sell grapes: Eleven tons of grapes are on sale in Jerusalem. Sitting under trees and along the sidewalks of East Jerusalem's Salah Addin Street, against door pillars in the Old City and outside Damascus Gate, Palestinians are defying Israeli attempts to crush their yearly sales. Jerusalem is the largest market for grapes and just last week southwestern Bethlehem farmers demonstrated to be able to reach the city with their crop. But as the assault on economic sustainability continues, Israeli forces will not allow grapes and seasonal vegetables into Jerusalem.
Report: 290 killed in the Gaza Strip since June 25th, amongst them 135 children and 25 women: The death toll, given in the report, since the beginning of the operation has reached 290 civilians, amongst them 135 children and 35 women. The number of injured is 4,350, out of these 750 are left permanently disabled, 117 injuries were to the upper body, 54 burns were sustained and 53 severe burns. 1700 injuries out of 4350 were to children.
Rights group: Shin Bet denies vital treatment to Palestinians: The Shin Bet security service is systematically preventing Palestinians who need medical treatment unavailable in the territories from entering Israel... According to the organization, in many cases, patients have been denied urgent, life-saving treatment. The report says that the Shin Bet automatically refuses entry permits, and reconsiders its decisions only if legal action is begun.
IAF missile strike on Hamas man's Gaza home kills three: An IDF spokesman confirmed the air strike targeted the house of a Hamas commander, Sharaf Farwana, in the Sajaiyeh section of Gaza City near the border with Israel. Farwana survived the attack, but the strike killed his brother, 25-year-old Aiman Farwana, and a 8-year-old girl.
Seven killed by Israeli fire in Gaza: Five of those killed belonged to the same family -- bystanders 13-year-old Suheib Iqdah, his 40-year-old father Adel and three militants from the armed wing of ruling Islamist movement Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. They died after an Israeli aircraft fired a missile into a group of people in Abassan, near the southern town of Khan Yunis, medical and security sources said.
Army closes Beit Iba checkpoint west of Nablus: Due to the closure of the checkpoints scores of residents who were out of the city for education, work, or heath purposes were trapped and could not return to their homes in Nablus or the surrounding areas.
Olmert courts hard-line party in Israel: With his political fortunes plummeting after the war in Lebanon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scrambling to shore up his rickety coalition by courting a hard-line party that favors redrawing Israel's borders to exclude Arab citizens.
Police arrest 10 settler youths who beat Palestinians harvesting olives: Police on Thursday arrested 10 youths from the West Bank settlement of Hashmonaim who are suspected of attacking and beating local Palestinians harvesting olives.
My Friend, the Enemy: The dispossession of the Palestinians by the Zionist movement, representing a people who had suffered centuries of persecution in Europe, continues to haunt the Middle East, influencing events far beyond the Levant. The story of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and its present-day reverberations has been told from almost every conceivable angle. Rarely, however, have the competing narratives of individual experience been set forth so poignantly as in Sandy Tolan's The Lemon Tree .
Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank up sharply, UN says: These physical obstacles are carving up the West Bank into separate parts, with travel between them becoming more and more difficult, said David Shearer, head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Jerusalem. UN officials in Geneva, meanwhile, expressed concern about the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip, including the crossing between Gaza and Egypt. ``It cannot continue like it is now without a social explosion that will hurt everybody, including Israeli security," said Jan Egeland, the UN humanitarian chief.
U.S. Teacher Freed in West Bank: Michael Phillips, 24, who teaches English in Palestinian refugee camps in Nablus, was unharmed, said Samah Atout, a manager for the nonprofit group for which the Louisiana resident has volunteered. "He's totally OK, and he doesn't want to leave Nablus," Atout said by telephone shortly after Phillips' release.
Hamas sees Egyptian mediation between Palestinians necessary: The Egyptian mediation "became a political need to protect our national project," Ahmed Yousef said in the statement. Meanwhile, Yousef underlined that the Palestinians are in need of new Arab and international initiatives that do not give priority to Israel's recognition.
State tells High Court it should stay out of war-probe decision: The state prosecution yesterday told the High Court of Justice that the government has given much thought to the question of whether to establish a state commission of inquiry to investigate the war in Lebanon, and believes that the High Court has limited input in this deliberation.
Hamas: Revenge will be painful: The movement's spokesperson Abu Ubeida said, in an interview with Palestinian Maan news agency: "We promise the Israeli enemy many surprises and promise to show previously unrevealed military capabilities. All operations of the Israeli military in Gaza are meant to cover up their failure to release Gilad Shalit."
A small Jerusalem is better: The plan, which was initiated by Golda Meir's government in order to "strengthen the capital," was severely criticized by all the experts. Thirty years later, its destructive consequences have become evident: From a compact city of 37 square kilometers, Jerusalem has turned into a huge metropolis that covers 120 square kilometers, twice as large as the area of Tel Aviv and Haifa combined.
Over 2,000 protest outside PM's home, call for state war inquiry: "The State of Israel is anxiously awaiting for errors to be addressed, and the first condition for addressing errors is revealing the truth," former Meretz MK Yossi Sarid told the protestors.
DAILY MURDER OF PALESTINIANS BY ISRAEL GOES ON AND ON
A 13-year old boy, Ssuheib Quday'h (صهيب عادل قديح), who was killed with four other members of the Quday'h family, October 12, 2006.
A Palestinian man carries a girl wounded by an Israeli missile in the Shijaia neighbourhood in Gaza October 12, 2006. An Israeli missile fired from an unmanned drone killed a girl and wounded nine other people in the Shijaia neighbourhood in Gaza City on Thursday, local residents said and hospital staff said. (REUTERS)
A Palestinian carries a woman wounded by an Israeli missile in the Shijaia neighbourhood in Gaza October 12, 2006. An Israeli missile fired from an unmanned drone killed a girl and wounded nine other people in the Shijaia neighbourhood in Gaza City on Thursday, local residents said and hospital staff said. (REUTERS)
A Palestinian woman carries a child wounded by an Israeli missile strike in the Shijaia neighbourhood in Gaza October 12, 2006. An Israeli missile fired from an unmanned drone killed two Palestinians including a young girl and wounded more than 10 others in the Shijaia neighbourhood in Gaza City on Thursday, local residents and hospital staff said. (REUTERS)
The logic behind Rice's grin
By Ramzy Baroud
Al-Ahram Weekly
"Rice, the most faithful foreign policy ambassador of the Bush administration, even before her taking over the State Department, seems hell-bent on reining in Iran, ensuring the failure of the Hamas government, and restructuring the political landscape of Lebanon in a way that would deny Hizbullah the opportunity to capitalise on its astounding military achievements.
One can easily dismiss Rice's attempts as futile, indeed self-defeating. The logic is simple: Rice represents all that is insidious about the Bush regime, one of the most loathed US administrations in the modern history of the Middle East, if not the world. Her visits to the region, despite the official fanfare that often awaits her at Arab capitals, coupled with her disagreeable and untimely grins, are often associated with her government's disastrous foreign policy, political plots and anti-democratic efforts.
The fact is, Rice couldn't care less about Arab public opinion, nor any other public opinion for that matter. Her definition of democratic transformation hardly resembles the people's collective desire. She simply stands at odds with the people's aspirations for greater freedom and change, and undoubtedly she knows it.
Even her promise, made during her 4 October joint press conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, that the US will "redouble" its efforts to help starving Palestinians, was quickly snubbed by Palestinian media and by a mass rally held in Gaza two days after her visit to the West Bank. Palestinians understand well that the purpose of her visit was to support President Abbas's disgruntled faction, Fatah, against Hamas, now the ruling party. In the span of three days prior to her visit, 10 Palestinians were killed in clashes between the two groups. Fatah continues to infuse chaos, rendering the government inoperative and paving the way for a presidential decree to abolish it, while Hamas is fighting to retain control of what it perceives rightfully as its political achievement resulting from the democratic choice of the Palestinian people during the January elections.
Now Rice is back, pushing to abort the same democratic process that her boss alleged to champion. Recall that in his Middle East "vision" speech of 24 June 2002, President Bush considered free and fair elections in the Palestinian territories as key to the success of what was later termed the roadmap peace initiative.
For now, the core of the American Middle East battle is focussed on Palestine. If Palestinian democracy prevails, withstanding intense Israel-American-Palestinian pressure, then US foreign policy will suffer its greatest loss yet, whose outcome will reverberate across the region. The Palestinian democratic experience thus must fail, even if the price is politically backing embattled President Abbas and his fractious followers, equally desperate not to lose this decisive battle against Hamas.
Rice's visit to the region was neither intended to "reinvigorate" the peace process nor to support the voice of "moderation" in the region. It was meant to ensure the fortitude of her allies and secure and extend the collective punishment of the Palestinian people until they repent and throw out their democratically elected government, a scenario that was tried with success in Nicaragua in the 1970s, though at a very high price.
Unfortunately, the Palestinian president and his henchmen, joined by various Arab governments and European states, are in unison with Rice's iniquitous objectives, thus giving her good reason to mendaciously grin."
Co-Author of Medical Study Estimating 650,000 Iraqi Deaths Defends Research in the Face of White House Dismissal
INTERVIEWED TODAY
By Amy Goodman
Democracy Now!
"More than 650,000 people have died in Iraq since the U.S. led invasion of the country began in March of 2003. This is according to a new study published in the scientific journal, The Lancet. The study was conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. Researchers based their findings on interviews with a random sampling of households taken in clusters across Iraq. The study is an update to a prior one compiled by many of the same researchers. That study estimated that around 100,000 Iraqis died in the first 18 months after the invasion.
Les Roberts joins us now from Syracuse, New York -- He is one of the main researchers of the study. He was with Johns Hopkins when he co-authored the study but has just taken a post at Columbia University.
LES ROBERTS: Sure, we, as you said, went to about 50 neighborhoods spread around Iraq that were picked at random, and each time we went, we knocked on 40 doors and asked people, “Who lived here on the first of January, 2002?” and “Who lived here today?” And we asked, “Had anyone been born or died in between?” And on those occasions, when people said someone die, we said, “Well, how did they die?” And we sort of wrote down the details: when, how old they were, what was the cause of death. And when it was violence, we asked, “Well, who did the killing? How exactly did it happen? What kind of weapon was used?” And at the end of the interview, when no one knew this was coming, we asked most of the time for a death certificate. And 92% of the time, people walked back into their houses and could produce a death certificate. So we are quite sure people didn’t make this up.
And our conclusion was comparing the death rate for that 14 months before the invasion, with the 40 months after, that the death rate is now about four times higher. And, in fact, it’s twice as high as when we last spoke two years ago and when we did our first study. So, things have gotten bad, as you stated. We think about 650,000 extra people have died because of this invasion, and about 600,000, some 90%, are from violence.
And when we reported this, we didn’t say it was 655,000 deaths. We said it was 655,000 deaths, and we’re 95% sure it’s between about 400,000 and 950,000. And that range of imprecision is capturing that variance between neighborhoods that you described, some places having a lot of violence, and some not. So there is less than a 2 percent chance that the number is well below 400,000. So, you know, it’s not precise. It’s incredibly hard to do this kind of work in times of war, and I think that this is awfully good, given the conditions.
READ THE REST OF THE TRANSCRIPT INCLUDING LES ROBERTS' ANSWER TO BUSH'S DENIAL AND TO ANTHONY CORDESMAN'S CHALLENGE
By Amy Goodman
Democracy Now!
"More than 650,000 people have died in Iraq since the U.S. led invasion of the country began in March of 2003. This is according to a new study published in the scientific journal, The Lancet. The study was conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. Researchers based their findings on interviews with a random sampling of households taken in clusters across Iraq. The study is an update to a prior one compiled by many of the same researchers. That study estimated that around 100,000 Iraqis died in the first 18 months after the invasion.
Les Roberts joins us now from Syracuse, New York -- He is one of the main researchers of the study. He was with Johns Hopkins when he co-authored the study but has just taken a post at Columbia University.
LES ROBERTS: Sure, we, as you said, went to about 50 neighborhoods spread around Iraq that were picked at random, and each time we went, we knocked on 40 doors and asked people, “Who lived here on the first of January, 2002?” and “Who lived here today?” And we asked, “Had anyone been born or died in between?” And on those occasions, when people said someone die, we said, “Well, how did they die?” And we sort of wrote down the details: when, how old they were, what was the cause of death. And when it was violence, we asked, “Well, who did the killing? How exactly did it happen? What kind of weapon was used?” And at the end of the interview, when no one knew this was coming, we asked most of the time for a death certificate. And 92% of the time, people walked back into their houses and could produce a death certificate. So we are quite sure people didn’t make this up.
And our conclusion was comparing the death rate for that 14 months before the invasion, with the 40 months after, that the death rate is now about four times higher. And, in fact, it’s twice as high as when we last spoke two years ago and when we did our first study. So, things have gotten bad, as you stated. We think about 650,000 extra people have died because of this invasion, and about 600,000, some 90%, are from violence.
And when we reported this, we didn’t say it was 655,000 deaths. We said it was 655,000 deaths, and we’re 95% sure it’s between about 400,000 and 950,000. And that range of imprecision is capturing that variance between neighborhoods that you described, some places having a lot of violence, and some not. So there is less than a 2 percent chance that the number is well below 400,000. So, you know, it’s not precise. It’s incredibly hard to do this kind of work in times of war, and I think that this is awfully good, given the conditions.
READ THE REST OF THE TRANSCRIPT INCLUDING LES ROBERTS' ANSWER TO BUSH'S DENIAL AND TO ANTHONY CORDESMAN'S CHALLENGE
شبكة أمان للإنقلاب على حماس
شبكة أمان للإنقلاب على حماس
واستمارة فردية للإعتراف بإسرائيل
د. عادل سمارة
شهد الشهر الأخير في الأراضي المحتلة، سلسلة من البيانات السياسية فيما يخص حكومة حماس، كتبته
ا أو اعلنتها تنظيمات محلية أو قناصل أجانب. والمفارقة أن هذه البيانات زعمت جميعاً أن هدفها هو تخليص البلد من الأزمة التي تعيشها، وأن غالبيتها الساحقة لم تتعرض لسبب تلك الأزمة، بل ركزت على أخطاء حكومة حماس. بعبارة أخرى جاء معظم هذه البيانات مثابة اصطفاف ضد موقف حماس الرافض للإعتراف يإسرائيل.
كما ساندت هذه البيانات حملات إعلامية في الفضائيات والأرضيات والصحف...الخ. ونشير هنا إلى محاولتين:
الأولى، هي بيان حمل اسم القوى الوطنية وضم معظم القوى من منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية التي تساند "على الخير والشر" سلطة رئاسة الحكم الذاتي وحركة فتح. وقد طرح بيان هذه القوى جملة لم نعهدها في اي عمل سياسي ديمقراطي وهي: "تشكيل حكومة مستقلين مغطاة بشبكة أمام لمدة سنة".
أمر عجيب، فاية ديمقرطية هذه التي تُنيط الحكم لطرف لا يُسائله احد حتى ولو ليوم واحد؟ أليس هذا شكلا من اشكال "المقاولة" أو "المبايعة المفتوحة" أو تسليم الزمام" إنه تكرار لمقاولة "مشروع مدريد ـ اوسلو" الذي نعاني ما نعاني بسببه.
لو قبلت حماس بهذا الاقتراح لكان يعني أن يكلف رئيس الحكم الذاتي مجموعة ممن يلبون توجهاته ليديروا شؤون البلد بما يراه هو. وفي هذا الحال يكون مجلس الحكم الذاتي "مشلولا، مقيد اليدين" لا يمكنه الاعتراض او سحب الثقة.بل يكون المجلس قد خان ثقة الناخبين الذين اوكلوه بحراسة البلد، وعندها يمكن لهذه الحكومة ان تعقد اتفاقات حل نهائي مع اسرائيل كما تريد اسرائيل، لا أحد بوسعه مناقشتها! ويمكنها تسهيل حياة الفاسدين وربما الإعتذار لهم كأنهم مناضلون جرى تلويثهم. بكلمة موجزة، فإن شبكة أمان كهذه لسنة، هي عبارة غير مسؤولة قطعا هدفها فقط التخلص من حركة حماس والإصطفاف وراء الحكومات السابقة التي جلبت الويلات، والتي رغم ذلك يقف ممثلوها أمام الكاميرا بكل ثقة وكأنهم "مشروع الخلاص الوطني"
أما المحاولة الثانية، فهي ما كتبه القنصل الأميركي في القدس الشرقية، قنصل لمناطق الحكم الذاتي، لكن قنصليته ترفض التواجد في هذه المناطق مخافة الإعتراف باية كيانية فلسطينية حتى لو هشة. تقع مقالة او حديث القنصل مع الصحفيين في نصف صفحة في جريدة القدس يوم 11 اكتوبر، وهي على شكل حديث منه للصحفيين وليس اسئلة من الصحفيين له. اي بعبارة أخرى فإن السيد القنصل يُملي إملاء ولا يُسأل؟
وملخص كل الحديث الطويل للقنصل هو : "المطلوب حكومة تعترف بإسرائيل". والقنصل هنا منسجم مع دوره . فهو قنصل للأراضي المحتلة، لا يقيم فيها، ولا يخدم أهلها، بل يأمرهم، هو في خدمة إسرائيل، ولذلك يقدم هذه الخدمة على أفضل وجه، بل على الوجه الأفضل.
القنصل الأميركي، ليس معنياً بما هي الحكومة، حتى لو حكومة جنرالات للعسف والقمع، أو حكومة فساد مطلق، المهم أن تعترف بإسرائيل اي بمن يحتل أرضها ويقتل أهلها كل ساعة. طيب الله الأنفاس، هذه جرأة لا تُبارى، أو جبن لدينا لا يُبارى.
ألا يردنا هذا الحديث إلى ما كتبناه على مدار سنوات طوال عجاف، بأن الدول المسماة "مانحة" لم يكن هدفها لا التنمية ولا التطوير ولا التحديث ولا المساعدة في الأرض المحتلة، بل كان الهدف تمرير التسوية عبر تسييل فلوس إلى جيوب من يمسكوا بالقرار، ومن يجمُِلوا وجه المانحين اي فريق الأنجزة. وعندما جرت سرقة الفلوس لم يحتج "المانحون" لأنها ذهبت في الطريق التي يريدونها.
واليوم لا يقول القنصل المحترم كلمة واحدة عن السرقة الجديدة، سرقة اسرائيل للمقتطعات الضريبية الفلسطينية. ولا أدري إن كان الصحفيون قد سألوه أم لا في الأمر! وكل ما يقوله المطلوب "الاعتراف بإسرائيل".
أما والحال على هذا المنوال، فأخشى، ولا ابالغ والله يشهد، أن نصل إلى يوم يصبح مطلوب فيه من كل فلسطيني في الأرض المحتلة أن يعترف خطياً بتعبئة استمارة تؤكد اعترافه بإسرائيل. وبما أن القنصل ممثل للدولة الأغنى، والحكومة الأفقر ديمقراطيا في العالم فما رأيه بهذاالإقتراح؟
القنصل قلق على الاعتراف بإسرائيل، ولكنه لا يسأل قط عن 45 ألف اميركي من اصل فلسطيني يجري طردهم من وطنهم على يد الدولة التي يستميت لإرغامنا على الاعتراف بها على أرضنا. أليس هذا هو المندوب السامي الجديد لحقبة العولمة؟
إذا كان لا بد من مخرج، فليكن رمي السلطة في وجه من أغوى حماس بها. وإن رفضت حماس هذا، فلتكن حكومة من مستقلين "شرفاء" يمنحهم التشريعي الثقة ويمنعها عنهم.
واستمارة فردية للإعتراف بإسرائيل
د. عادل سمارة
شهد الشهر الأخير في الأراضي المحتلة، سلسلة من البيانات السياسية فيما يخص حكومة حماس، كتبته
ا أو اعلنتها تنظيمات محلية أو قناصل أجانب. والمفارقة أن هذه البيانات زعمت جميعاً أن هدفها هو تخليص البلد من الأزمة التي تعيشها، وأن غالبيتها الساحقة لم تتعرض لسبب تلك الأزمة، بل ركزت على أخطاء حكومة حماس. بعبارة أخرى جاء معظم هذه البيانات مثابة اصطفاف ضد موقف حماس الرافض للإعتراف يإسرائيل.
كما ساندت هذه البيانات حملات إعلامية في الفضائيات والأرضيات والصحف...الخ. ونشير هنا إلى محاولتين:
الأولى، هي بيان حمل اسم القوى الوطنية وضم معظم القوى من منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية التي تساند "على الخير والشر" سلطة رئاسة الحكم الذاتي وحركة فتح. وقد طرح بيان هذه القوى جملة لم نعهدها في اي عمل سياسي ديمقراطي وهي: "تشكيل حكومة مستقلين مغطاة بشبكة أمام لمدة سنة".
أمر عجيب، فاية ديمقرطية هذه التي تُنيط الحكم لطرف لا يُسائله احد حتى ولو ليوم واحد؟ أليس هذا شكلا من اشكال "المقاولة" أو "المبايعة المفتوحة" أو تسليم الزمام" إنه تكرار لمقاولة "مشروع مدريد ـ اوسلو" الذي نعاني ما نعاني بسببه.
لو قبلت حماس بهذا الاقتراح لكان يعني أن يكلف رئيس الحكم الذاتي مجموعة ممن يلبون توجهاته ليديروا شؤون البلد بما يراه هو. وفي هذا الحال يكون مجلس الحكم الذاتي "مشلولا، مقيد اليدين" لا يمكنه الاعتراض او سحب الثقة.بل يكون المجلس قد خان ثقة الناخبين الذين اوكلوه بحراسة البلد، وعندها يمكن لهذه الحكومة ان تعقد اتفاقات حل نهائي مع اسرائيل كما تريد اسرائيل، لا أحد بوسعه مناقشتها! ويمكنها تسهيل حياة الفاسدين وربما الإعتذار لهم كأنهم مناضلون جرى تلويثهم. بكلمة موجزة، فإن شبكة أمان كهذه لسنة، هي عبارة غير مسؤولة قطعا هدفها فقط التخلص من حركة حماس والإصطفاف وراء الحكومات السابقة التي جلبت الويلات، والتي رغم ذلك يقف ممثلوها أمام الكاميرا بكل ثقة وكأنهم "مشروع الخلاص الوطني"
أما المحاولة الثانية، فهي ما كتبه القنصل الأميركي في القدس الشرقية، قنصل لمناطق الحكم الذاتي، لكن قنصليته ترفض التواجد في هذه المناطق مخافة الإعتراف باية كيانية فلسطينية حتى لو هشة. تقع مقالة او حديث القنصل مع الصحفيين في نصف صفحة في جريدة القدس يوم 11 اكتوبر، وهي على شكل حديث منه للصحفيين وليس اسئلة من الصحفيين له. اي بعبارة أخرى فإن السيد القنصل يُملي إملاء ولا يُسأل؟
وملخص كل الحديث الطويل للقنصل هو : "المطلوب حكومة تعترف بإسرائيل". والقنصل هنا منسجم مع دوره . فهو قنصل للأراضي المحتلة، لا يقيم فيها، ولا يخدم أهلها، بل يأمرهم، هو في خدمة إسرائيل، ولذلك يقدم هذه الخدمة على أفضل وجه، بل على الوجه الأفضل.
القنصل الأميركي، ليس معنياً بما هي الحكومة، حتى لو حكومة جنرالات للعسف والقمع، أو حكومة فساد مطلق، المهم أن تعترف بإسرائيل اي بمن يحتل أرضها ويقتل أهلها كل ساعة. طيب الله الأنفاس، هذه جرأة لا تُبارى، أو جبن لدينا لا يُبارى.
ألا يردنا هذا الحديث إلى ما كتبناه على مدار سنوات طوال عجاف، بأن الدول المسماة "مانحة" لم يكن هدفها لا التنمية ولا التطوير ولا التحديث ولا المساعدة في الأرض المحتلة، بل كان الهدف تمرير التسوية عبر تسييل فلوس إلى جيوب من يمسكوا بالقرار، ومن يجمُِلوا وجه المانحين اي فريق الأنجزة. وعندما جرت سرقة الفلوس لم يحتج "المانحون" لأنها ذهبت في الطريق التي يريدونها.
واليوم لا يقول القنصل المحترم كلمة واحدة عن السرقة الجديدة، سرقة اسرائيل للمقتطعات الضريبية الفلسطينية. ولا أدري إن كان الصحفيون قد سألوه أم لا في الأمر! وكل ما يقوله المطلوب "الاعتراف بإسرائيل".
أما والحال على هذا المنوال، فأخشى، ولا ابالغ والله يشهد، أن نصل إلى يوم يصبح مطلوب فيه من كل فلسطيني في الأرض المحتلة أن يعترف خطياً بتعبئة استمارة تؤكد اعترافه بإسرائيل. وبما أن القنصل ممثل للدولة الأغنى، والحكومة الأفقر ديمقراطيا في العالم فما رأيه بهذاالإقتراح؟
القنصل قلق على الاعتراف بإسرائيل، ولكنه لا يسأل قط عن 45 ألف اميركي من اصل فلسطيني يجري طردهم من وطنهم على يد الدولة التي يستميت لإرغامنا على الاعتراف بها على أرضنا. أليس هذا هو المندوب السامي الجديد لحقبة العولمة؟
إذا كان لا بد من مخرج، فليكن رمي السلطة في وجه من أغوى حماس بها. وإن رفضت حماس هذا، فلتكن حكومة من مستقلين "شرفاء" يمنحهم التشريعي الثقة ويمنعها عنهم.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
Can We Call It Genocide Now?
"You're Either With Us or You're Dead"
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch
"When does "collateral damage" so dwarf combatant deaths that war becomes genocide?
The Bush regime is proceeding exactly as the Nazi regime proceeded.
First, eliminate every person of conscience and integrity from the government. Second, redefine duty as service to the leader: "You are with us or against us"--a formulation that leaves no place for duty to the US Constitution. Patriotism is redefined from loyalty to country and Constitution to loyalty to the government's leader.
Americans are too inattentive and distracted to be aware of the grave danger that the neoconservative Bush regime presents to American liberty and to world stability. The neoconservative drive to achieve hegemony over the American people and the entire world is similar to Hitler's drive for hegemony. Hitler used racial superiority to justify Germany's right to ride roughshod over other peoples and the right of the Nazi elite to rule over the German people.
Neoconservatives use "American exceptionalism" and "the war on terror." There is no practical difference. Hitler cared no more about the peoples he mowed down in his drive for supremacy than the neoconservatives care about 655,000 dead Iraqis, 100,000 disabled American soldiers and 2,747 dead ones.
When Bush, the Decider, claims unconstitutional powers and uses "signing statements" to negate US law whenever he feels the rule of law is in the way of his leadership, he is remarkably similar to Hitler, the Fuhrer, who told the Reichstag on February 20, 1938: "A man who feels it his duty at such an hour to assume the leadership of his people is not responsible to the laws of parliamentary usage or to a particular democratic conception, but solely to the mission placed upon him. And anyone who interferes with this mission is an enemy of the people."
"You are with us or against us.""
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch
"When does "collateral damage" so dwarf combatant deaths that war becomes genocide?
The Bush regime is proceeding exactly as the Nazi regime proceeded.
First, eliminate every person of conscience and integrity from the government. Second, redefine duty as service to the leader: "You are with us or against us"--a formulation that leaves no place for duty to the US Constitution. Patriotism is redefined from loyalty to country and Constitution to loyalty to the government's leader.
Americans are too inattentive and distracted to be aware of the grave danger that the neoconservative Bush regime presents to American liberty and to world stability. The neoconservative drive to achieve hegemony over the American people and the entire world is similar to Hitler's drive for hegemony. Hitler used racial superiority to justify Germany's right to ride roughshod over other peoples and the right of the Nazi elite to rule over the German people.
Neoconservatives use "American exceptionalism" and "the war on terror." There is no practical difference. Hitler cared no more about the peoples he mowed down in his drive for supremacy than the neoconservatives care about 655,000 dead Iraqis, 100,000 disabled American soldiers and 2,747 dead ones.
When Bush, the Decider, claims unconstitutional powers and uses "signing statements" to negate US law whenever he feels the rule of law is in the way of his leadership, he is remarkably similar to Hitler, the Fuhrer, who told the Reichstag on February 20, 1938: "A man who feels it his duty at such an hour to assume the leadership of his people is not responsible to the laws of parliamentary usage or to a particular democratic conception, but solely to the mission placed upon him. And anyone who interferes with this mission is an enemy of the people."
"You are with us or against us.""
occ. Palestinian terr.: Number of children killed doubles
A REPORT BY:
UN OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS
JERUSALEM, 12 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - The number of Palestinian children who have been killed so far this year in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip almost doubles the number killed for the whole of 2005, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Many of the children died after being shot by Israeli troops during military operations or were killed in Israeli air strikes on houses.
In July alone, 36 children were killed in Gaza after Israel launched a military operation following the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.
A total of 52 Palestinian children were killed in 2005. Overall, 819 children have been killed since the beginning of the second intifada [Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation] in 2000, according to UNICEF statistics.
Youngsters are suffering increasing levels of stress from violence and fear in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, UNICEF said.
"They are confronted with regular military operations, shelling, house demolitions and checkpoints on their way to schools," said Anne Grandjean, a UNICEF Child Protection Officer."
Roadblocks up by 40% in West Bank
In all, there were 528 checkpoints and obstacles in the
West Bank, up from 376 in August 2005, Mr Shearer said,
presenting new statistics.
The West Bank's Jordan Valley is now entirely off limits
to Palestinians who are not residents of that area, except
for those with permits to work in the valley's Jewish
settlements.
West Bank, up from 376 in August 2005, Mr Shearer said,
presenting new statistics.
The West Bank's Jordan Valley is now entirely off limits
to Palestinians who are not residents of that area, except
for those with permits to work in the valley's Jewish
settlements.
Israel's Plan for a Military Strike on Iran
The BBC and Israeli Propaganda
By JONATHAN COOK
CounterPunch
"The Middle East, and possibly the world, stands on the brink of a terrible conflagration as Israel and the United States prepare to deal with Iran's alleged ambition to acquire nuclear weapons. Israel, it becomes clearer by the day, wants to use its air force to deliver a knock-out blow against Tehran. It is not known whether it will use conventional weapons or a nuclear warhead in such a strike.
At this potentially cataclysmic moment in global politics, it is good to see that one of the world's leading broadcasters, the BBC, decided this week that it should air a documentary entitled "Will Israel bomb Iran?".
Other Israeli misinformation, none of it believed by serious analysts, is also uncritically spread by the film-makers: that Hizbullah in Lebanon is a puppet of Iran, waiting to aid its master in Israel's destruction; that Iran is only months away from creating nuclear weapons, a "point of no return", as the programme warns; and that a "fragile" Israel is under constant threat of annihilation from all its Arab neighbours.
But the programme's unequivocal main theme -- echoing precisely Israel's own agenda -- is that Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is hellbent on destroying Israel. The film-makers treat seriously, bordering on reverentially, preposterous comments from Israel's leaders about this threat.
Apart from a brief appearance by an Iranian diplomat, no countervailing opinions are entertained in the BBC programme; only Israel's military and political leadership is allowed to speak.
But, as has now been pointed out on numerous occasions (though clearly not often enough for the BBC to have noticed), Khomeini and Ahmadinejad were referring to the need for regime change, the ending of the regime occupying the Palestinians in violation of international law. They were not talking, as Netanyahu and co claim, about the destruction of the state of Israel or the Jewish people. The implication of the speech is that the current Israeli regime will end because occupying powers are illegitimate and unsustainable, not because Iran plans to fire nuclear missiles at the Jewish state or commit genocide.
Overlooked by the programme makers is the fact that "fragile" Israel is currently the only country in the Middle East armed with nuclear warheads, several hundred of them, as well as one of the most powerful armies in the world, which presumably make most of its neighbours feel "fragile" too, with far more reason.
But despite the terrifying scenario laid out by Israel's leaders, the BBC website cheerleads for Israel in the same manner as the programme-makers, suggesting that Israel has the right to engineer a clash of civilisations: "With America unlikely to take military action, the pressure is growing on Israel's leaders to launch a raid."
As should be clear by now, the Israeli government's fingerprints are all over this BBC "documentary". And that is hardly surprising because the man behind this "independent" production is Israel's leading film-maker: Noam Shalev.
Importantly, however, Shalev's films always humanise his Israeli subjects, showing them as complex, emotional and caring beings, while largely ignoring the millions of Palestinians the Israeli government and army are oppressing.
In other words, the BBC, and the other broadcasters who will air this "documentary" in the coming weeks and months, has been dazzled by Shalev's ability to show us the secret world of the Israeli army. So dazzled, it seems, that it has forgotten to check -- or worse, simply doesn't care -- what message Shalev is inserting between his exclusive footage.
It might have occurred to someone at the BBC to wonder why Shalev gets these chances to show things no one else is allowed to. Could it be that the "hasbara" division of the Israeli Foreign Ministry has got far more sophisticated than it once was?
Is the Israeli government using Shalev, wittingly or not, and is he in turn using the BBC, to spread Israeli propaganda? Propaganda that may soon propel us towards the "clash of civilisations" so longed for by Israel's leadership."
Busy Fondling Their Self-Esteem
By John Pilger
"On Sept. 27, the Guardian published a front-page photograph of Tony Blair, a prima facie war criminal, his arms outstretched, his grin fixed. Beside this was a headline, "Charm and eloquence. But a missed chance." Beneath this, Polly Toynbee wrote: "There were some damp eyes dabbed with hankies and men blowing noses. 'Don't go,' someone said."
Consider such vomit against the facts of Blair's actual crime – the unprovoked invasion of a defenseless country, justified by lies now voluminously documented, and causing the violent deaths of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Indeed, according to a study published in The Lancet, the British medical journal, 655,000 civilians have died as a result of the Anglo-American invasion.
Half a million infants lie dead, according to UNICEF, as a result of the Anglo-American siege of Iraq during the 1990s. For Blair and his rational, liberal, neither-fish-nor-fowl court, these children never lived and never died. Clearly, the Emperor Tony was a leader for his time and, above all, clubbable, whatever the "mistakes" he had made in Iraq.
A parallel world of truth and lies, morality and immorality dominates how the crime in Iraq is presented to us. In recent months, the invaders have vanished. The U.S., having murdered and cluster-bombed and napalmed and phosphorus-bombed, is now a wise referee between, even a protector of, "warring tribes." The buzzword is "sectarianism," blurring the truth that most of the attacks by the resistance are against the foreign military occupiers: on average, one every 15 minutes. That the majority of Iraqis, Sunni and Shia, are united in their demand that U.S. and British forces get out of their country now is of no interest. Has journalism ever been so voluntarily appropriated by black propaganda?"
"On Sept. 27, the Guardian published a front-page photograph of Tony Blair, a prima facie war criminal, his arms outstretched, his grin fixed. Beside this was a headline, "Charm and eloquence. But a missed chance." Beneath this, Polly Toynbee wrote: "There were some damp eyes dabbed with hankies and men blowing noses. 'Don't go,' someone said."
Consider such vomit against the facts of Blair's actual crime – the unprovoked invasion of a defenseless country, justified by lies now voluminously documented, and causing the violent deaths of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Indeed, according to a study published in The Lancet, the British medical journal, 655,000 civilians have died as a result of the Anglo-American invasion.
Half a million infants lie dead, according to UNICEF, as a result of the Anglo-American siege of Iraq during the 1990s. For Blair and his rational, liberal, neither-fish-nor-fowl court, these children never lived and never died. Clearly, the Emperor Tony was a leader for his time and, above all, clubbable, whatever the "mistakes" he had made in Iraq.
A parallel world of truth and lies, morality and immorality dominates how the crime in Iraq is presented to us. In recent months, the invaders have vanished. The U.S., having murdered and cluster-bombed and napalmed and phosphorus-bombed, is now a wise referee between, even a protector of, "warring tribes." The buzzword is "sectarianism," blurring the truth that most of the attacks by the resistance are against the foreign military occupiers: on average, one every 15 minutes. That the majority of Iraqis, Sunni and Shia, are united in their demand that U.S. and British forces get out of their country now is of no interest. Has journalism ever been so voluntarily appropriated by black propaganda?"
Meanwhile in Palestine
Israeli authorities impose additional restrictions on farmers in southern Qalqilia: Residents of Azoun 'Atma live behind the Wall in southern Qalqilia. The village became entirely isolated from the rest of the northwestern West Bank district when the Wall was imposed, and now the Israeli authorities have placed additional restrictions on them. The Israeli administration decided that this season Israeli soldiers will accompany farmers to the olive harvest in order to protect them. Therefore, farmers have only three days. Any additional harvesting in prohibited. A farmer with 86 Dunams of planted land said this will result in huge losses.
Despite high turnover, West Bank settlements keep growing: Over the past two decades, they have grown at a faster rate than most other communities in Israel. The average annual growth rate in the settlements is five to six percent, as opposed to two to three percent in the Jerusalem area and central Israel, and even lower rates in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Ashdod or Ra'anana.
UN: Number of IDF roadblocks in West Bank up: A UN aid agency said Wednesday that the number of Israeli military roadblocks in the West Bank grew by nearly 40 percent in the past year, part of an increasingly sophisticated lockdown that disrupts all aspects of Palestinian life. The placement of these checkpoints and unmanned physical obstacles means the West Bank is increasingly being carved up into separate parts, with travel between them becoming more and more difficult
U.N. humanitarian chief says Gaza crossings must be opened to avert 'social explosion' : "It cannot continue like it is now without a social explosion that will hurt everybody, including Israeli security," Jan Egeland told reporters in Geneva. He said that the 750,000 young people in Gaza were particularly hard hit by the border closure and the increasing humanitarian crisis. They "feel they have no hope, no future, and of course that will not lead to less extremism, it will lead to more extremism, so it has to change," said Egeland.
Despite high turnover, West Bank settlements keep growing: Over the past two decades, they have grown at a faster rate than most other communities in Israel. The average annual growth rate in the settlements is five to six percent, as opposed to two to three percent in the Jerusalem area and central Israel, and even lower rates in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Ashdod or Ra'anana.
UN: Number of IDF roadblocks in West Bank up: A UN aid agency said Wednesday that the number of Israeli military roadblocks in the West Bank grew by nearly 40 percent in the past year, part of an increasingly sophisticated lockdown that disrupts all aspects of Palestinian life. The placement of these checkpoints and unmanned physical obstacles means the West Bank is increasingly being carved up into separate parts, with travel between them becoming more and more difficult
U.N. humanitarian chief says Gaza crossings must be opened to avert 'social explosion' : "It cannot continue like it is now without a social explosion that will hurt everybody, including Israeli security," Jan Egeland told reporters in Geneva. He said that the 750,000 young people in Gaza were particularly hard hit by the border closure and the increasing humanitarian crisis. They "feel they have no hope, no future, and of course that will not lead to less extremism, it will lead to more extremism, so it has to change," said Egeland.
Israeli forces shot Jenin child four years ago; medical problems persist : In the year 2002 Israeli forces invaded Jenin Refugee Camp. Tanks began firing down alleyways. Thirteen year old Jihad Mousa stood near his house on the edge of the northern West Bank camp. From four meters away an Israeli soldier shot the child. He fell to the ground, soaked in blood from the 250mm bullet that pierced his young body. The child is now 17 and is suffering kidney failure. His health has deteriorated since the day Israeli forces shot him in several places.
Hamas proposes new deal on coalition government: Khaled Mash'al, exiled Hamas leader, proposes a new deal to support Qatar's 6 point initiative to form a Palestinian national unity government, according to 'Al Hayat' in London. The two Hamas leaders, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Mash'al, produced a written document outlining a new five point initiative to solve the disagreements between Hamas and Fatah.
Settlers attack residents of Tall Al Rimada in Hebron: The settlers, who live in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ramatiashai, near the Tell Al Rumida area, attacked residents' houses with stones while giving death threats. These attacks are becoming daily events in the area, residents say, with the attacks even being carried out under the protection of the Israeli army.
Forbidden to settlers, not the state: The state promised the High Court that it would make it possible for the farmers to reach these lands. So it promised. But most of the year, the gates are open only twice a week. People have therefore given up on trying to grow vegetables and wheat, which require daily attention, or on letting their sheep graze in uncultivated pastures. Now that it is harvest time, the gates are due to open every day, three times a day. Instead of several dozen permits for every village, several hundred are being given out. Yet there are still many who are turned down, in arbitrary fashion. This daily damage to the Palestinians does not find its way into the headlines.
Six residents taken prison in Jenin, resistance exchanges fire with invading forces : Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday at dawn, Qabatia town near Jenin and exchanged fire with resistance fighters. Six residents, including two brothers, were taken prisoner in several areas near Jenin, Palestinian sources reported.
PA probing militant group's claim it kidnapped American in Nablus; Samah Atout, manager of Project Hope, said she received a call saying Phillips had been kidnapped. She refused to give further details. She said Phillips was working with Project Hope in refugee camps near the West Bank city of Nablus, teaching English.
State Prosecutor won't reopen case against policemen 'absolved' of killing Arab Israeli in 2003 : The State Prosecutor's Office turned down a request to reopen the 2003 investigation of police officers who killed Moursi Jabali, an Arab Israeli from Taibeh. The state last weekend informed the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel that it found no reason to overturn the decision by the Justice Ministry's Police Investigation Unit (PIU) to close the case for "lack of guilt," and said that "the shooting was justified."
US free speech row grows as author says Jewish complaints stopped launch party : The British-based author and former publisher Carmen Callil has become embroiled in a growing dispute over the limits of freedom of speech in America after a party celebrating her new book on Vichy France was cancelled because of the opinion she expresses about the modern state of Israel. n the postscript Callil says she grew anxious while researching the "helpless terror of the Jews of France" to see "what the Jews of Israel were passing on to the Palestinian people. Like the rest of humanity, the Jews of Israel 'forget' the Palestinians. Everyone forgets."
Italian probe: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip: The weapon is similar to one developed by the U.S. military called DIME, which causes a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius. The Italian report is based on the eyewitness accounts of medical doctors in the Strip, as well as tests carried out in an Italian laboratory. The investigative team is the same one that exposed, several months ago, the use by U.S. forces in Iraq of phosphorous bombs, against Iraqi rebels in Faluja.
A rerun of Lebanon war in Palestine? : The reality is that the Palestinian Authority is not and has never been a government for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority receives Western backing only to the extent that it directly and exclusively serves Israeli interests. It was designed to protect the Israeli occupation against its victims; no one will be permitted to turn it into a representative body that fights for the rights and interests of Palestinians. To avoid the trap that is being set, Hamas will either have to sell out or get out.
Fatah and Hamas trade blame for ongoing crisis in unity gov't talks: An advisor to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Amru, accused Hamas leaders of trying to fundamentally change a critical Arab peace initiative in order to cause it to fail, while Hamas Information Minister Youssef Rezqa told reporters that associates of Abbas "were conducting media wars" against Hamas to cause it "to lose its principles."
Palestinians suffer from West Bank closure: Although the number of Palestinians working in Israel has gone down significantly in the past few years, thousands of West Bank residents still find their source of income in Israel. Gaza residents, on the other hand, have been forbidden entry into Israel since Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections.
Victims of insecurity increase in oPt: "This year has witnessed a significant rise in the number of insecurity victims," said Ma'moun Iteily of the PICCR's department which documents cases of insecurity and human rights violations. According to the PICCR statistics, 270 people were killed in the oPt by 10 October. By contrast, 93 people were killed in 2004 and 176 in 2005.
Abbas briefs Kadhafi on situation in Palestine: President Mahmoud Abbas has briefed Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Kadhafi on the latest developments relating to the situation in Palestine, official Libyan sources revealed here Wednesday. (LOL)
Jordan's King warns Palestinian statehood at risk due to feuding: A power struggle between Hamas and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction that triggered the worst internal fighting in a decade last week could be exploited by Israel and worsen the Palestinians' plight, Abdullah said.
Report: Peres torpedoed Gaza desalination plant in '92: "I stressed to him that I was about to establish a desalination plant on the border of the Gaza Strip," Zaslavsky related. "Peres burst out in response that he opposed it, because it did not concern us, and we did not need to worry about the Arabs, as they would look after themselves." He claims that the project was consequently canceled.
A long Yom Kippur detour for an Arab bus in Jerusalem: To my surprise, on leaving Nablus Gate the bus did not turn north as usual onto the main road, Highway No. 1, but rather turned east, toward the Wadi Joz neighborhood. The driver explained that because of Yom Kippur the police blocked Highway 1, and we have to go around through the Mount of Olives. There was no other option.
Why We Still Fight
By William Lind
"At least 32 American troops have been killed in Iraq this month. Approximately 300 have been wounded. The "battle for Baghdad" is going nowhere. A Marine friend just back from Ramadi said to me, "It didn't get any better while I was there, and it's not going to get better." Virtually everyone in Washington, except the people in the White House, knows that is true for all of Iraq.
Actually, I think the White House knows it too. Why then does it insist on "staying the course" at a casualty rate of more than one thousand Americans per month? The answer is breathtaking in its cynicism: so the retreat from Iraq happens on the next president's watch. That is why we still fight.
Yep, it's now all about George. Anyone who thinks that is too low, too mean, too despicable even for this bunch does not understand the meaning of the adjective "Rovian." Would they let thousands more young Americans get killed or wounded just so George W. does not have to face the consequences of his own folly? In a heartbeat.
A post-election Democratic House, Senate, or both might in theory say no to another war. But if the Bush administration's cynicism is boundless, the Democrats' intellectual vacuity and moral cowardice are equally so. You can't beat something with nothing, but Democrats have put forward nothing in the way of an alternative to Bush's defense and foreign policies. On Iran, the question is whether they will be more scared of the Republicans or of the Israeli lobby. Either way, they will hide under the bed, just as they have hidden under the bed on the war in Iraq.
But donkeys will think when pigs fly. A Democratic Congress will be as stupid, cowardly, and corrupt as its Republican predecessor; in reality, both parties are one party, the party of successful career politicians. The White House will continue a lost war in Iraq, solely to dump the mess in the next president's lap. America or Israel will attack Iran, pulling what's left of the temple down on our heads. Congress will do nothing to stop either war."
"At least 32 American troops have been killed in Iraq this month. Approximately 300 have been wounded. The "battle for Baghdad" is going nowhere. A Marine friend just back from Ramadi said to me, "It didn't get any better while I was there, and it's not going to get better." Virtually everyone in Washington, except the people in the White House, knows that is true for all of Iraq.
Actually, I think the White House knows it too. Why then does it insist on "staying the course" at a casualty rate of more than one thousand Americans per month? The answer is breathtaking in its cynicism: so the retreat from Iraq happens on the next president's watch. That is why we still fight.
Yep, it's now all about George. Anyone who thinks that is too low, too mean, too despicable even for this bunch does not understand the meaning of the adjective "Rovian." Would they let thousands more young Americans get killed or wounded just so George W. does not have to face the consequences of his own folly? In a heartbeat.
A post-election Democratic House, Senate, or both might in theory say no to another war. But if the Bush administration's cynicism is boundless, the Democrats' intellectual vacuity and moral cowardice are equally so. You can't beat something with nothing, but Democrats have put forward nothing in the way of an alternative to Bush's defense and foreign policies. On Iran, the question is whether they will be more scared of the Republicans or of the Israeli lobby. Either way, they will hide under the bed, just as they have hidden under the bed on the war in Iraq.
But donkeys will think when pigs fly. A Democratic Congress will be as stupid, cowardly, and corrupt as its Republican predecessor; in reality, both parties are one party, the party of successful career politicians. The White House will continue a lost war in Iraq, solely to dump the mess in the next president's lap. America or Israel will attack Iran, pulling what's left of the temple down on our heads. Congress will do nothing to stop either war."
Abusing the Arab Peace Initiative
by Nicola Nasser
(Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arab journalist in Kuwait , Jordan , UAE and Palestine . He is based in Ramallah, West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories)
"The failed Qatari mediation in the still unresolved inter-Palestinian divide was in practice an American success in turning the Arab Peace Initiative (API) into a pressure tool that further exacerbates fractures both in Arab and Palestinian ranks, less than two weeks after the U.S. aborted a move by the Arab League to revive an overdue comprehensive approach to the Arab and Palestinian – Israeli conflict on its basis through the United Nations.The Unites States is now trying to find a common ground with regional powers to abuse this initiative as a regional framework for a coordinated effort vis-à-vis Iran , Syria and their Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi spheres of influence.
The fallout of the Lebanon war unmasked the impotence of Israel’s overwhelming military superiority, discredited negotiations as an Arab strategy to coerce Israel into accepting just peace, confirmed the United States as a biased broker in the conflict, gave impetus and credibility to Syrian and Iranian arguments, doomed the already moribund Palestinian – Israeli peace process, which was pronounced “dead” by none other than the spokesman of the Arab League leaders Amr Moussa, created a rift in the ranks of the Arab leaders, which rendered convening an Arab summit impossible after a few years of regular meetings, revived war as a possible alternative to resolve the conflict and widened the gap between Arab rulers and their people.
The U.S. and Israel swiftly snubbed the Arab move in the bud, but nonetheless perceived in it and its motives a common ground with some Arabs vis-à-vis Syria and Iran , “to recast the (regional) political landscape from the traditional one of Arabs versus Israelis … into a Sunni vs. Shiia alignment.” (1)
Immediately the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, seized on the opportunity and embarked on a Middle East mission early this month to profit on the inter-Arab and inter-Palestinian divides.
Neither Hamas nor Palestinians are in short memory not to remember that the central committee of Fatah, the four-decade leader of the PLO and at the time the ruling party of PLO offshoot, the Palestinian Authority, issued a statement describing the API as another “stab” against the struggle of the Palestinian people. Is it too much now for Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, of Hamas, to reject it as “problematic!”
The initiative does not address: (1) the nature of the envisioned Palestinian state or the level of its militarization, (2) the use of water resources, (3) access to Jerusalem and its holy sites as well as access to other holy sites within the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine or access between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, (4) the fate of more than 160 Israeli colonies home to more than 450.000 illegal Jewish settlers in the envisioned Palestinian state, (5) the borders and the border controls between Israel and the Palestinian state, and (6) the fate of Palestinian prisoners.
How could anyone blame Hamas for insisting on alternative terms of reference other than the terms which the PLO was coerced to accept when an Israeli academic and author, like Tanya Reinhart, decides to quit as emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University and “return” to Australia in protest against Israel’s handling of the Palestinian issue after condemning its government for lying to the world by using arguments about Israel's right to exist as a cover for grabbing land and resources from the Palestinian people. “Palestinians should not have to pay the price of the Holocaust,” she said, adding that Israel is imprisoning “a whole nation.” (2)
How could anyone blame Hamas for insisting on alternative terms of reference other than the terms which the PLO was coerced into accepting!
(Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arab journalist in Kuwait , Jordan , UAE and Palestine . He is based in Ramallah, West Bank of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories)
"The failed Qatari mediation in the still unresolved inter-Palestinian divide was in practice an American success in turning the Arab Peace Initiative (API) into a pressure tool that further exacerbates fractures both in Arab and Palestinian ranks, less than two weeks after the U.S. aborted a move by the Arab League to revive an overdue comprehensive approach to the Arab and Palestinian – Israeli conflict on its basis through the United Nations.The Unites States is now trying to find a common ground with regional powers to abuse this initiative as a regional framework for a coordinated effort vis-à-vis Iran , Syria and their Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi spheres of influence.
The fallout of the Lebanon war unmasked the impotence of Israel’s overwhelming military superiority, discredited negotiations as an Arab strategy to coerce Israel into accepting just peace, confirmed the United States as a biased broker in the conflict, gave impetus and credibility to Syrian and Iranian arguments, doomed the already moribund Palestinian – Israeli peace process, which was pronounced “dead” by none other than the spokesman of the Arab League leaders Amr Moussa, created a rift in the ranks of the Arab leaders, which rendered convening an Arab summit impossible after a few years of regular meetings, revived war as a possible alternative to resolve the conflict and widened the gap between Arab rulers and their people.
The U.S. and Israel swiftly snubbed the Arab move in the bud, but nonetheless perceived in it and its motives a common ground with some Arabs vis-à-vis Syria and Iran , “to recast the (regional) political landscape from the traditional one of Arabs versus Israelis … into a Sunni vs. Shiia alignment.” (1)
Immediately the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, seized on the opportunity and embarked on a Middle East mission early this month to profit on the inter-Arab and inter-Palestinian divides.
Neither Hamas nor Palestinians are in short memory not to remember that the central committee of Fatah, the four-decade leader of the PLO and at the time the ruling party of PLO offshoot, the Palestinian Authority, issued a statement describing the API as another “stab” against the struggle of the Palestinian people. Is it too much now for Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, of Hamas, to reject it as “problematic!”
The initiative does not address: (1) the nature of the envisioned Palestinian state or the level of its militarization, (2) the use of water resources, (3) access to Jerusalem and its holy sites as well as access to other holy sites within the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine or access between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, (4) the fate of more than 160 Israeli colonies home to more than 450.000 illegal Jewish settlers in the envisioned Palestinian state, (5) the borders and the border controls between Israel and the Palestinian state, and (6) the fate of Palestinian prisoners.
How could anyone blame Hamas for insisting on alternative terms of reference other than the terms which the PLO was coerced to accept when an Israeli academic and author, like Tanya Reinhart, decides to quit as emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University and “return” to Australia in protest against Israel’s handling of the Palestinian issue after condemning its government for lying to the world by using arguments about Israel's right to exist as a cover for grabbing land and resources from the Palestinian people. “Palestinians should not have to pay the price of the Holocaust,” she said, adding that Israel is imprisoning “a whole nation.” (2)
How could anyone blame Hamas for insisting on alternative terms of reference other than the terms which the PLO was coerced into accepting!
HOW HEZBOLLAH DEFEATED ISRAEL
PART 2: Winning the ground war
Asia Times
"Senior Israeli officers continued to tell their press contacts that the timing of a ground offensive was a tightly kept secret when, in fact, they didn't know themselves. The hesitation was also the result of the experience of small IDF units that had already penetrated beyond the border. Special IDF units operating in southern Lebanon were reporting to their commanders as early as July 18 that Hezbollah units were fighting tenaciously to hold their positions on the first ridgeline overlooking Israel.
Moreover, the decision to call the reserves took key senior reserve officers, usually the first to be notified of a pending call-up, by surprise. The reserve call-up was handled chaotically - with the reserve "tail" of logistical support lagging some 24-48 hours behind the deployment of reserve forces. The July 21 call-up was a clear sign to military strategists in the Pentagon that Israel's war was not going well. It also helps to explain why Israeli reserve troops arrived at the front without the necessary equipment, without a coherent battle plan, and without the munitions necessary to carry on the fight.
July 22 also marks the first time that the United States responded militarily to the conflict. Late on the day of the 21st, the White House received a request from Olmert and the IDF for the provision of large amounts of precision-guided munitions - another telltale sign that the IAF had failed in its mission to degrade Hezbollah military assets significantly during the opening rounds of the war. But there was little grumbling in the Pentagon, though one former serving officer observed that the deployment of US munitions to Israel was reminiscent of a similar request made by Israel in 1973 - at the height of the Yom Kippur War. "This can only mean one thing," this officer said at the time. "They're on the ropes."
After-battle reports of Hezbollah commanders now confirm that IDF troops never fully secured the border area and Maroun al-Ras was never fully taken. Nor did Hezbollah ever feel the need to call up its reserves, as Israel had done. "The entire war was fought by one Hezbollah brigade of 3,000 troops, and no more," one military expert in the region said. "The Nasr Brigade fought the entire war. Hezbollah never felt the need to reinforce it."
The Hezbollah tactics were reminiscent of those followed by the North Vietnamese Army during the opening days of the Vietnam conflict - when NVA commanders told their troops that they needed to "ride out the bombs" and then fight the Americans in small unit actions. "You must grab them by their belt buckles," a Vietnamese commander said in describing these tactics.
On July 28, the severity of Israel's intelligence failures finally reached the Israeli public. On that day, Mossad officials leaked information that, by their estimate, Hezbollah had not suffered a significant degradation in its military capabilities, and that the organization might be able to carry on the conflict for several more months. The IDF disagreed, stating that Hezbollah had been severely damaged. The first cracks in the Israeli intelligence community were beginning to show.
But by any accounting - whether in rockets, armored vehicles or numbers of dead and wounded - Hezbollah's fight against Israel must be accorded a decisive military and political victory. Even if it were otherwise (and it is clearly not), the full impact of Hezbollah's war with Israel over a period of 34 days in July and August has caused a political earthquake in the region.
Hezbollah's military defeat of Israel was decisive, but its political defeat of the United States - which unquestioningly sided with Israel during the conflict and refused to bring it to an end - was catastrophic and has had a lasting impact on US prestige in the region."
Asia Times
"Senior Israeli officers continued to tell their press contacts that the timing of a ground offensive was a tightly kept secret when, in fact, they didn't know themselves. The hesitation was also the result of the experience of small IDF units that had already penetrated beyond the border. Special IDF units operating in southern Lebanon were reporting to their commanders as early as July 18 that Hezbollah units were fighting tenaciously to hold their positions on the first ridgeline overlooking Israel.
Moreover, the decision to call the reserves took key senior reserve officers, usually the first to be notified of a pending call-up, by surprise. The reserve call-up was handled chaotically - with the reserve "tail" of logistical support lagging some 24-48 hours behind the deployment of reserve forces. The July 21 call-up was a clear sign to military strategists in the Pentagon that Israel's war was not going well. It also helps to explain why Israeli reserve troops arrived at the front without the necessary equipment, without a coherent battle plan, and without the munitions necessary to carry on the fight.
July 22 also marks the first time that the United States responded militarily to the conflict. Late on the day of the 21st, the White House received a request from Olmert and the IDF for the provision of large amounts of precision-guided munitions - another telltale sign that the IAF had failed in its mission to degrade Hezbollah military assets significantly during the opening rounds of the war. But there was little grumbling in the Pentagon, though one former serving officer observed that the deployment of US munitions to Israel was reminiscent of a similar request made by Israel in 1973 - at the height of the Yom Kippur War. "This can only mean one thing," this officer said at the time. "They're on the ropes."
After-battle reports of Hezbollah commanders now confirm that IDF troops never fully secured the border area and Maroun al-Ras was never fully taken. Nor did Hezbollah ever feel the need to call up its reserves, as Israel had done. "The entire war was fought by one Hezbollah brigade of 3,000 troops, and no more," one military expert in the region said. "The Nasr Brigade fought the entire war. Hezbollah never felt the need to reinforce it."
The Hezbollah tactics were reminiscent of those followed by the North Vietnamese Army during the opening days of the Vietnam conflict - when NVA commanders told their troops that they needed to "ride out the bombs" and then fight the Americans in small unit actions. "You must grab them by their belt buckles," a Vietnamese commander said in describing these tactics.
On July 28, the severity of Israel's intelligence failures finally reached the Israeli public. On that day, Mossad officials leaked information that, by their estimate, Hezbollah had not suffered a significant degradation in its military capabilities, and that the organization might be able to carry on the conflict for several more months. The IDF disagreed, stating that Hezbollah had been severely damaged. The first cracks in the Israeli intelligence community were beginning to show.
But by any accounting - whether in rockets, armored vehicles or numbers of dead and wounded - Hezbollah's fight against Israel must be accorded a decisive military and political victory. Even if it were otherwise (and it is clearly not), the full impact of Hezbollah's war with Israel over a period of 34 days in July and August has caused a political earthquake in the region.
Hezbollah's military defeat of Israel was decisive, but its political defeat of the United States - which unquestioningly sided with Israel during the conflict and refused to bring it to an end - was catastrophic and has had a lasting impact on US prestige in the region."
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
ARAB ZIONIST HONORED BY ISRAEL
Wafa Sultan: I know they want to kill me
Fanatic Islam stole 32 years of my life, Syrian-American psychologist tells Ynet in an exclusive interview. Sultan gained notoriety for a televised debate broadcast on Al-Jazeera in which she harshly criticized Islam; now she wants to visit Israel, she tells Ynet
"She says she knows there are some who want to kill her – and may even succeed – but she is not scared. “I have my supporters, and I’m continuing my mission,” she told Ynet during an exclusive interview.
During hernow famous debate with an Islamic cleric on al-Jazeera in March 2006, Sultan publicly criticized Islam and called for a serious transformation. She charged that the clash between Islam and the West was a clash between Islam, who is stuck in the 14th century, and the modern 21st century world.
In the March TV debate, Sultan called on Muslims to learn from the example of the Jews, who endured the tragedy of the Holocaust and forced the world to respect them for their knowledge and not by terrorism.
“By their hard work – not with crying and shrieking,” she said. “Only Muslims defend their religion by burning churches, killing people and bombing embassies. The Muslims need to ask themselves what they can do for the human race before they demand the human race to respect them,” she added.
Sultan cannot return to Syria, as she is certain she would be arrested on the spot. She would like to visit Israel, though, and expects to do so soon, she told Ynet. Sultan was invited to meet with Israel’s General Consul in Los Angeles, Ehud Danoch, next Monday. An official invite to Israel is expected to come out of the meeting."
مشعل: هناك أطراف عربية معنية بإسقاط تجربة "حماس"
Sorry, but there is no English version of this story.
"أكد خالد مشعل، رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة المقاومة الإسلامية "حماس"، وقوف بعض الأطراف الفلسطينية الداخلية والعربية، وراء الحصار المفروض على الشعب الفلسطيني منذ فوز "حماس" في الانتخابات التشريعية قبل تسعة أشهر، والهادف إلى إسقاط الحكومة الفلسطينية التي تقودها "حماس"، والمنتخبة ديمقراطياً من قبل الشعب.
وقال مشعل، في كلمة ألقاها ضمن فعاليات يوم القدس على شبكة "الانترنت" إن معركة الحصار على الشعب الفلسطيني هدفها القضاء على الحكومة. متهماً حركة "فتح" ورئيس السلطة الفلسطينية بالمشاركة في هذا الحصار ضد الشعب "من أجل سرعة قلب الصورة، والانقلاب على الحكومة، والعودة إلى السلطة".
وأوضح أن هناك استعجال من قبل أطراف في المنطقة من أجل الانقلاب على الديمقراطية الفلسطينية، مشيراً إلى أن البعض ضاق ذرعاً بتجربة حركة "حماس" السياسية، لا سيما وأن الأمريكان والصهاينة لا يطيقون لهذه التجربة أن تنجح؛ فهم لا يريدون نموذج يجمع بين المقاومة من جهة والسياسية من جهة أخرى.
كما لفت رئيس المكتب السياسي لحركة "حماس" النظر إلى وجود أطراف عربية معنية بإسقاط تجربة حركة "حماس"، لأن هذه التجربة تزعج البعض، فهم يخشون أن ينتقل هذا النموذج المعدي في المنطقة، "على الرغم من تأكيدنا على عدم التدخل في شؤون الدول ولا نتواطأ مع أي قوى إسلامية أو شعبية لتنقلب على نظام الحكم في بلادها".
وشدد مشعل على أن الحصار المفروض على الشعب الفلسطيني ما كان لينجح "لولا انه وجد له غطاءاً محلياً وإقليمياً"، دعياً الكيانات العربية إلى أن تعود إلى خيارات شعوبها وأن لا تبقى مستمرة في هذه اللعبة لأنها أصبحت لعبة مكشوفة، مؤكداً أن "الفلسطينيين والعرب لو عزلوا قرارهم السياسي لكسروا الحصار".
ودعا مشعل إلى حراك شعبي على الأرض العربية، من خلال المواقف السياسية وعقد المؤتمرات الصحفية، وهي مؤثرات حرة تضع حداً للحصار وتكسره، موضحاً أن الشعب العربي والعلماء عندما يخرجوا في عواصمهم، ويطالبوا الحكومات أن تحث بوقف الحصار الأمريكي الصهيوني على الشعب الفلسطيني "اعتقد انه سيكون هناك كلمة".
وفيما يتعلق بالشأن الفلسطيني الداخلي؛ دعا خالد مشعل إلى استمرار الحوار مع كافة الفصائل الفلسطينية، لا سيما حركة "فتح". مشيراً إلى أن "حماس" قدمت الكثير من المرونة السياسية إلى درجة أصبحنا فيها قريبين من الخطوط الحمر، لكننا لن نتخطاها، وكل ذلك لإيجاد أرضية تفاهم في الساحة الفلسطينية؛ إلا أن هناك نوايا في اتجاه آخر.
"
The High Cost of Order Out of Chaos in Iraq
By Kurt Nimmo
"Add to this the 1.5 million killed as a result of the United Nations imposed (at the behest of the United States and Britain) sanctions—more than 500,000 of them children—and you have a total working its way toward the 3,500,000 killed in Southeast Asia from 1960 to 1973 (see Matthew White’s well referenced Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century).
Even though, as Tommy Franks admitted, the Pentagon does not “do body counts,” a Department of Offense representative felt compelled to respond to this latest damning report. “The Department of Defense always regrets the loss of any innocent life in Iraq or anywhere else,” said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros. “The coalition takes enormous precautions to prevent civilian deaths and injuries,” and added “it would be difficult for the U.S. to precisely determine the number of civilian deaths in Iraq as a result of insurgent activity. The Iraqi Ministry of Health would be in a better position, with all of its records, to provide more accurate information on deaths in Iraq,” never mind that in 2003 Iraq’s Health Ministry “ordered a halt to a count of civilians killed during the war and told its statistics department not to release figures compiled so far,” according to USA Today.
How many Americans understand that well over three million people were systematically murdered in Southeast Asia? Moreover, it is assumed the United States fought the war with “one hand tied behind its back,” even though the Pentagon dropped 6.5 million tons of bombs and 400,000 tons of napalm on the people of Southeast Asia. “Short of nuclear weapons, it’s not clear what additional forms of violence we could have unleashed on the people of Vietnam,” writes Robert Jensen. “If people can convince themselves that we were restrained gentlemen during the war, it is easier to ignore the saturation bombing of civilian areas, counter-terrorism programs that included political assassination, routine killings of civilians, and 11.2 million gallons of Agent Orange to destroy crops and ground cover—all part of the U.S. terror war in not only Vietnam but Laos and Cambodia as well. All those are clear violations of international law—that is, war crimes.”
Indeed, they are war crimes and this brutal régime has continued unabated, even though “we” are now “losing” Iraq as well. In fact, “losing” Iraq is part of the “order out of chaos” plan—the neocons, of course, have no intention of delivering Bushian hyped upside-down, black-is-white democracy to Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, or any other country in the Middle East, but rather destroying the civilian infrastructure, instigating sectarian, tribal, ethnic, and religious violence in these countries, thus breaking the entire region into a haphazard patchwork of mutually antagonistic vassal states and fiefdoms ruled by thugs and dictators, all beholden to the United States and its client, Israel. Slaughtering 655,000 Iraqis in the period of three and a half years—an effort rivaling the genocide in Southeast Asia (including the depredations of Pol Pot in Cambodia, who received direct assistance from the United States; see John Pilger, The Friends of Pol Pot, the Nation magazine, May 11, 1998)—is an integral part of this plan, never mind crocodile tears issued for public consumption by the Pentagon."
Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey
By Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy, Les Roberts
A careful Johns Hopkins study has estimated that between 420,000 and 790,000 Iraqis have died as a result of war and political violence since the beginning of the US invasion in March, 2003.
Click Here To Read The Full Report (pdf format) Published in the Medical Journal The Lancet
عباس ومستشاروه وفروا الغطاء للحصار ويسعون لإفشال الحكومة
حمدان: عباس ومستشاروه وفروا الغطاء للحصار ويسعون لإفشال الحكومة
دمشق - المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام
جدد أسامة حمدان، ممثل حركة المقاومة الإسلامية "حماس" في لبنان، اتهامه رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية محمود عباس ومستشاريه بمحاولة إفشال حكومة الوحدة الوطنية، وتوفير غطاء للحصار المفروض على الشعب الفلسطيني، مؤكداً أنه ليس من حق أي شخص مطالبة الحكومة بالاستقالة، وإذا كان لا بد لأحد أن يستقيل فليستقل الرئيس".
وقال حمدان، في مؤتمر صحفي عقده ظهر الأربعاء (11/10) في دمشق، إن هدف عباس ومن حوله هو الانقلاب على خيار الشعب الفلسطيني بأي طريقة متاحة، مشدداً على أن عباس وفريقه يسعون لإفشال جهود الوساطات، من خلال غطاء أمريكي، مشيراً إلى طلب أحد المسؤولين الفلسطينيين من الإدارة الأمريكية الضغط على عباس حتى لا يشارك في حكومة مع حماس.
وانتقد حمدان تصريحات كل من نبيل شعت وتوفيق الطيراوي، التي قالا فيها إن البديل عن حكومة الوحدة هو الحرب الأهلية، متهما إياهما بإرسال رسالة سيئة مفادها إما القبول بشروط الكيان الصهيوني والاعتراف به أو تدمير المشروع الوطني.
وأضاف حمدان "لماذا يُربط تشكيل حكومة الوحدة بالموافقة الأمريكية عليها؟! ولماذا يصر الرئيس عباس على ربط أي مبادرة بموافقة أمريكية؟!، وهل الحكومة التي ستقام هي حكومة إسرائيلية أو أمريكية؟!".
وأشار إلى أن حماس رحبت منذ اللحظة الأولى بالمبادرة القطرية، رغم إدراكها أن هناك فريقاً لا يريد تشكيل هذه الحكومة، واستنجد بأمريكا لقطع الطريق عن هذه الوساطة، مشيداً بالدور المصري الذي يبذل بشأن القضية الفلسطينية، مطالباً بوجود دور عربي فعال في هذا الاتجاه.
من جهة أخرى أكد حمدان أن خالد مشعل رئيس المكتب السياسي للحركة، ليس محرجاً من أي لقاء مع رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية محمود عباس أو غيره، موضحاً أن الباب مفتوح أمام أي زيارة للرئيس الفلسطيني.
وأفاد حمدان أن المخرج من هذا "المأزق المصطنع"، هو تشكيل حكومة الوحدة، وضبط الأمن من خلال منح وزير الداخلية صلاحياته كاملة، والالتزام بوثيقة الوفاق الوطني وما اتفق عليه.
وفيما يتعلق بتصريحات وزير الخارجية المصري أحمد أبو الغيط المنتقدة لرفض حماس المبادرة العربية، قال حمدان: "العرب أعلنوا عن مبادرة عربية وتخلفوا عنها من خلال موافقتهم على خارطة الطريق، ويجب ألا تكون تلك الخارطة محاصرة لحركة حماس".
Barriers to the Olive Harvest
Amira Hass
MachsomWatch, a group of dissident Israelis, has
been accompanying farmers in the northern West Bank on
their troubled journeys to their lands, which are locked
behind the separation fence and, in effect, have been
expropriated from them. The women of MachsomWatch get
reports from the various gates in the fence. The state
promised the High Court that it would make it possible for
the farmers to reach these lands. So it promised. But most
of the year, the gates are open only twice a week. People
have therefore given up on trying to grow vegetables and
wheat, which require daily attention, or on letting their
sheep graze in uncultivated pastures. Many times, the
gates do not open at the appointed hour. Many times,
soldiers do not accept the residents' permits or
confiscate them on various pretexts. The activists from
MachsomWatch spend long hours on the telephone, trying to
reach army command posts to check why a gate was not
opened on time, why a permit was confiscated, why a
request by two women for permission to work their family
lands was turned down.
Now that it is harvest time, the gates are due to open
every day, three times a day. Instead of several dozen
permits for every village, several hundred are being given
out. Yet there are still many who are turned down, in
arbitrary fashion. This daily damage to the Palestinians
does not find its way into the headlines.
The Israeli occupation establishment constantly imposes
various forms of harassment on Palestinians engaged in
agriculture, one of the foundations of the Palestinians'
existence: the separation fence, which imprisons the lands
of 42 villages behind it; the settlers' constantly
expanding security fences; the expropriation of lands for
the construction of bypass roads and security roads; the
destruction of wells; the closure of various areas
(including the entire Jordan Valley) for military
purposes; the closing of roads to Palestinian vehicles;
the checkpoints every few kilometers; the diversion of
trucks carrying produce to long and badly paved roads; the
waiting in line for hours and days at Israeli crossings;
the closing of the Gaza crossing for months, thereby
making it impossible for Gazans to market agricultural
produce; the discouraging bureaucracy required at Civil
Administration bases to obtain a pass to reach one's own
lands - or to not obtain it at all.
All these forms of assault by the establishment, which
appear to be more and more deliberate, explain why more
and more Palestinian agricultural lands appear as if they
have been abandoned, with unplowed soil and trees with
rotten fruit. They also explain why more Israeli than
Palestinian produce can be seen in Palestinian
marketplaces, and why so very many farmers need food
parcels.
MachsomWatch, a group of dissident Israelis, has
been accompanying farmers in the northern West Bank on
their troubled journeys to their lands, which are locked
behind the separation fence and, in effect, have been
expropriated from them. The women of MachsomWatch get
reports from the various gates in the fence. The state
promised the High Court that it would make it possible for
the farmers to reach these lands. So it promised. But most
of the year, the gates are open only twice a week. People
have therefore given up on trying to grow vegetables and
wheat, which require daily attention, or on letting their
sheep graze in uncultivated pastures. Many times, the
gates do not open at the appointed hour. Many times,
soldiers do not accept the residents' permits or
confiscate them on various pretexts. The activists from
MachsomWatch spend long hours on the telephone, trying to
reach army command posts to check why a gate was not
opened on time, why a permit was confiscated, why a
request by two women for permission to work their family
lands was turned down.
Now that it is harvest time, the gates are due to open
every day, three times a day. Instead of several dozen
permits for every village, several hundred are being given
out. Yet there are still many who are turned down, in
arbitrary fashion. This daily damage to the Palestinians
does not find its way into the headlines.
The Israeli occupation establishment constantly imposes
various forms of harassment on Palestinians engaged in
agriculture, one of the foundations of the Palestinians'
existence: the separation fence, which imprisons the lands
of 42 villages behind it; the settlers' constantly
expanding security fences; the expropriation of lands for
the construction of bypass roads and security roads; the
destruction of wells; the closure of various areas
(including the entire Jordan Valley) for military
purposes; the closing of roads to Palestinian vehicles;
the checkpoints every few kilometers; the diversion of
trucks carrying produce to long and badly paved roads; the
waiting in line for hours and days at Israeli crossings;
the closing of the Gaza crossing for months, thereby
making it impossible for Gazans to market agricultural
produce; the discouraging bureaucracy required at Civil
Administration bases to obtain a pass to reach one's own
lands - or to not obtain it at all.
All these forms of assault by the establishment, which
appear to be more and more deliberate, explain why more
and more Palestinian agricultural lands appear as if they
have been abandoned, with unplowed soil and trees with
rotten fruit. They also explain why more Israeli than
Palestinian produce can be seen in Palestinian
marketplaces, and why so very many farmers need food
parcels.
Killing Occupation
Study: Between 127,000 238,000 Iraqis Killed by US Military
By DAVE LINDORFF
CounterPunch
"The grim news was widely--though not universally--reported in the U.S. media (my local paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, blacked it out), but few news organizations reported the most disturbing finding of the study, which was that 31 percent of those killed were acatually slain by U.S. and "coalition" forces (actually by U.S. forces, since most of the other foreign forces working with the U.S., with the exception of the British, have not played combat roles, and even the British have largely operated in the south where fighting has been much less severe. That means U.S. forces have, since the March 19, 2003 invasion, killed between 132,000 and 246,000 Iraqis.
This is the grand war of liberation and democracy that our bloodstained president hails as his legacy!
This is the war that we are told is making America safer."
By DAVE LINDORFF
CounterPunch
"The grim news was widely--though not universally--reported in the U.S. media (my local paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, blacked it out), but few news organizations reported the most disturbing finding of the study, which was that 31 percent of those killed were acatually slain by U.S. and "coalition" forces (actually by U.S. forces, since most of the other foreign forces working with the U.S., with the exception of the British, have not played combat roles, and even the British have largely operated in the south where fighting has been much less severe. That means U.S. forces have, since the March 19, 2003 invasion, killed between 132,000 and 246,000 Iraqis.
This is the grand war of liberation and democracy that our bloodstained president hails as his legacy!
This is the war that we are told is making America safer."
Force 17 officer tells WND rifles for Palestinians might be used to attack Jews
"Weapons and financial aid the US is considering giving to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Force 17 security detail to bolster it against Hamas might be used instead to attack Jews and "fight Israeli occupation," a senior Force 17 officer told WND in an exclusive interview.
The man, Abu Yousuf, hinted any new weapons provided by the US to his group could be shared with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party. Abu Yousuf, like several Force 17 members, is also a member of the Brigades.
"There is no chance that we will use force and violence against our brothers in Hamas unless they will endanger (Abbas). There is a chance that Israel will attack the Palestinian territories, and in this case, these weapons and others provided (by the US to Force 17) will be directed towards the (Israeli) occupation," Abu Yousuf said.
After a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters the US would "do what it can" to bolster Abbas.
Last week the New York Times reported the US proposed expanding Abbas' Force 17 from 3,500 men to 6,000 as part of a USD 26-million plan to strengthen the Palestinian leader.
The Associated Press and Israel's leading Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported this past Friday new training facilities for Force 17 are slated to be set up in the West Bank town of Jericho and in Gaza, at a cost of USD 2 million each, according to the US proposal.
Senior Palestinian officials told WND the US is planning to transfer ammunition and new assault rifles to Force 17 within days and has pledged to procure about USD 28 million in aid to Abbas. They said the US would help train Force 17 members in the operation of the new weapons and in advanced combat techniques in facilities already in use in Jericho."
The man, Abu Yousuf, hinted any new weapons provided by the US to his group could be shared with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party. Abu Yousuf, like several Force 17 members, is also a member of the Brigades.
"There is no chance that we will use force and violence against our brothers in Hamas unless they will endanger (Abbas). There is a chance that Israel will attack the Palestinian territories, and in this case, these weapons and others provided (by the US to Force 17) will be directed towards the (Israeli) occupation," Abu Yousuf said.
After a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters the US would "do what it can" to bolster Abbas.
Last week the New York Times reported the US proposed expanding Abbas' Force 17 from 3,500 men to 6,000 as part of a USD 26-million plan to strengthen the Palestinian leader.
The Associated Press and Israel's leading Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported this past Friday new training facilities for Force 17 are slated to be set up in the West Bank town of Jericho and in Gaza, at a cost of USD 2 million each, according to the US proposal.
Senior Palestinian officials told WND the US is planning to transfer ammunition and new assault rifles to Force 17 within days and has pledged to procure about USD 28 million in aid to Abbas. They said the US would help train Force 17 members in the operation of the new weapons and in advanced combat techniques in facilities already in use in Jericho."
A re-run of the Lebanon war in Palestine?
A MUST READ!
Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 11 October 2006
"There are ominous signs that the long-contemplated plan to overthrow the democratically-elected Hamas-led Palestinian Authority cabinet is about to enter its most dangerous phase: a political coup, supported by local militias, with foreign and regional backing. This could ignite serious intra-Palestinian violence. With Iraq providing a dreadful warning of how foreign occupation can foster civil bloodshed, everything must be done to expose and thwart this dangerous conspiracy.
The head of Palestinian Authority intelligence, and Fatah militia leader, Tawfiq Tirawi, said in an interview with the Sunday Times on 8 October, "We are already at the beginning of a civil war, no doubt about it. They (Hamas) are accumulating weapons and a full-scale civil war can break out at any moment." The paper cited Palestinian sources saying that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas "has notified the US, Jordan and Egypt that he is preparing to take action against Hamas."
Coming a week after more than a dozen Palestinians were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah followers, Tirawi's latest comments could be seen as laying the groundwork for a full-scale and premeditated confrontation. A senior Fatah "security source," probably also Tirawi, had already told the same Sunday Times journalist last May that "[c]ivil war is inevitable" and that "Time is running out for Hamas." He warned that "We'll choose the right time and place for the military showdown. But after that there will be no more of Hamas's militias."
This apparent encouragement to resort to the bullet when use of the ballot failed to produce the desired results is a direct contradiction of the simplest principles of democracy, apart from its sheer immorality. This sounds bad enough, but it also looks like a repeat of the strategy in Lebanon where western powers apparently thought that Israel, as a local client state, could be used to strike a lethal blow at Hizbullah. The human and political results of that adventure, last summer's systematic Israeli destruction of Lebanon, speak for themselves. This time, Abbas and his forces would fill the role of local US client, and Hamas would be cast as Hizbullah.
Efforts to bridge the political impasse by forming a "national unity government" have also failed because the Fatah election losers, backed by foreign powers, are demanding that Hamas, the election winners, abandon their policies and principles and endorse those of the defeated party. But none of this has worked.
The danger facing Palestinians is acute. But let us be clear: it is not a threat of civil war. The danger is of an armed coup staged on behalf of these powers by a small minority, but which could drag more Palestinians into internecine fighting whose consequences are awful to contemplate.
The reality is that the Palestinian Authority is not and has never been a government for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority receives western backing only to the extent that it directly and exclusively serves their own and Israeli interests. It was designed to protect the Israeli occupation against its victims; no one will be permitted to turn it into a representative body that fights for the rights and interests of Palestinians. To avoid the lethal trap that is being set for them and the Palestinian people, Hamas will either have to sell out or get out."
World War W
by Michael Carmichael
"Still unable to bring themselves to exercise diplomacy, the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice administration is now preparing to broaden America’s military activities in the Middle East in anticipation of a wider, more engulfing and, perhaps, even global war - World War W.
Elsewhere, the Bush-Cheney White House and Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon have ordered a broadening of US military operations in the Middle East. Led by the Nimitz class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Eisenhower, a strike force bristling with Tomahawk missiles is headed to the Persian Gulf to take up a position to launch an aerial “shock and awe” campaign against Iran. The Prepare To Deploy Orders (PTDO) issued to the USS Eisenhower led Time magazine to call public attention to American moves in apparent preparation for imminent war with Iran. The USS Eisenhower is scheduled to arrive in the Persian Gulf on the 21st of October, just slightly over two weeks before the ominous midterm elections on the 7th of November. With the time clock ticking, and Bush’s presidency on the wane, the window of opportunity to launch the next phase of the Project for a New American Century’s (PNAC) schemes of global conquest to deliver ongoing US control of world oil reserves is swiftly drawing to its close.
George W. Bush’s presidency is deeply unpopular in America, and it is disastrously unpopular throughout the rest of the world. Faced with the probability that Bush will lose power through the midterm elections, the Republicans have been grasping at straws in pursuit of their neoconservative vision of a muscular and aggressive America on a permanent war footing in hot pursuit of the dreams of full-blooded military glory of PNAC. These Republican neoconservatives have a fifth column of support inside the Democratic Party. Headed by Al From, a man who is at once a confirmed neocon and a zealous Zionist, the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) supports the policy agenda of PNAC hook, line and sinker.
And, worse. The Democratic Party’s campaign to regain a majority in the US Senate is headed by Senator Charles Schumer. While the majority of his party favour a timely withdrawal and disengagement from Iraq, in what should be regarded as a very curious development, Senator Schumer voted against setting a timetable for strategic deployment from Iraq. Additionally, Senator Schumer has created controversy as head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). Earlier this year, Senator Schumer endorsed the deeply unpopular Senator Joe Lieberman in his primary campaign against a very popular anti-war Democratic challenger, Ned Lamont. Schumer and Lieberman are both members of the right-leaning group of Democrats who purport to swing a lot of weight on national security affairs in their party caucus and the DLC – as well as being the Bush-Cheney White House’s favorite “Democrats.”
On the global stage, the increasingly ominous scenario unfolding against a backdrop of the US war in Iraq is dark and getting darker. Not only is America moving much more military hardware into the theatre, a constellation of its allies in NATO are moving heavy hardware into the Eastern Mediterranean where they will be in position to cheque any potential retaliation by Syria or Hizbullah against Israel in the wake of a US assault on Iran."
Neo-cons come out guns blazing
By Jim Lobe
Asia Times
"The North Korean test "has stripped any plausibility to arguments that engaging dictators works", according to Michael Rubin, a Middle East specialist at AEI, who added that the Bush administration now faced a "watershed" in its relations with other states that have defied Washington in recent years.
"This crisis is not just about North Korea, but about Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba as well," said Rubin. "Bush now has two choices: to respond forcefully and show that defiance has consequence, or affirm that defiance pays and that international will is illusionary."
Bush "must now choose whether his legacy will be one of inaction or leadership, Chamberlain or Churchill", Rubin said in a reference to the pre-World War II debate between the "appeasement" of British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and the war policy of his successor, Winston Churchill.
The neo-conservatives' main area of concern has historically been the Middle East - indeed, their central focus in recent months has been publicizing the threats to the United States and Israel allegedly posed by Iran and Hezbollah and opposing any realist appeals to engage Tehran and Damascus in direct talks. But they have also been warning for some time against "the appeasement" of North Korea and its chief source of material aid and support, China.
Indeed, in the most prominent neo-conservative reaction to the North Korean test to date, former Bush speechwriter David Frum called in a column published by the New York Times for the administration to take a series of measures designed to "punish China" for its failure to bring Pyongyang to heel.
Among them, Frum, who is also based at AEI and is credited with inventing the phrase "axis of evil", in which North Korea, Iran and Iraq were lumped together for Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, urged the administration to cut off all humanitarian aid to North Korea, pressure South Korea to do the same and thus force China to "shoulder the cost of helping to avert" North Korea's economic collapse."A nuclear Japan is the thing China and North Korea dread most, after, perhaps, a nuclear South Korea or Taiwan," he asserted. "Not only would the nuclearization of Japan be a punishment of China and North Korea, but it would also go far to meet our goal of dissuading Iran [from trying to obtain a nuclear weapon] ... The analogue for Iran, of course, would be the threat of American aid to improve Israel's capacity to hit targets with nuclear weapons."
Other commentators called for strong efforts to achieve regime change. James Robbins, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, called for covert action, including "sabotage, espionage, information operations, subversion, deception - the works. A highly paranoid totalitarian regime like Kim [Jong-il's] will be highly susceptible to these methods," he predicted."
Asia Times
"The North Korean test "has stripped any plausibility to arguments that engaging dictators works", according to Michael Rubin, a Middle East specialist at AEI, who added that the Bush administration now faced a "watershed" in its relations with other states that have defied Washington in recent years.
"This crisis is not just about North Korea, but about Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba as well," said Rubin. "Bush now has two choices: to respond forcefully and show that defiance has consequence, or affirm that defiance pays and that international will is illusionary."
Bush "must now choose whether his legacy will be one of inaction or leadership, Chamberlain or Churchill", Rubin said in a reference to the pre-World War II debate between the "appeasement" of British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and the war policy of his successor, Winston Churchill.
The neo-conservatives' main area of concern has historically been the Middle East - indeed, their central focus in recent months has been publicizing the threats to the United States and Israel allegedly posed by Iran and Hezbollah and opposing any realist appeals to engage Tehran and Damascus in direct talks. But they have also been warning for some time against "the appeasement" of North Korea and its chief source of material aid and support, China.
Indeed, in the most prominent neo-conservative reaction to the North Korean test to date, former Bush speechwriter David Frum called in a column published by the New York Times for the administration to take a series of measures designed to "punish China" for its failure to bring Pyongyang to heel.
Among them, Frum, who is also based at AEI and is credited with inventing the phrase "axis of evil", in which North Korea, Iran and Iraq were lumped together for Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, urged the administration to cut off all humanitarian aid to North Korea, pressure South Korea to do the same and thus force China to "shoulder the cost of helping to avert" North Korea's economic collapse."A nuclear Japan is the thing China and North Korea dread most, after, perhaps, a nuclear South Korea or Taiwan," he asserted. "Not only would the nuclearization of Japan be a punishment of China and North Korea, but it would also go far to meet our goal of dissuading Iran [from trying to obtain a nuclear weapon] ... The analogue for Iran, of course, would be the threat of American aid to improve Israel's capacity to hit targets with nuclear weapons."
Other commentators called for strong efforts to achieve regime change. James Robbins, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, called for covert action, including "sabotage, espionage, information operations, subversion, deception - the works. A highly paranoid totalitarian regime like Kim [Jong-il's] will be highly susceptible to these methods," he predicted."
HOW HEZBOLLAH DEFEATED ISRAEL
PART 1: Winning the intelligence war
A LONG ARTICLE, BUT WELL WORTH READING
By Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry
Asia Times
"The portrait that we give here is also limited. Hezbollah officials will neither speak publicly nor for the record on how they fought the conflict, will not detail their deployments, and will not discuss their future strategy. Even so, the lessons of the war from Hezbollah's perspective are now beginning to emerge and some small lessons are being derived from it by US and Israeli strategic planners. Our conclusions are based on on-the-ground assessments conducted during the course of the war, on interviews with Israeli, American and European military experts, on emerging understandings of the conflict in discussions with military strategists, and on a network of senior officials in the Middle East who were intensively interested in the war's outcome and with whom we have spoken.
Our overall conclusion contradicts the current point of view being retailed by some White House and Israeli officials: that Israel's offensive in Lebanon significantly damaged Hezbollah's ability to wage war, that Israel successfully degraded Hezbollah's military ability to prevail in a future conflict, and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), once deployed in large numbers in southern Lebanon, were able to prevail over their foes and dictate a settlement favorable to the Israeli political establishment.
Just the opposite is true. From the onset of the conflict to its last operations, Hezbollah commanders successfully penetrated Israel's strategic and tactical decision-making cycle across a spectrum of intelligence, military and political operations, with the result that Hezbollah scored a decisive and complete victory in its war with Israel.
Despite being surprised by the Israeli response, Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon were placed on full alert within minutes of the kidnappings and arsenal commanders were alerted by their superiors. Hezbollah's robust and hardened defenses were the result of six years of diligent work, beginning with the Israeli withdrawal from the region in 2000. Many of the command bunkers designed and built by Hezbollah engineers were fortified, and a few were even air-conditioned.
The building of other bunkers went forward in areas kept hidden from the Lebanese population. The most important command bunkers and weapons-arsenal bunkers were dug deeply into Lebanon's rocky hills - to a depth of 40 meters. Nearly 600 separate ammunition and weapons bunkers were strategically placed in the region south of the Litani.
For security reasons, no single commander knew the location of each bunker and each distinct Hezbollah militia unit was assigned access to three bunkers only - a primary munitions bunker and two reserve bunkers, in case the primary bunker was destroyed. Separate primary and backup marshaling points were also designated for distinct combat units, which were tasked to arm and fight within specific combat areas. The security protocols for the marshaling of troops was diligently maintained. No single Hezbollah member had knowledge of the militia's entire bunker structure.
The initial attack on Hezbollah's marshaling points and major bunker complexes, which took place in the first 72 hours of the war, failed. On July 15, the IAF targeted Hezbollah's leadership in Beirut. This attack also failed. At no point during the war was any major Hezbollah political figure killed, despite Israel's constant insistence that the organization's senior leadership had suffered losses.
Qana was the result of Olmert's agreement to "stretch the target envelope". One US military expert who monitored the conflict closely had this to say of the Qana bombing: "This isn't really that complicated. After the failure of the initial campaign, IAF planning officers went back through their target folders to see if they had missed anything. When they decided they hadn't, someone probably stood up and went into the other room and returned with a set of new envelopes of targets in densely populated areas and said, 'Hey, what about these target envelopes?' And so they did it." That is, the bombing of targets "close in" to southern Lebanon population areas was the result of Israel's failure in the war - not its success.
In truth, however, IDF senior commanders knew that expanding the number of targets in Lebanon would probably do little to degrade Hezbollah capabilities because Hezbollah was maintaining its attacks without any hope of resupply and because of its dependence on weapons and rocket caches that had been hardened against Israeli interdiction.
More simply, Hezbollah's ability to cease fire meant that Israel's goal of separating Hezbollah fighters from their command structure (considered a necessity by modern armies in waging a war on a sophisticated technological battlefield) had failed. The IDF's senior commanders could only come to one conclusion - its prewar information on Hezbollah military assets was, at best, woefully incomplete or, at worst, fatally wrong.
In fact, over a period of two years, Hezbollah intelligence officials had built a significant signals-counterintelligence capability. Throughout the war, Hezbollah commanders were able to predict when and where Israeli fighters and bombers would strike. Moreover, Hezbollah had identified key Israeli human-intelligence assets in Lebanon. One month prior to the abduction of the IDF border patrol and the subsequent Israeli attack, Lebanese intelligence officials had broken up an Israeli spy ring operating inside the country.
In some small number of crucially important cases, Hezbollah senior intelligence officials were able to "feed back" false information on their militia's most important emplacements to Israel - with the result that Israel target folders identified key emplacements that did not, in fact, exist.
Finally, Hezbollah's ability to intercept and "read" Israeli actions had a decisive impact on the coming ground war. Hezbollah intelligence officials had perfected their signals-intelligence capability to such an extent that they could intercept Israeli ground communications between Israeli military commanders. Israel, which depended on a highly sophisticated set of "frequency hopping" techniques that would allow their commanders to communicate with one another, underestimated Hezbollah's ability to master counter-signals technology.
The Israeli intelligence failure during the conflict was catastrophic. It meant that, after the failure of Israel's air campaign to degrade Hezbollah assets significantly in the first 72 hours of the war, Israel's chance of winning a decisive victory against Hezbollah was increasingly, and highly, unlikely."
***
IF ONLY THE PALESTINIANS COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO FROM HIZBULLAH.
Compassionate Conservatives (Pro-war, pro-poverty, anti-heart)
Who elected this guy? Try some compassion instead of immigration politics
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October 8, 2006
Dear Mr. Schultheis:
It always puzzles me how some people can become elected leaders. What were the voters thinking? Do they REALLY know what kind of idiot they elected?
Let me tell you about a story this week:
Monday afternoon, what would become one of Weld County's worst accidents, a 17-year-old girl ran a stop sign on a country road and a large pickup truck demolished her car.
She's still trying to stay alive in the hospital. And today, they are burying her two little brothers and her 3-month-old baby.
The family donated their children's organs to other children so they can live.
They don't have much money, and through the Community Foundation here in Greeley, donations have been pouring in for this family.
Thursday, the family asked that all the financial donations go directly to Children's Hospital in Denver where two of the children died, or to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley where the girl is still in intensive care.
The family doesn't want the money themselves but they know the hospitals need it.
They asked that the Tribune cover the funeral, so their daughter in the hospital will have something to keep for a memory.
Then, Mr. State Legislature, you sent an e-mail:
Mike:
Just finished reading your article today "Greeley Family Copes ..." This is a horrible tragedy.
My questions to you are: Was the driver properly licensed? Was the vehicle properly registered and insured? Why aren't these facts part of your published article?
Was this person the child of parents in the U.S. illegally? Or was she here illegally?
I am extremely concerned with the dramatic rise in crime caused by those illegally in this country over the past 10-15 years or so. Why is it that the investigative reports we read in the papers and see on TV do not point out the fact that these accidents and the resulting cost to taxpayers (hospitalization, etc.) are a direct result of our lax immigration policies and enforcement?
Representative Dave Schultheis, HD 14
Schultheis for Senate District. 9
Colorado Springs, CO. 80919
(719) 532-0546
www.daveschultheis.com
Gee. Thanks Dave.
Thanks for being so compassionate.
We're all concerned about illegal immigrants. We're all concerned about people sneaking into our country, both from the South and North borders, and the coasts for that matter.
We know you decided to write your e-mail because the family's name is "Bustillos." You know. One of those foreign names. Certainly not an American name.
Mr. Representative, you remind me of that group of wackos from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., who pickets funerals of soldiers killed in action. To you, it apparently doesn't matter that three children died and a fourth may never recover. Your questions focus on whether they belong in our country.
By the way, the car was properly licensed, insured, titled. Two of the three kids who died were born in America, just like you. I don't know if the parents are "legal." The police don't know either, but the family has lived and worked here at least 12 years. Too bad you weren't here, Dave, to interrupt their grieving to ask for proof of citizenship.
But then, take a look at your name, Mr. Schultheis. Are we sure that's really an American name? Doesn't sound like it to me. Sounds foreign.
Maybe we should check your family background and see if your ancestors actually came to this country legally. Do you have a REAL driver's license? Do you have insurance?
That's the trouble with a lot of those Schultheises. They come into our country and use our hospitals and schools, and then they don't pay any taxes to support our country.
Where do you live, anyway?
Maybe we can put a big fence around your house just to keep you away from the rest of us real Americans.
The name Gnarly Trombone was taken from an 1871 Cincinnati newspaper that misread Horace Greeley's handwritten name of the Greeley Tribune. Mike Peters is a Tribune staff writer. He may be e-mailed at mpeters@greeleytribune.com.
JUAN COLE ON THE LATEST JOHNS HOPKINS SURVEY OF IRAQIS KILLED
"A careful Johns Hopkins study has estimated that between 420,000 and 790,000 Iraqis have died as a result of war and political violence since the beginning of the US invasion in March, 2003.
I once warned that a precipitate US withdrawal could result in a million dead a la Cambodia or Afghanistan. Little did I know that the conditions created by the US invasion and occupation have all along been driving toward that number anyway!
Another reason for the hard ride is that the Republican Party and a significant fraction of the business elite in this country is very invested in the Iraq War, and they will try to discredit the study. Can you imagine the profits being made by the military-industrial complex on all this? Do they really want the US public to know the truth about what the weapons they produce have done to Iraqis? When you see someone waxing cynical about the study, ask yourself: Does this person know what a chi square is? And, who does this person work for, really?
Then Anthony Cordesmann told AP that the timing and content of the study were political. But is he saying that 18,000 households from all over Iraq conspired to lie to Johns Hopkins University researchers for the purpose of defeating Republicans in US elections this November? Ironically enough, the same journalists who will question this study will accept without query the estimates for deaths in Darfur, e.g., which are generated by exactly the same techniques, and which are almost certainly not as solid.
I follow the violence in Iraq carefully and daily, and I find the results plausible.
There are about 90 major towns and cities in Iraq. If we subtract Baghdad, where about 100 a day die, that still leaves 89. If an average of 4 or so are killed in each of those 89, then the study's results are correct. Of course, 4 is an average. Cities in areas dominated by the guerrilla movement will have more than 4 killed daily, sleepy Kurdish towns will have no one killed.
Key Findings: Death rates were 5.5/1000/year pre-invasion, and overall, 13.2/1000/year for the 40 months post-invasion. We estimate that through July 2006, there have been 654,965 “excess deaths”—fatalities above the pre-invasion death rate—in Iraq as a consequence of the war. Of post-invasion deaths, 601,027 were due to violent causes. Non-violent deaths rose above the pre-invasion level only in 2006. Since March 2003, an additional 2.5% of Iraq’s population have died above what would have occurred without conflict.
The proportion of deaths ascribed to coalition forces has diminished in 2006, though the actual numbers have increased each year. Gunfire remains the most common reason for death, though deaths from car bombing have increased from 2005. Those killed are predominantly males aged 15-44 years. '"
I once warned that a precipitate US withdrawal could result in a million dead a la Cambodia or Afghanistan. Little did I know that the conditions created by the US invasion and occupation have all along been driving toward that number anyway!
Another reason for the hard ride is that the Republican Party and a significant fraction of the business elite in this country is very invested in the Iraq War, and they will try to discredit the study. Can you imagine the profits being made by the military-industrial complex on all this? Do they really want the US public to know the truth about what the weapons they produce have done to Iraqis? When you see someone waxing cynical about the study, ask yourself: Does this person know what a chi square is? And, who does this person work for, really?
Then Anthony Cordesmann told AP that the timing and content of the study were political. But is he saying that 18,000 households from all over Iraq conspired to lie to Johns Hopkins University researchers for the purpose of defeating Republicans in US elections this November? Ironically enough, the same journalists who will question this study will accept without query the estimates for deaths in Darfur, e.g., which are generated by exactly the same techniques, and which are almost certainly not as solid.
I follow the violence in Iraq carefully and daily, and I find the results plausible.
There are about 90 major towns and cities in Iraq. If we subtract Baghdad, where about 100 a day die, that still leaves 89. If an average of 4 or so are killed in each of those 89, then the study's results are correct. Of course, 4 is an average. Cities in areas dominated by the guerrilla movement will have more than 4 killed daily, sleepy Kurdish towns will have no one killed.
Key Findings: Death rates were 5.5/1000/year pre-invasion, and overall, 13.2/1000/year for the 40 months post-invasion. We estimate that through July 2006, there have been 654,965 “excess deaths”—fatalities above the pre-invasion death rate—in Iraq as a consequence of the war. Of post-invasion deaths, 601,027 were due to violent causes. Non-violent deaths rose above the pre-invasion level only in 2006. Since March 2003, an additional 2.5% of Iraq’s population have died above what would have occurred without conflict.
The proportion of deaths ascribed to coalition forces has diminished in 2006, though the actual numbers have increased each year. Gunfire remains the most common reason for death, though deaths from car bombing have increased from 2005. Those killed are predominantly males aged 15-44 years. '"
MOROCCO'S KING IS DISAPPOINTED ISRAEL DID NOT DESTROY HIZBULLAH
"CASABLANCA, Morocco - There is almost no important Israeli event that does not receive extensive coverage in the Moroccan press. That holds true for the investigation of President Moshe Katsav, with all its intimate details, as well as for the affair of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's apartments.
The weekly Le Journal wrote last week that whenever King Mohammed VI meets with members of the legislature from the Islamic party, he has difficulty concealing his disgust. New surveys anticipate a majority for this party in the elections scheduled for next year. Were the elections to be held now, the Islamists would be able to form the government.
Official Morocco's secret wish was that Hezbollah's defeat in the war would undermine the prestige of fundamentalism. However, the opposite occurred. According to people close to the royal court, Mohammed VI was astonished by the Israeli weakness that the war exposed. Toward its end, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah became the most popular person in Morocco. "The imam who restored pride to the Muslims," shouted the newspaper headlines.
Not far from there, in the city's poor neighborhoods, hundreds of thousands had finished another day of fasting without electricity, without running water, without education, without work, without a future. The state recently destroyed all the underground mosques that had cropped up in poor neighborhoods, but has not succeeded in destroying the fervor for religion. "I'll tell you what Morocco is," a local resident told me while we toured the glittering neighborhoods of Marakesh: "10 percent who have something to eat, 10 percent who barely have anything to eat, and 80 percent who have nothing to eat."
The threat to the royal regime and the corrupt oligarchy lies in those 80 percent. An official or a policeman or a civil servant brings home about $200 a month. That is why baksheesh (bribery) has become endemic. "Do me a favor, it's Ramadan now and there are a lot of expenses," said a police officer in the Casablanca airport, smiling at me as he checked my Israeli passport. After receiving his compensation, he warmly shook my hand and said: "Barukh haba" ("welcome"). In Hebrew, of course."
Militia attack ignites US ammo dump in Iraq
Mushroom like cloud is seen over Baghdad as huge explosions rocked the Iraqi capital early Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006. A fire broke out at an ammunition depot at a U.S. base in southern Baghdad on Tuesday night, setting off a series of explosions from detonating tank and artillery shells that shook buildings miles away. (AP Photo)
"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Militiamen firing mortars detonated a U.S. ammunition dump in Baghdad on Tuesday night, sparking a barrage of explosions that continued to shake the capital on Wednesday morning, a U.S. military spokesman said.
Residents said the blasts were reminiscent of the aerial bombardment of Baghdad that preceded the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A mortar round fired from the Abu Dsheer area of southern Baghdad caused the fire in an ammunition holding area in Camp Falcon, a forward operating base for U.S. troops, that ignited tank, artillery and small-arms ammunition, the spokesman said.
"Intelligence indicates that civilians aligned with a militia organization were responsible for last night's mortar attack," said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Withington, spokesman for the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
He did not identify the militia organization but residents of Abu Dsheer, a mostly Shi'ite area in the Sunni district of Doura, told Reuters the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was a growing presence in the area.
The Islamic Army in Iraq, one of a number of militant groups operating in the country, had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack in a Web site posting.
The fire, which erupted at about 10.40 p.m. (1940 GMT), sent flames and showers of sparks into the night sky and triggered dozens of explosions that shook buildings several kilometres away in central Baghdad.
"The fire is still smouldering and rounds are continuing to cook off," Withington said. Three battalions are based at Camp Falcon, along with Abrams main battle tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Strykers."
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
"A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.
The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government. It is more than 20 times the estimate of 30,000 civilian deaths that President Bush gave in a speech in December.
The surveyors said they found a steady increase in mortality since the invasion, with a steeper rise in the last year that appears to reflect a worsening of violence as reported by the U.S. military, the news media and civilian groups. In the year ending in June, the team calculated Iraq's mortality rate to be roughly four times what it was the year before the war.
Of the total 655,000 estimated "excess deaths," 601,000 resulted from violence and the rest from disease and other causes, according to the study. This is about 500 unexpected violent deaths per day throughout the country.
The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings are being published online today by the British medical journal the Lancet.
While acknowledging that the estimate is large, the researchers believe it is sound for numerous reasons. The recent survey got the same estimate for immediate post-invasion deaths as the early survey, which gives the researchers confidence in the methods. The great majority of deaths were also substantiated by death certificates.
"We're very confident with the results," said Gilbert Burnham, a Johns Hopkins physician and epidemiologist."
***
Thank you Bush; you have a leg up on Saddam.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
"A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.
The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government. It is more than 20 times the estimate of 30,000 civilian deaths that President Bush gave in a speech in December.
The surveyors said they found a steady increase in mortality since the invasion, with a steeper rise in the last year that appears to reflect a worsening of violence as reported by the U.S. military, the news media and civilian groups. In the year ending in June, the team calculated Iraq's mortality rate to be roughly four times what it was the year before the war.
Of the total 655,000 estimated "excess deaths," 601,000 resulted from violence and the rest from disease and other causes, according to the study. This is about 500 unexpected violent deaths per day throughout the country.
The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings are being published online today by the British medical journal the Lancet.
While acknowledging that the estimate is large, the researchers believe it is sound for numerous reasons. The recent survey got the same estimate for immediate post-invasion deaths as the early survey, which gives the researchers confidence in the methods. The great majority of deaths were also substantiated by death certificates.
"We're very confident with the results," said Gilbert Burnham, a Johns Hopkins physician and epidemiologist."
***
Thank you Bush; you have a leg up on Saddam.
EXPERIMENTING ON ARAB GUINEA PIGS
Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip
"An investigative report to be aired on Italian television Wednesday raises the possibility that Israel has used an experimental weapon in the Gaza Strip in recent months, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns.
The weapon is similar to one developed by the U.S. military, known as DIME, which causes a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius.
The Italian report is based on the eyewitness accounts of medical doctors in the Strip, as well as tests carried out in an Italian laboratory. The investigative team is the same one that exposed, several months ago, the use by U.S. forces in Iraq of phosphorous bombs, against Iraqi rebels in Faluja.
The investigation, by Rai24news, follows reports by Gaza-based doctors of inexplicably serious injuries. The doctors reported an exceptionally large number of wounded who lost legs, of completely burned bodies and injuries unaccompanied by metal shrapnel. Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an x-ray machine.
Dr. Habas al-Wahid, head of the emergency room at the Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital, in Deir el-Balah, told the reporters that the legs of the injured were sliced from their bodies "as if a saw was used to cut through the bone." There were signs of heat and burns near the point of the amputation, but no signs that the dismemberment was caused by metal fragments.
According to the U.S.-based website Defense-Tech, "the result is an incredibly destructive blast in a small area" and "the destructive power of the mixture causes far more damage than pure explosive." It adds that "the impact of the micro-shrapnel seems to cause a similar but more powerful effect than a shockwave."
It is believed that the weapon is highly carcinogenic and harmful to the environment."
مأزق الرئيس عباس المتفاقم
عبد الباري عطوان
النقطة الرئيسية التي عرقلت الوساطة القطرية، مثلما يتبين من التسريبات الاعلامية وتصريحات الناطقين الرسميين في الجانبين، تتمثل في رفض حركة حماس بنداً يتضمن القبول بحل علي اساس الدولتين، اي الاعتراف ضمنيا بالدولة العبرية، وهو البند الذي يمثل الحد الادني الذي يمكن ان تقبل به الولايات المتحدة، ودول عربية، وغربية اخري، للتعامل مع حكومة وحدة وطنية، بقيادة رئيس وزراء من حركة حماس في شخص السيد هنية.
حركة حماس تدرك جيدا ان رئيس السلطة، السيد عباس، يريد جرها الي حفرة الاعتراف باسرائيل، والقبول باتفاقات اوسلو، الامر الذي سيعني ضرب مصداقيتها في الشارع الفلسطيني، وتفتيتها الي مجموعة اجنحة منشقة، متصارعة، مثلما حدث مع حركة فتح بعد فشل خيارها السلمي.
فما يوحد حماس الداخل مع حماس الخارج ، و حماس الحمائم مع حماس الصقور هو الالتزام بميثاق الحركة، ونهجها السياسي الرافض للاعتراف، والمتمسك بالمقاومة. وأي تراجع، ولو ضمني، عن هذه الثوابت قد يؤدي الي تشرذم الحركة وتراجع شعبيتها في الشارع الفلسطيني، وهو ما يحاول قادة الحركة تجنبه بكل الطرق والوسائل.
السيد عباس يعيش مأزقا صعباً وغير مسبوق، لانه يدرك جيدا ان استمرار الوضع الحالي، حيث الفوضي الامنية، وتفاقم حالة الجوع بسبب تأخر الرواتب، وما يترتب علي ذلك من شلل شامل في مؤسسات السلطة واجهزتها، لا يمكن، بل ولا يجب ان يستمر، وان عليه اتخاذ قرار حاسم حاول طويلاً ان يتجنبه وهو حل الحكومة الحالية، واستبدالها بحكومة طواريء، والدعوة لانتخابات عامة في غضون عام او اقل.
جميع الخيارات المتاحة حاليا امام السيد عباس والتي يدفع مساعدوه من المستوزرين للتعجيل باتخاذ احدها، ستؤدي حتماً الي الصدام مع حركة حماس واتساع فجوة القطيعة معها، مما قد يفجر مواجهات دموية، ومسلسلا من الاغتيالات يطال الجميع، لان المخابرات الاسرائيلية ستدخل علي الخط وتبدأ في اغتيال واحد من هنا وآخر من هناك، حتي تتسع الدائرة وتأكل نيران الحقد والانتقام الجميع.
فعندما التقي السيد خليل الوزير (ابو جهاد) غريمه صبري البنا (ابو نضال) في الجزائر علي هامش لقاء مصالحة رتبته الحكومة الجزائرية عام 1987، سأل المرحوم ابو جهاد المرحوم الاخر ابو نضال عن الاسباب التي دفعته لاغتيال 18 شخصا من خيرة ممثلي منظمة التحرير في اوروبا والوطن العربي، فاعترف بانه لم يقتل الا اربعة فقط، وهناك اصاب الذهول المرحوم ابو جهاد وسأل اذن من الذي اغتال الباقين؟
من أقدم علي اغتيال الباقين هي المخابرات الاسرائيلية التي استغلت حالة الاحتراب الفلسطيني لتدخل علي الخط، وتصفي مجموعة من المناضلين الفلسطينيين والعرب، وتحمل مسؤوليتها لتنظيم ابو نضال ، ولن يكون مستبعدا ان تكون في حال تأهب لتكرار الجرائم نفسها في حال اشتعال نار الحرب الاهلية بين فتح و حماس نتيجة فشل الحوار بين الجانبين.
حركة حماس درست جميع الخيارات جيداً، واتخذت قراراً فيما يبدو بالتمسك بالحكومة حتي اللحظة الاخيرة، ورفض كل الضغوط لدفعها الي الاستقالة، اي استقالة الحكومة، مهما بلغت ضراوتها، حتي لا تسهل مهمة السيد عباس، وحتي تدفعه للإقدام علي اقالتها بنفسه، فقد صمدت امام المظاهرات والاضرابات، مثلما صمدت امام حالات العزل العربية والدولية، والضغوط من قبل الجيران في مصر والاردن، وكان السيد هنية في ذروة الوضوح عندما قال انه لم يتلق اي دعوة من اي حكومة عربية لزيارتها باستثناء دعوة يتيمة من دولة قطر.
استراتيجية حماس في الصمود نجحت فيما يبدو، وصدرت الأزمة الي رئيس السلطة، وباتت تنتظر خطوته الانقلابية المقبلة، والاستعداد في الوقت نفسه لمواجهة كل الاحتمالات، بما في ذلك المواجهة المسلحة، والاعلان عن وجود فرع لتنظيم القاعدة في قطاع غزة من خلال شريط فيديو اعترف بالمسؤولية عن اغتيال اثنين من قيادات الاجهزة الامنية الاول هو محمد التايه والثاني طارق ابو رجب الذي نجا بأعجوبة، ربما يؤشر لعناوين المرحلة المقبلة.
هناك خياران مرجحان امام السيد عباس حسب نص صلاحياته الدستورية التي يروج لها مساعدوه:
الاول: حل حكومة حماس الحالية، وتشكيل حكومة طواريء برئاسة شخصية مستقلة، تضم مجموعة من التكنوقراط، وقد مهد اجتماع لشخصيات فلسطينية لهذه الخطوة ضم قيادات في الكتل البرلمانية والفصائل الاخري، الي جانب نواب من فتح وقاطعته حماس، خرج ببيان يطالب بتشكيل حكومة الطواريء هذه للخروج من المأزق الحالي.
الثاني: الدعوة الي انتخابات عامة لانتخاب مجلس تشريعي جديد، وربما رئيس جديد للسلطة، وقد لمح الرئيس حسني مبارك الي هذه الخطوة في حديث ادلي به الي صحيفة الاسبوع المصرية.
الأمر المؤكد ان حركة حماس لن تقبل بالخيار الاول، وستترجم رفضها هذا علي الارض من خلال تصعيد للعمليات الاستشهادية والقصف الصاروخي، وحشد كل ما لديها من نواب في المجلس التشريعي لم تعتقلهم السلطات الاسرائيلية بعد، لحجب الثقة عن هذه الحكومة. اما بالنسبة الي الخيار الثاني اي الدعوة الي انتخابات عامة، فإن من المرجح ان تقاطع حماس هذه الانتخابات تماماً مثلما قاطعت الانتخابات الاولي عام 1995، إذ ما فائدة خوض انتخابات لا تسمح لها بتشكيل حكومة اذا فازت فيها، وحصلت علي غالبية المقاعد في المجلس التشريعي مثلما هو الحال الآن.
جميع خيارات الرئيس عباس ستصب في هاوية الحرب الاهلية، والشيء نفسه يقال ايضاً عن الخيارات المضادة لحركة حماس ولكن تظل مسؤولية الرئيس عباس اكبر بكثير لانه رأس السلطة، وهو الذي قد يشعل فتيل هذه الحرب باتخاذه قرار حل الحكومة المنتخبة شعبياً رضوخاً للضغوط الامريكية والغربية.
المخرج الوحيد والمشرف من هذه الأزمة الذي سيجنب الشعب الفلسطيني المزيد من اراقة الدماء، هو ان يستأنف السيد عباس حواره مجدداً مع حركة حماس وقياداتها في الداخل والخارج، ليس من اجل تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية، فهذه مهمة باتت شبه مستحيلة، وانما للاتفاق علي حل السلطة الفلسطينية، واعلان المناطق الفلسطينية اراضي محتلة، وتحميل مسؤولية ادارتها للسلطات الاسرائيلية، تماماً مثلما كان عليه الحال قبل اتفاقات اوسلو.
اذا فعل السيد عباس ذلك فانه سينعم بتعاقد مريح، وقضاء وقت ممتع مع احفاده، وسيغفر له الشعب الفلسطيني ذنوبه الكثيرة، وابرزها هندسة اتفاقات اوسلو، اما اذا لم يفعل، واستمر في الوقوع في حفرة مستشاريه، فانه سيجر الشعب الفلسطيني بأسره الي كارثة دموية لم يسبق لها مثيل، سيرقص لها طرباً اولمرت ونتنياهو وربما شارون في غيبوبته.
النقطة الرئيسية التي عرقلت الوساطة القطرية، مثلما يتبين من التسريبات الاعلامية وتصريحات الناطقين الرسميين في الجانبين، تتمثل في رفض حركة حماس بنداً يتضمن القبول بحل علي اساس الدولتين، اي الاعتراف ضمنيا بالدولة العبرية، وهو البند الذي يمثل الحد الادني الذي يمكن ان تقبل به الولايات المتحدة، ودول عربية، وغربية اخري، للتعامل مع حكومة وحدة وطنية، بقيادة رئيس وزراء من حركة حماس في شخص السيد هنية.
حركة حماس تدرك جيدا ان رئيس السلطة، السيد عباس، يريد جرها الي حفرة الاعتراف باسرائيل، والقبول باتفاقات اوسلو، الامر الذي سيعني ضرب مصداقيتها في الشارع الفلسطيني، وتفتيتها الي مجموعة اجنحة منشقة، متصارعة، مثلما حدث مع حركة فتح بعد فشل خيارها السلمي.
فما يوحد حماس الداخل مع حماس الخارج ، و حماس الحمائم مع حماس الصقور هو الالتزام بميثاق الحركة، ونهجها السياسي الرافض للاعتراف، والمتمسك بالمقاومة. وأي تراجع، ولو ضمني، عن هذه الثوابت قد يؤدي الي تشرذم الحركة وتراجع شعبيتها في الشارع الفلسطيني، وهو ما يحاول قادة الحركة تجنبه بكل الطرق والوسائل.
السيد عباس يعيش مأزقا صعباً وغير مسبوق، لانه يدرك جيدا ان استمرار الوضع الحالي، حيث الفوضي الامنية، وتفاقم حالة الجوع بسبب تأخر الرواتب، وما يترتب علي ذلك من شلل شامل في مؤسسات السلطة واجهزتها، لا يمكن، بل ولا يجب ان يستمر، وان عليه اتخاذ قرار حاسم حاول طويلاً ان يتجنبه وهو حل الحكومة الحالية، واستبدالها بحكومة طواريء، والدعوة لانتخابات عامة في غضون عام او اقل.
جميع الخيارات المتاحة حاليا امام السيد عباس والتي يدفع مساعدوه من المستوزرين للتعجيل باتخاذ احدها، ستؤدي حتماً الي الصدام مع حركة حماس واتساع فجوة القطيعة معها، مما قد يفجر مواجهات دموية، ومسلسلا من الاغتيالات يطال الجميع، لان المخابرات الاسرائيلية ستدخل علي الخط وتبدأ في اغتيال واحد من هنا وآخر من هناك، حتي تتسع الدائرة وتأكل نيران الحقد والانتقام الجميع.
فعندما التقي السيد خليل الوزير (ابو جهاد) غريمه صبري البنا (ابو نضال) في الجزائر علي هامش لقاء مصالحة رتبته الحكومة الجزائرية عام 1987، سأل المرحوم ابو جهاد المرحوم الاخر ابو نضال عن الاسباب التي دفعته لاغتيال 18 شخصا من خيرة ممثلي منظمة التحرير في اوروبا والوطن العربي، فاعترف بانه لم يقتل الا اربعة فقط، وهناك اصاب الذهول المرحوم ابو جهاد وسأل اذن من الذي اغتال الباقين؟
من أقدم علي اغتيال الباقين هي المخابرات الاسرائيلية التي استغلت حالة الاحتراب الفلسطيني لتدخل علي الخط، وتصفي مجموعة من المناضلين الفلسطينيين والعرب، وتحمل مسؤوليتها لتنظيم ابو نضال ، ولن يكون مستبعدا ان تكون في حال تأهب لتكرار الجرائم نفسها في حال اشتعال نار الحرب الاهلية بين فتح و حماس نتيجة فشل الحوار بين الجانبين.
حركة حماس درست جميع الخيارات جيداً، واتخذت قراراً فيما يبدو بالتمسك بالحكومة حتي اللحظة الاخيرة، ورفض كل الضغوط لدفعها الي الاستقالة، اي استقالة الحكومة، مهما بلغت ضراوتها، حتي لا تسهل مهمة السيد عباس، وحتي تدفعه للإقدام علي اقالتها بنفسه، فقد صمدت امام المظاهرات والاضرابات، مثلما صمدت امام حالات العزل العربية والدولية، والضغوط من قبل الجيران في مصر والاردن، وكان السيد هنية في ذروة الوضوح عندما قال انه لم يتلق اي دعوة من اي حكومة عربية لزيارتها باستثناء دعوة يتيمة من دولة قطر.
استراتيجية حماس في الصمود نجحت فيما يبدو، وصدرت الأزمة الي رئيس السلطة، وباتت تنتظر خطوته الانقلابية المقبلة، والاستعداد في الوقت نفسه لمواجهة كل الاحتمالات، بما في ذلك المواجهة المسلحة، والاعلان عن وجود فرع لتنظيم القاعدة في قطاع غزة من خلال شريط فيديو اعترف بالمسؤولية عن اغتيال اثنين من قيادات الاجهزة الامنية الاول هو محمد التايه والثاني طارق ابو رجب الذي نجا بأعجوبة، ربما يؤشر لعناوين المرحلة المقبلة.
هناك خياران مرجحان امام السيد عباس حسب نص صلاحياته الدستورية التي يروج لها مساعدوه:
الاول: حل حكومة حماس الحالية، وتشكيل حكومة طواريء برئاسة شخصية مستقلة، تضم مجموعة من التكنوقراط، وقد مهد اجتماع لشخصيات فلسطينية لهذه الخطوة ضم قيادات في الكتل البرلمانية والفصائل الاخري، الي جانب نواب من فتح وقاطعته حماس، خرج ببيان يطالب بتشكيل حكومة الطواريء هذه للخروج من المأزق الحالي.
الثاني: الدعوة الي انتخابات عامة لانتخاب مجلس تشريعي جديد، وربما رئيس جديد للسلطة، وقد لمح الرئيس حسني مبارك الي هذه الخطوة في حديث ادلي به الي صحيفة الاسبوع المصرية.
الأمر المؤكد ان حركة حماس لن تقبل بالخيار الاول، وستترجم رفضها هذا علي الارض من خلال تصعيد للعمليات الاستشهادية والقصف الصاروخي، وحشد كل ما لديها من نواب في المجلس التشريعي لم تعتقلهم السلطات الاسرائيلية بعد، لحجب الثقة عن هذه الحكومة. اما بالنسبة الي الخيار الثاني اي الدعوة الي انتخابات عامة، فإن من المرجح ان تقاطع حماس هذه الانتخابات تماماً مثلما قاطعت الانتخابات الاولي عام 1995، إذ ما فائدة خوض انتخابات لا تسمح لها بتشكيل حكومة اذا فازت فيها، وحصلت علي غالبية المقاعد في المجلس التشريعي مثلما هو الحال الآن.
جميع خيارات الرئيس عباس ستصب في هاوية الحرب الاهلية، والشيء نفسه يقال ايضاً عن الخيارات المضادة لحركة حماس ولكن تظل مسؤولية الرئيس عباس اكبر بكثير لانه رأس السلطة، وهو الذي قد يشعل فتيل هذه الحرب باتخاذه قرار حل الحكومة المنتخبة شعبياً رضوخاً للضغوط الامريكية والغربية.
المخرج الوحيد والمشرف من هذه الأزمة الذي سيجنب الشعب الفلسطيني المزيد من اراقة الدماء، هو ان يستأنف السيد عباس حواره مجدداً مع حركة حماس وقياداتها في الداخل والخارج، ليس من اجل تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية، فهذه مهمة باتت شبه مستحيلة، وانما للاتفاق علي حل السلطة الفلسطينية، واعلان المناطق الفلسطينية اراضي محتلة، وتحميل مسؤولية ادارتها للسلطات الاسرائيلية، تماماً مثلما كان عليه الحال قبل اتفاقات اوسلو.
اذا فعل السيد عباس ذلك فانه سينعم بتعاقد مريح، وقضاء وقت ممتع مع احفاده، وسيغفر له الشعب الفلسطيني ذنوبه الكثيرة، وابرزها هندسة اتفاقات اوسلو، اما اذا لم يفعل، واستمر في الوقوع في حفرة مستشاريه، فانه سيجر الشعب الفلسطيني بأسره الي كارثة دموية لم يسبق لها مثيل، سيرقص لها طرباً اولمرت ونتنياهو وربما شارون في غيبوبته.
Olmert wooing hard-line fascists to government
Analysis by Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
"Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been holding talks with the extremist right-wing Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman in an apparent effort to get him to join the government, substantially weakened by the recent war with Hizbullah. Lieberman, a former cabinet minister and ally of former Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, is the head of the Yisrael Beitenu ( Israel is our home) party , considered one of the most openly fascist political parties in Israel .
In recent weeks, it was widely rumored that Olmert might ask Lieberman to assume the portfolio of defense in case the Labor Party, headed by the current Defense Minister Amir Peretz, decided to quit the government. Ha’aretz, quoting sources close to Kadima party (Olmert’s party) described Lieberman as an “attractive coalition partner” who is interested in joining the government.
The possible inclusion of Lieberman’s party to the government indicates that Olmert is determined to keep up the present slow-motion genocide against the Palestinians as well as creating more “facts” in the West Bank by building more and more Jewish-only settlements in the territories occupied in 1967.
Lieberman has a long record of adopting fascist, even Nazi-like, attitudes and positions vis-à-vis the Palestinians and other Arab and Muslim nations in the region.
While minister in the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon in 2002, he proposed carpet bombing for Palestinian streets, malls, banks and other public facilities in order to force as many people as possible to flee their homeland.
He also advocated the bombing of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt and Tehran . In recent weeks, he urged Israel to bombs Iran with nuclear weapons if necessary.
His party’s platform calls for the expulsion and disenfranchising of Palestinians, both from Israel and the occupied territories of 1967.
Indeed, if Lieberman should become Defense Minister as he has been demanding, especially in the aftermath of the war with Hizbullah, wholesale massacres of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank wouldn’t be a far-fetched possibility.
In this case, Shaul Mofaz and Amir Pertez, both of whom can be considered war criminals for their direct involvement in the murder of thousands of innocent Lebanese and Palestinians as well as the utter destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon, would look like scout boys in comparison to what Lieberman is capable of doing.
Lieberman could also embark on a real military adventure against Iran with or without American consent. "
War Crimes Report Shows US Violations of International Law
Demands Prosecution of US Military and Civilian Leaders
The violence of the Iraq War, the chaos that has come to Iraq, can be traced directly to the illegality of the invasion and occupation of that country and the illegality of the tactics and weapons being used to maintain the occupation. U.S. War Crimes in Iraq and Mechanisms for Accountability documents these violations and calls on us all to demand investigation and prosecution of violations of international law by military and civilian leaders.
10/10/06 Click here to read the report in full [pdf]
The report was prepared by Consumers for Peace.org with the advice of Karen Parker, noted lawyer in human rights and humanitarian law. Ms. Parker is President of the San-Francisco-based Association of Humanitarian Lawyers (www.humanlaw.org) and Chief Delegate to the United Nations for the Los Angeles-based International Educational Development/Humanitarian Law Project (IED/AHL), an accredited non-governmental organization on the U.N. Secretary-General?s list.
Dahr Jamail, noted independent journalist who spent more than eight months reporting from occupied Iraq, writes the following about the report:
I cannot endorse strongly enough this report prepared by Karen Parker regarding U.S. war crimes in Iraq. Having witnessed much of what is so well documented in this report, it is a clear and encompassing indictment of the Bush Administration for the war crimes they are directly responsible for in Iraq. Until evidence such as this begins to see the light of day in a court of law and the perpetrators brought to justice, the world remains unsafe and unstable from an administration determined to rule the world. After witnessing what they are capable of in Iraq, I have no doubt these people will not stop in their quest for world domination.? Instead, they must be stopped. And the only way to do that is bring the guilty to justice. This document will help achieve that goal. Click here to read the report in full [pdf]
Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, three-time nominee for the Noble Peace Prize, who has visited Iraq 28 times in the last 15 years, writes of the report:
After spending four days in the fortified and secure Green Zone, in Iraq, during September 06, former Secretary of State James Baker III assured that the investigative panel he led had not spent any time wringing our hands over what mistakes might or might not have been created in the past. (NYT, September 20, 2006). The Consumers for Peace report on war crimes committed in Iraq helps us understand our responsibility not to wring our hands but rather to demand accountability from elected representatives by delivering this report to them and to local media. How many people killed? How many families torn apart? How many homes destroyed? How many livelihoods gone? How many lives ruined? How many cities sacrificed? We bear responsibility to end the war in Iraq, insist on just reparations for suffering caused, and promote careful, legal scrutiny of the crimes committed. This report beckons all who read it to stop collaborating with illegal, immoral warmongers who recklessly afflict Iraq. Click here to read the report in full [pdf]
Neil MacKay, multi-award winning Home Affairs and Investigations Editor of the Sunday Herald (Scotland), writes:
"What has happened in Iraq is a great sin and a great crime. The invasion and occupation have stained the concepts of democracy, freedom and liberty; and disgraced the good name of the people of both the United States of America and Great Britain. As a journalist who has investigated the roots of this war, and the on-going horror of what is happening in Iraq, I fully commend this report to readers. It is an important reminder of the blood which is on the hands of our leaders, and the shame that the governments of the UK and the USA have brought to the British and American people by perpetrating a criminal war in our name." Click here to read the report in full [pdf]
Click here to read the report in full
The report is being published on the internet by:
Consumers for Peace
http://www.consumersforpeace.org
Association of Humanitarian Lawyers
http://www.humanlaw.org
Traprock Peace Center
http://www.traprockpeace.org
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
http://www.vcnv.org
Uruknet
http://www.uruknet.info
Information Clearing House
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info
Meanwhile in Iraq
Iraq: At least 71 killed in ongoing bloody U.S. occupation: A total of 60 bodies were found across Baghdad in the past 24 hours, an Interior Ministry source said. All of the bodies had gunshot wounds with some showing signs of torture.
US-led forces say kill 11 in occupied Iraqi Shi'ite city: U.S. and Iraqi troops killed 11 militants, many dressed as Iraqi policeman, in clashes around a mosque in the flashpoint southern Shi'ite city of Diwaniya on Monday night, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
Baghdad market blast kills nine, wounds 27: A car bomb blast in a busy market killed nine people and wounded 27 in a mixed area of occupied Baghdad, security and medical sources said, amid ongoing sectarian violence.
Dahr Jamail: An Unknown City Erupts: The little known city of Baquba is emerging as one of the hotbeds of resistance in Iraq, with clashes breaking out every day.
Iraqi plan to curb sectarian killings moves ahead: In a first step, officials said Tuesday that all security checkpoints in occupied Baghdad would soon be manned by an equal number of Shiite and Sunni Arab troops to ensure the security forces do not allow sectarian attacks.
Iraq's Dark Day of Reckoning: The Iraqi government has failed. It is also time to face the terrible reality that America's mission in Iraq has substantially failed.
Iraq: Divide and Rule, 'Ethnic Cleansing Works': Polls by the State Department and independent researchers show that Iraqis favor an immediate U.S. pullout, meanwhile, an "independent commission", according to the Sunday Times, "may recommend carving up Iraq into three highly autonomous regions".
More Americans Want Immediate Iraq Withdrawal: 30 per cent of respondents believe the U.S. military should stay the course, while 26 per cent suggest a gradual withdrawal of soldiers.
Britons face trial for leaking Bush-Blair bomb memo; Two former British officials accused of leaking details of a memo reported to include references to President George W. Bush discussing bombing Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera will face trial in April, a judge said Monday.
Meanwhile in Palestine
Academic to quit post in anger over Israel: Professor Reinhart, who will give a public lecture at the University of Melbourne tomorrow night, said Israel's walling of the large and prosperous West Bank was cutting off the Palestinian people from their lands and each other. She said she could no longer live in Israel while it did what she said was the first attempt in history to imprison a nation with a wall that cut off villages from their farmland.
Text of ‘Status of Jerusalem’ statement from Catholic, Christian Holy Land leaders: A new and concerted effort to reach a definitive agreement that respects and assures the special status of Jerusalem as an “open city” and that rejects unilateral decisions and imposed solutions is needed to secure “a total definitive and just peace,” said a Catholic patriarch and other Catholic and Christian religious leaders representing faith communities here. Decrying the erection of walls that deny access to “many of our faithful … from the precincts of the holy city”
Jewish and Palestinian organisations defy EU secrecy: Pierre Galand, Senator in the Belgian Parliament and Chair of the European Co-ordinating Committee on Palestine (ECCP) said: “European diplomats had the courage to stress the alarming situation in East Jerusalem. In order to force the EU member states to respect their own commitment to International Law and Human Rights, we will publish the report on East Jerusalem on our websites, despite the EU refusal to do so.”
French embassy cancels N.Y. book launch over author's Israel views: The French Embassy on Monday canceled a New York party for a book about Vichy France's collaboration with Nazi Germany because of the author's postscript that says Israel has oppressed Palestinians.
Israel willfully kills two civilians at Nablus checkpoints: Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) positioned at military checkpoints in Nablus killed two Palestinian civilians in less than 24 hours in two separate crimes. These latest crimes prove IOF's disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians. PCHR condemns these crimes and asserts that the failure of the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 to hold Israel accountable for crimes committed against Palestinian civilians serves to encourage IOF to commit more of such crimes.
Evangelicals invest $40m. in aliya: A Jerusalem-based Evangelical Christian organization announced Tuesday that it had assisted 100,000 Jewish immigrants to move to Israel over the last decade and a half. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem said that it had invested $40 million in the immigration project, which has focused on Jews from the former Soviet Union, since its inception in 1989.
Israeli troops enter West Bank political capital: Around 30 military jeeps drove into the centre of the city and took up position around several houses in Ramallah where shooting rang out from both Israelis and Palestinians, an AFP correspondent said.
Prisoners' association shut down in Israel and West Bank: The Observatory has been informed by several reliable sources, including the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), the Law in the Service of Mankind (Al-Haq), Defense for Children International - Palestine Section (DCI-PS), and the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), about the closing down of the offices of the organisation "Ansar Al-Sajeen" (Prisoners Friends' Association) in Israel and in the West Bank.
Gaza - ICRC Bulletin No. 10 / 2006: In the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued attacks against militants and destruction of houses and workshops allegedly storing or manufacturing weapons. There were also brief incursions into a number of other areas.
Egypt: Internal feud in PA ruining chance for peace: "Those leaders and the Palestinian people will find out that they are losing a chance and a mobility that should have taken place and we lost it," he said. "The Palestinian prime minister rejects this initiative; then why doesn't he search for another one?" Abul Gheit said, according to the interview.
Qatar submits new proposal for settling Hamas-Fatah differences: The chair of Fatah's parliamentary faction, Azzam al-Ahmed, emphasized to Haaretz yesterday that Abbas is committed to the six-point document that was agreed upon with Qatar. "Abbas declared that a week ago, and he does not intend to change his position," Ahmed said. "We are waiting for an answer from Hamas."
Hamas: Ready to negotiate based on Qatari plan: The spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, told reporters that Hamas is not prepared to renounce violence or recognize Israel as demanded by the international community. However, he said the group is ready to continue negotiations based on the Qatari plan and hopes to hold a meeting with PA President, Mahmoud Abbas, this week.
Banks required to report PA transactions: Banks and credit companies will be required to report the transfer of any sums reaching over NIS 5,000 (USD 1,800) to and from residents and businesses in the Gaza Strip. The banks are also required to halt any transaction made by "suspicious" parties (in accordance with information provided by the Shin Bet and international officials).
Dor-Alon resumes fuel supply to PA: So far, the PA has amassed a debt of NIS 350 million (roughly USD 82 million), and Dor-Alon has refused to ease the terms of the contract. In response, the PA announced they will terminate the contract with Dor-Alon starting January 1, 2007. Dor-Alon immediately stopped supplying the fuel to the PA, which in turn began buying fuel from Paz.
Through the gate and over the wall: The most impressive examples of discriminatory urban development, however, are in Israel. The West Bank is dotted with walled Jewish settlements, with surveillance cameras forming a second, immaterial wall. When complete it will stretch for more than 700km. Its presence hinders peace, disrupts the local economy, divides fields, villages and neighbourhoods, and prevents the flow of Palestinian workers into Israel and between localities. It obstructs social life as well.
When migrants look like terrorists: The four people killed recently along the Israel-Egypt border appear to have little in common: two Egyptian policemen, a Bedouin drug smuggler and a Sudanese refugee. However, the circumstances of their deaths share a very obvious factor: They are the direct result of the Israel Defense Forces' new border policy.
Olmert's true colors: He embroiled Israel in a superfluous and failed war, and this week threatened to join up with the most Kahanist politician active in Israel since the death of Rehavam Ze'evi. What is happening to us, to our Ehud Olmert? Nothing. Olmert is coming back to himself. A year and a half ago, it seemed that he stood behind Ariel Sharon's decision to dismantle the settlements in the Gaza Strip. Olmert grew up, they said then.
Say yes to Syria: The convergence plan - the sole reason for his victory in the in the elections - has been defined by Olmert as irrelevant. The evacuation of the illegal outposts has been postponed indefinitely. And, if this were not enough, he became a staunch peace refuser when he rejected entirely all of Syrian President Bashar Assad's attempts to open negotiations on peace in return for the Golan Heights.
It was us who 'told you so': "The holding of 3.5 million Palestinians…," in Sharon's words, is the suicide of Israel as a Jewish state. "Holding them under occupation" and a regime of separation is the suicide of Israel as a democratic state. The phenomenon of illegal outposts and attacks on Palestinians by some settlers – attacks that could not be stopped even by the attorney general's calls, Supreme Court rulings, and government decisions – those mark Israel's suicide as state ruled by law and order.
Carlos Santana to perform in Jerusalem: Yediot Aharonot reported over the weekend that the 10-time Grammy winner is scheduled to perform in Jerusalem next spring as part of Bridges of Music, an international project created to advance peace and understanding in conflict zones around the world. Previous Bridges of Music concerts have taken place in Indonesia, Cuba and Ireland.
Dayan mulled Golan withdrawal, Yom Kippur War journal reveals: Upon visiting both fronts, Dayan suggested a major withdrawal. Although the story about the southern front has been widely reported, Dayan's suggestion that Israel consider abandoning the Golan Heights due to Syrian military pressure was not made known. Later on, when reservists reached the northern front, Dayan recovered and spoke about the Golan Heights in altogether different terms.
Text of ‘Status of Jerusalem’ statement from Catholic, Christian Holy Land leaders: A new and concerted effort to reach a definitive agreement that respects and assures the special status of Jerusalem as an “open city” and that rejects unilateral decisions and imposed solutions is needed to secure “a total definitive and just peace,” said a Catholic patriarch and other Catholic and Christian religious leaders representing faith communities here. Decrying the erection of walls that deny access to “many of our faithful … from the precincts of the holy city”
Jewish and Palestinian organisations defy EU secrecy: Pierre Galand, Senator in the Belgian Parliament and Chair of the European Co-ordinating Committee on Palestine (ECCP) said: “European diplomats had the courage to stress the alarming situation in East Jerusalem. In order to force the EU member states to respect their own commitment to International Law and Human Rights, we will publish the report on East Jerusalem on our websites, despite the EU refusal to do so.”
French embassy cancels N.Y. book launch over author's Israel views: The French Embassy on Monday canceled a New York party for a book about Vichy France's collaboration with Nazi Germany because of the author's postscript that says Israel has oppressed Palestinians.
Israel willfully kills two civilians at Nablus checkpoints: Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) positioned at military checkpoints in Nablus killed two Palestinian civilians in less than 24 hours in two separate crimes. These latest crimes prove IOF's disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians. PCHR condemns these crimes and asserts that the failure of the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949 to hold Israel accountable for crimes committed against Palestinian civilians serves to encourage IOF to commit more of such crimes.
Evangelicals invest $40m. in aliya: A Jerusalem-based Evangelical Christian organization announced Tuesday that it had assisted 100,000 Jewish immigrants to move to Israel over the last decade and a half. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem said that it had invested $40 million in the immigration project, which has focused on Jews from the former Soviet Union, since its inception in 1989.
Israeli troops enter West Bank political capital: Around 30 military jeeps drove into the centre of the city and took up position around several houses in Ramallah where shooting rang out from both Israelis and Palestinians, an AFP correspondent said.
Prisoners' association shut down in Israel and West Bank: The Observatory has been informed by several reliable sources, including the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), the Law in the Service of Mankind (Al-Haq), Defense for Children International - Palestine Section (DCI-PS), and the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), about the closing down of the offices of the organisation "Ansar Al-Sajeen" (Prisoners Friends' Association) in Israel and in the West Bank.
Gaza - ICRC Bulletin No. 10 / 2006: In the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued attacks against militants and destruction of houses and workshops allegedly storing or manufacturing weapons. There were also brief incursions into a number of other areas.
Egypt: Internal feud in PA ruining chance for peace: "Those leaders and the Palestinian people will find out that they are losing a chance and a mobility that should have taken place and we lost it," he said. "The Palestinian prime minister rejects this initiative; then why doesn't he search for another one?" Abul Gheit said, according to the interview.
Qatar submits new proposal for settling Hamas-Fatah differences: The chair of Fatah's parliamentary faction, Azzam al-Ahmed, emphasized to Haaretz yesterday that Abbas is committed to the six-point document that was agreed upon with Qatar. "Abbas declared that a week ago, and he does not intend to change his position," Ahmed said. "We are waiting for an answer from Hamas."
Hamas: Ready to negotiate based on Qatari plan: The spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, told reporters that Hamas is not prepared to renounce violence or recognize Israel as demanded by the international community. However, he said the group is ready to continue negotiations based on the Qatari plan and hopes to hold a meeting with PA President, Mahmoud Abbas, this week.
Banks required to report PA transactions: Banks and credit companies will be required to report the transfer of any sums reaching over NIS 5,000 (USD 1,800) to and from residents and businesses in the Gaza Strip. The banks are also required to halt any transaction made by "suspicious" parties (in accordance with information provided by the Shin Bet and international officials).
Dor-Alon resumes fuel supply to PA: So far, the PA has amassed a debt of NIS 350 million (roughly USD 82 million), and Dor-Alon has refused to ease the terms of the contract. In response, the PA announced they will terminate the contract with Dor-Alon starting January 1, 2007. Dor-Alon immediately stopped supplying the fuel to the PA, which in turn began buying fuel from Paz.
Through the gate and over the wall: The most impressive examples of discriminatory urban development, however, are in Israel. The West Bank is dotted with walled Jewish settlements, with surveillance cameras forming a second, immaterial wall. When complete it will stretch for more than 700km. Its presence hinders peace, disrupts the local economy, divides fields, villages and neighbourhoods, and prevents the flow of Palestinian workers into Israel and between localities. It obstructs social life as well.
When migrants look like terrorists: The four people killed recently along the Israel-Egypt border appear to have little in common: two Egyptian policemen, a Bedouin drug smuggler and a Sudanese refugee. However, the circumstances of their deaths share a very obvious factor: They are the direct result of the Israel Defense Forces' new border policy.
Olmert's true colors: He embroiled Israel in a superfluous and failed war, and this week threatened to join up with the most Kahanist politician active in Israel since the death of Rehavam Ze'evi. What is happening to us, to our Ehud Olmert? Nothing. Olmert is coming back to himself. A year and a half ago, it seemed that he stood behind Ariel Sharon's decision to dismantle the settlements in the Gaza Strip. Olmert grew up, they said then.
Say yes to Syria: The convergence plan - the sole reason for his victory in the in the elections - has been defined by Olmert as irrelevant. The evacuation of the illegal outposts has been postponed indefinitely. And, if this were not enough, he became a staunch peace refuser when he rejected entirely all of Syrian President Bashar Assad's attempts to open negotiations on peace in return for the Golan Heights.
It was us who 'told you so': "The holding of 3.5 million Palestinians…," in Sharon's words, is the suicide of Israel as a Jewish state. "Holding them under occupation" and a regime of separation is the suicide of Israel as a democratic state. The phenomenon of illegal outposts and attacks on Palestinians by some settlers – attacks that could not be stopped even by the attorney general's calls, Supreme Court rulings, and government decisions – those mark Israel's suicide as state ruled by law and order.
Carlos Santana to perform in Jerusalem: Yediot Aharonot reported over the weekend that the 10-time Grammy winner is scheduled to perform in Jerusalem next spring as part of Bridges of Music, an international project created to advance peace and understanding in conflict zones around the world. Previous Bridges of Music concerts have taken place in Indonesia, Cuba and Ireland.
Dayan mulled Golan withdrawal, Yom Kippur War journal reveals: Upon visiting both fronts, Dayan suggested a major withdrawal. Although the story about the southern front has been widely reported, Dayan's suggestion that Israel consider abandoning the Golan Heights due to Syrian military pressure was not made known. Later on, when reservists reached the northern front, Dayan recovered and spoke about the Golan Heights in altogether different terms.
Does Bush Think War with Iran Is Preordained?
The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it.
War with Iran -- a war that would unleash an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle East -- is probable by the end of the Bush administration. It could begin in as little as three weeks. This administration, claiming to be anointed by a Christian God to reshape the world, and especially the Middle East, defined three states at the start of its reign as "the Axis of Evil." They were Iraq, now occupied; North Korea, which, because it has nuclear weapons, is untouchable; and Iran. Those who do not take this apocalyptic rhetoric seriously have ignored the twisted pathology of men like Elliott Abrams, who helped orchestrate the disastrous and illegal contra war in Nicaragua, and who now handles the Middle East for the National Security Council. He knew nothing about Central America. He knows nothing about the Middle East. He sees the world through the childish, binary lens of good and evil, us and them, the forces of darkness and the forces of light. And it is this strange, twilight mentality that now grips most of the civilian planners who are barreling us towards a crisis of epic proportions.
These men advocate a doctrine of permanent war, a doctrine which, as William R. Polk points out, is a slight corruption of Leon Trotsky's doctrine of permanent revolution. These two revolutionary doctrines serve the same function, to intimidate and destroy all those classified as foreign opponents, to create permanent instability and fear and to silence domestic critics who challenge leaders in a time of national crisis. It works. The citizens of the United States, slowly being stripped of their civil liberties, are being herded sheep-like, once again, over a cliff.
But this war will be different. It will be catastrophic. It will usher in the apocalyptic nightmares spun out in the dark, fantastic visions of the Christian right. And there are those around the president who see this vision as preordained by God; indeed, the president himself may hold such a vision.
The hypocrisy of this vaunted moral crusade is not lost on those in the Middle East. Iran actually signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has violated a codicil of that treaty written by European foreign ministers, but this codicil was never ratified by the Iranian parliament. I do not dispute Iran's intentions to acquire nuclear weapons nor do I minimize the danger should it acquire them in the estimated five to 10 years. But contrast Iran with Pakistan, India and Israel. These three countries refused to sign the treaty and developed nuclear weapons programs in secret. Israel now has an estimated 400 to 600 nuclear weapons. The word "Dimona," the name of the city where the nuclear facilities are located in Israel, is shorthand in the Muslim world for the deadly Israeli threat to Muslims' existence. What lessons did the Iranians learn from our Israeli, Pakistani and Indian allies?
Given that we are actively engaged in an effort to destabilize the Iranian regime by recruiting tribal groups and ethnic minorities inside Iran to rebel, given that we use apocalyptic rhetoric to describe what must be done to the Iranian regime, given that other countries in the Middle East such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia are making noises about developing a nuclear capacity, and given that, with the touch of a button Israel could obliterate Iran, what do we expect from the Iranians? On top of this, the Iranian regime grasps that the doctrine of permanent war entails making "preemptive" and unprovoked strikes.
Those in Washington who advocate this war, knowing as little about the limitations and chaos of war as they do about the Middle East, believe they can hit about 1,000 sites inside Iran to wipe out nuclear production and cripple the 850,000-man Iranian army. The disaster in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli air campaign not only failed to break Hezbollah but united most Lebanese behind the militant group, is dismissed. These ideologues, after all, do not live in a reality-based universe. The massive Israeli bombing of Lebanon failed to pacify 4 million Lebanese. What will happen when we begin to pound a country of 70 million people? As retired General Wesley K. Clark and others have pointed out, once you begin an air campaign it is only a matter of time before you have to put troops on the ground or accept defeat, as the Israelis had to do in Lebanon. And if we begin dropping bunker busters, cruise missiles and iron fragmentation bombs on Iran this is the choice that must be faced -- either sending American forces into Iran to fight a protracted and futile guerrilla war or walking away in humiliation.
"As a people we are enormously forgetful," Dr. Polk, one of the country's leading scholars on the Middle East, told an Oct. 13 gathering of the Foreign Policy Association in New York. "We should have learned from history that foreign powers can't win guerrilla wars. The British learned this from our ancestors in the American Revolution and re-learned it in Ireland. Napoleon learned it in Spain. The Germans learned it in Yugoslavia. We should have learned it in Vietnam and the Russians learned it in Afghanistan and are learning it all over again in Chechnya and we are learning it, of course, in Iraq. Guerrilla wars are almost unwinnable. As a people we are also very vain. Our way of life is the only way. We should have learned that the rich and powerful can't always succeed against the poor and less powerful."
An attack on Iran will ignite the Middle East. The loss of Iranian oil, coupled with Silkworm missile attacks by Iran on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, could send oil soaring to well over $110 a barrel. The effect on the domestic and world economy will be devastating, very possibly triggering a huge, global depression. The 2 million Shiites in Saudi Arabia, the Shiite majority in Iraq and the Shiite communities in Bahrain, Pakistan and Turkey will turn in rage on us and our dwindling allies. We will see a combination of increased terrorist attacks, including on American soil, and the widespread sabotage of oil production in the Gulf. Iraq, as bad as it looks now, will become a death pit for American troops as Shiites and Sunnis, for the first time, unite against their foreign occupiers.
The country, however, that will pay the biggest price will be Israel. And the sad irony is that those planning this war think of themselves as allies of the Jewish state. A conflagration of this magnitude could see Israel drawn back in Lebanon and sucked into a regional war, one that would over time spell the final chapter in the Zionist experiment in the Middle East. The Israelis aptly call their nuclear program "the Samson option." The Biblical Samson ripped down the pillars of the temple and killed everyone around him, along with himself.
DIALOGUE WITH AMERICA
BOYCOTTING ISRAELI APARTHEID
"Over 600 people attended the landmark conference, Boycotting Israeli Apartheid: The Struggle Continues, held from 6-8 October in Toronto, Canada. The conference represents a watershed moment in the Palestinian solidarity movement, with leading anti-apartheid activists from Palestine, South Africa, Canada and England addressing the way forward in the global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
Jamal Juma', coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign in Palestine, said on opening night that the burgeoning boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement represents a powerful and practical act of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. He emphasized that this movement would succeed as it had in South Africa, "We promise you we will not give up. We will stand firm on our land; Israeli apartheid will fall."
Salim Vally, chair of the Palestine Solidarity Committee in South Africa, gave a powerful analysis of Israeli apartheid and its resemblance to the South African situation. He stressed that the solidarity movement to isolate the South African apartheid regime was built by grassroots and popular forces organized throughout the world. That same challenge faces the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions movement today.
The conference was organized by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), a broad movement formed in response to the call by 171 Palestinian civil-society organizations in July 2005 for the international community to implement a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) strategy against apartheid Israel as the focal point of solidarity efforts with the Palestinian people.
The conference developed a detailed program to move the BDS campaign forward in different sectors. Over 75 people attended a lively session on labor and the campaign against Israeli apartheid, in which veteran anti-apartheid activists from the South African struggle presented lessons on how to build support for the campaign among workers and in trade unions. A Canada-wide student network was launched to deepen the BDS movement on campuses across the country. Individuals from different areas throughout Toronto formed neighborhood committees to carry the campaign forward at a local level. Workshops were also held on media, research, art and cultural boycott, and faith-based communities."
Bush and North Korea
Bumbling Toward Disaster
By MIKE WHITNEY
CounterPunch
"In a matter of hours, the world has become a much more dangerous place, a fact that will have no effect of the blinkered ideologues at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They've probably already moved on to the next phase of their plan to expand the Middle East catastrophe; Armageddon in Iran.
The crisis with North Korea was entirely avoidable for anyone with even minimal diplomatic skills and an elementary understanding of human psychology. Instead, the Bush troupe persisted for 6 years with the same inflexible policy nudging Kim ever-closer to producing his first nuclear weapon.
At the same time, the White House has resumed issuing statements via its sardonic press secretary, Tony Snow, that Bush "is closely monitoring the situation and reaffirms his commitment to defend our allies in the region." "Monitoring the situation"? Bush has done everything in his power to facilitate the North Korean despot's quest for WMD except hand-deliver atom-bombs to the front porch of his imperial palace!
North Korea's demands go back to the original 1994 "Framework Agreement" in which Bill Clinton promised to provide food, fuel and 2 light-water reactors in exchange for North Korea's abandoning its nuclear weapons programs. The North agreed to these terms, but the United States has never honored its obligations.
When Bush took office, the agreement was jettisoned altogether and Bush pushed for sanctions. He placed North Korea on the "Axis of Evil" list, threatened regime change, and publicly announced that he "loathed" Kim Jung Il. All of this fueled the confrontation and thrust the wary Kim towards developing a viable nuclear deterrent to US aggression. Kim had no intention of being the next victim of Bush's preemptive policy.
What will Bush do now? Will he bomb the North and potentially open another front on the Korean Peninsula for our already over-extended military? Or will he simply continue with the fiery rhetoric and the chest-thumping bluster? His track-record is far from reassuring.
How could Bush let the situation get so out-of-hand? After all, the central tenet of the war on terror is: "We will not let the world's most dangerous weapons fall into the hands of the world's worst dictators"? Instead, they have elevated an unstable megalomaniac into a nuclear-armed menace. It could turn out to be the greatest foreign policy meltdown in American history.
Third, (and most important) Bush should offer firm assurances in the form of a treaty that North Korea WILL NOT BE ATTACKED BY THE UNITED STATES IF IT ABANDONS ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMS. This has been the North's primary demand from the very onset of the crisis."
By MIKE WHITNEY
CounterPunch
"In a matter of hours, the world has become a much more dangerous place, a fact that will have no effect of the blinkered ideologues at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They've probably already moved on to the next phase of their plan to expand the Middle East catastrophe; Armageddon in Iran.
The crisis with North Korea was entirely avoidable for anyone with even minimal diplomatic skills and an elementary understanding of human psychology. Instead, the Bush troupe persisted for 6 years with the same inflexible policy nudging Kim ever-closer to producing his first nuclear weapon.
At the same time, the White House has resumed issuing statements via its sardonic press secretary, Tony Snow, that Bush "is closely monitoring the situation and reaffirms his commitment to defend our allies in the region." "Monitoring the situation"? Bush has done everything in his power to facilitate the North Korean despot's quest for WMD except hand-deliver atom-bombs to the front porch of his imperial palace!
North Korea's demands go back to the original 1994 "Framework Agreement" in which Bill Clinton promised to provide food, fuel and 2 light-water reactors in exchange for North Korea's abandoning its nuclear weapons programs. The North agreed to these terms, but the United States has never honored its obligations.
When Bush took office, the agreement was jettisoned altogether and Bush pushed for sanctions. He placed North Korea on the "Axis of Evil" list, threatened regime change, and publicly announced that he "loathed" Kim Jung Il. All of this fueled the confrontation and thrust the wary Kim towards developing a viable nuclear deterrent to US aggression. Kim had no intention of being the next victim of Bush's preemptive policy.
What will Bush do now? Will he bomb the North and potentially open another front on the Korean Peninsula for our already over-extended military? Or will he simply continue with the fiery rhetoric and the chest-thumping bluster? His track-record is far from reassuring.
How could Bush let the situation get so out-of-hand? After all, the central tenet of the war on terror is: "We will not let the world's most dangerous weapons fall into the hands of the world's worst dictators"? Instead, they have elevated an unstable megalomaniac into a nuclear-armed menace. It could turn out to be the greatest foreign policy meltdown in American history.
Third, (and most important) Bush should offer firm assurances in the form of a treaty that North Korea WILL NOT BE ATTACKED BY THE UNITED STATES IF IT ABANDONS ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMS. This has been the North's primary demand from the very onset of the crisis."
LATEST CARTOON BY BRAZILIAN CARTOONIST CARLOS LATUFF
Pyongyang's 60-year obsession
A very good article giving a detailed background of the N. Korean nuclear bomb.
Thanks to Steven Rix for posting it first.
By Bertil Lintner
Asia Times
"North Korea's "Great Leader", Kim Il-sung, was obsessed with nuclear weapons even before the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed on September 9, 1948. At the end of World War II, thousands of Korean workers were repatriated from Japan, and ended up in the northern, then Soviet-occupied, part of the Korean peninsula. Many of them had been working in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and had been there when American nuclear bombs fell on those cities in August 1945. They brought with them stories of the ultimate "doomsday" weapon, which the Americans possessed, and had used with such devastating outcomes.
The fear of nuclear weapons grew even stronger during the Korean War, when the United States contemplated launching nuclear strikes against the North. On December 9, 1950, the commander of the US forces, General Douglas MacArthur, even submitted a list of targets for twenty-six atomic bombs to halt the advance of the North Korean army and its Chinese allies.
In more recent years, there is also another, more acute reason why North Korea believes it must be armed with nuclear weapons: the fear of becoming the next Iraq. In the October 3 statement announcing the plan to test a nuclear bomb, the North Korean foreign ministry declared: "A people without a reliable war deterrent are bound to meet a tragic death and the sovereignty of their country is bound to be wantonly infringed upon. This is a bitter lesson taught by the bloodshed resulting from the law of the jungle in different parts of the world." On January 29, 2002, US President George W Bush lumped Iraq, Iran and North Korea in an "axis of evil" and a threat to American security. Shortly afterwards, preparations for the invasion of Iraq began as part of Bush's ongoing "war on terror"."
Failing On North Korea
By Josh Marshall
"For the US this is a strategic failure of the first order.
The origins of the failure are ones anyone familiar with the last six years in this country will readily recognize: chest-thumping followed by failure followed by cover-up and denial. The same story as Iraq. Even the same story as Foley.
President Bush came to office believing that Clinton's policy amounted to appeasement. Force and strength were the way to deal with North Korea, not a mix of force, diplomacy and aide. And with that premise, President Bush went about scuttling the 1994 agreement, using evidence that the North Koreans were pursuing uranium enrichment (another path to the bomb) as the final straw.
Remember the guiding policy of the early Bush years: Clinton did it=Bad, Bush=Not whatever Clinton did.
All diplomatic niceties aside, President Bush's idea was that the North Koreans would respond better to threats than Clinton's mix of carrots and sticks.
Then in the winter of 2002-3, as the US was preparing to invade Iraq, the North called Bush's bluff. And the president folded. Abjectly, utterly, even hilariously if the consequences weren't so grave and vast.
Threats are a potent force if you're willing to follow through on them. But he wasn't. The plutonium production plant, which had been shuttered since 1994, got unshuttered. And the bomb that exploded tonight was, if I understand this correctly, almost certainly the product of that plutonium uncorked almost four years ago.
So the President talked a good game, the North Koreans called his bluff and he folded. And since then, for all intents and purposes, and all the atmospherics to the contrary, he and his administration have done essentially nothing."
Talk to Pyongyang, not at it
By Ian Williams
Asia Times
"Last week, Bolton had said the UN was not the "alpha and omega" of such disputes. As one of the cartographers of the "axis of evil" that lumped Iraq, Iran and North Korea together, he should know. It is indeed axiomatic that virtually no one is happy about Pyongyang's test, but it is entirely legal, and one of the reasons for that is the United States' and Bolton's diehard fight against improving the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime.
North Korea finally opted out of the NPT in 2002, which it was perfectly entitled to do, but would not have been if the treaty had been strengthened, as most delegates wanted. Bolton, who does not believe in international treaties that bind the US, or for that matter Israel, frustrated any attempts to strengthen the NPT regime. The administration of US President George W Bush has been trying for years to inch toward renewed nuclear testing, regardless of the NPT agreement to reduce and run down existing nuclear-weapons stocks.
For once, Bolton's unilateralist supporters who traditionally argue that the UN should not put obstacles in the way of US diplomacy are right, at least in the cases of North Korea and Iran. This is not really the UN's business. Both regimes are trying to get the US to talk to them, and the UN, the six-party talks and similar devices are simply fig leaves to cover up the United States' refusal to engage in diplomacy. It cannot bring itself to say publicly that it has no intention of making war on them."
A splendid achievement
George Bush should be congratulated - he has surely earned the right to join the ranks of despots
Terry Jones
Tuesday October 10, 2006
The Guardian
"Dear President Bush,
I write to you in my capacity as secretary of the World League of Despots.
It is with great pleasure that I am finally able to extend an official invitation to you to join our ranks. For many years, we have watched your efforts to fulfil the requirements necessary to join our number. From the start, we were greatly impressed by your disdain for democratic principles - the way you wrested power from the democratically elected candidate in the 2000 election, and again in 2005 when you managed to swing what was clearly going to be a victory for your opponent.
Contempt for human life has always been a priority requirement for membership of the league, and I and my fellow adjudicators were well aware of your record as governor of Texas when you quadrupled the number of state executions. But your record since seizing power has surpassed even our expectations. The thousands of innocent people in Iraq, who have died so that you could fulfil your declared political objective of establishing "an American force presence in the Middle East", attest to your eligibility to join our ranks.
Now, however, all that has changed. At the end of last month you persuaded the Senate to pass a bill regarding the treatment of detainees. Illegally obtained evidence can now be used against suspects, even if it has been gathered abroad under torture. Anyone you care to accuse can be thrown into prison without the right to a trial or the right to represent themselves.
Officially the legislation is restricted to "enemy combatants", but you have skilfully adapted this definition to include anyone who has "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the US". This presumably means that anyone who publicly criticises your conduct can be defined as supporting hostilities to the US. You are now free to arrest and imprison anyone you don't like. You've got it in the bag!
It is with great pleasure that we in the World League of Despots note that you have now appropriated to yourself all the powers of arbitrary arrest and torture that Saddam once enjoyed. You are now one of us. Congratulations!"
Terry Jones
Tuesday October 10, 2006
The Guardian
"Dear President Bush,
I write to you in my capacity as secretary of the World League of Despots.
It is with great pleasure that I am finally able to extend an official invitation to you to join our ranks. For many years, we have watched your efforts to fulfil the requirements necessary to join our number. From the start, we were greatly impressed by your disdain for democratic principles - the way you wrested power from the democratically elected candidate in the 2000 election, and again in 2005 when you managed to swing what was clearly going to be a victory for your opponent.
Contempt for human life has always been a priority requirement for membership of the league, and I and my fellow adjudicators were well aware of your record as governor of Texas when you quadrupled the number of state executions. But your record since seizing power has surpassed even our expectations. The thousands of innocent people in Iraq, who have died so that you could fulfil your declared political objective of establishing "an American force presence in the Middle East", attest to your eligibility to join our ranks.
Now, however, all that has changed. At the end of last month you persuaded the Senate to pass a bill regarding the treatment of detainees. Illegally obtained evidence can now be used against suspects, even if it has been gathered abroad under torture. Anyone you care to accuse can be thrown into prison without the right to a trial or the right to represent themselves.
Officially the legislation is restricted to "enemy combatants", but you have skilfully adapted this definition to include anyone who has "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the US". This presumably means that anyone who publicly criticises your conduct can be defined as supporting hostilities to the US. You are now free to arrest and imprison anyone you don't like. You've got it in the bag!
It is with great pleasure that we in the World League of Despots note that you have now appropriated to yourself all the powers of arbitrary arrest and torture that Saddam once enjoyed. You are now one of us. Congratulations!"
Monday, October 09, 2006
You gotta love Israeli "democracy"
Police on Monday arrested a Druze resident of the Golan Heights suspected of giving a speech in support of Hezbollah and its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah during a visit he made to Syria.
Police say the 58-year-old Majdal Shams man is not a known political activist and has never before been suspected of security-related offenses.
Druze political activists on the Golan described the arrest as an attempt to frighten residents of the Heights from publicly expressing their political positions. Continued.
My Favorite Member of Congress is Gone (But Not Forgotten)
What Cynthia McKinney Means to Me,
by MARK DONHAM
by MARK DONHAM
Yeah, I'm upset with the fact that the powers that be have not so gently thrown Cynthia McKinney out of her seat in Congress, just about the time the Democrats may take over. It's a gross injustice, sleazy, and we are a worse country for it. It's not the kind of message that the Democrats should want to be sending at this time, but they did little to prevent it, and probably encouraged it. Why?
Continued
James Petras: Justice and Perversion and the Perversion of Justice, By James Petras
Without this show of moral indignation and a dose of salacious titillation, voter abstention might even exceed the usual 65% for US Congressional elections. In a month in which the US Congress voted to legalize torture, discard the US Constitution by abolishing habeas corpus and increase the military budget to prolong the daily slaughter of hundreds of Iraqis and Afghanis, the big controversy among the mass media and elected officials is the sexual overtures of a Republican Congressman to adolescent boys employed by Congress.
Millions of fundamentalist Christians, who blindly supported the Republican Congress' deadly 'War on Terror' are in revolt against their Party because of its tolerance toward a single pervert - overlooking the torture at Abu Ghraib, Israel's massive bombing of Lebanon and the Bush Administration's criminal abandonment of the hundreds of thousands of poor (mostly black) citizens in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Why do US Congress members and the mass media go into a political feeding frenzy over personal sexual transgressions like Congressman Foley's nasty e-mail flirtations with teenage boys or former President Clinton's office adventures in extramarital sex with a White House intern and not over issues of great consequence for peace or war, democracy or authoritarianism, torture or human rights?
Superficial commentators trot out our Anglo-American 'Puritan heritage': a pseudo-explanation, which overlooks the US democratic-constitutional heritage, our recent history of opposing the Vietnam War, and our signing of the United Nation Charter on Human Rights. Since there are numerous historical pasts, there is no single 'heritage' that dominates others, especially when the so-called 'Puritan' past is overlain with a highly sexualized mass culture over the last 50 years.
We should leave aside dubious psycho-cultural explanations because they fail to explain political behavior. Specifically, even if 'Puritan morality' were such a dominant aspect of US political life, it cannot explain why one should focus only on sexual misdeeds of individual politicians and not the immorality of the widespread, systematic use of sexual torture practiced by US interrogators in Iraq, Afghanistan and at the Guantanamo prison camp and specifically approved by the Bush Administration.
To understand the perversity of US politics, where great crimes are approved by Congress and the President and minor sexual misdemeanors become an obsession, one has to turn away from the amorphous notion of the 'US public' and examine what the mass media and opinion leaders find acceptable as the basis for electoral competition.
The political elite of both parties and the leadership and minority in Congress do not differ on substantive questions of war and peace: both supported the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq from the beginning and have just approved over $400 billion in war spending for 2006-2007. Both parties, Congress and the President supported Israel's invasion of Lebanon, its deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure and the dropping of 1 million cluster bomblets as well as the blockade and rape of Gaza. Both parties supported the extension of the Patriot Act, which suspends the democratic guarantees and personal freedoms protected under the Bill of Rights and Constitution. Neither Congress nor the White House differ in opposing a National Health Policy, since both parties receive millions in election financing from the big pharmaceutical and private health insurance companies and their lobbies. Since there is a consensus between the two official parties on the issues of war, authoritarianism and big business, the political parties can compete only on 'personality' and issues of private morality. The parties justify their separate existence and compete for office by avoiding the issues which antagonize the economic elites, the civilian militarists and the powerful pro-Israel lobbies and focus on 'antagonizing' other politicians, which is considered 'fair game' in the highly constricted US political system.
In the first week in October, 30 US soldiers were killed in Iraq and scores were wounded, 580 Iraqi civilians were murdered, 20 Lebanese civilians were killed or wounded by leftover Israeli cluster bombs, tens of thousands of US telephones, faxes and e-mails were intercepted without judicial order, thousands of Argentine rightists marched in Buenos Aires in defense of the former military dictators, thousands of peaceful striking school teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico were threatened with massive military repression, 13 Bolivian miners and Indian peasants were killed by the government and its supporters in a possible lead up to a civil war, and a beloved bishop in the Philippines was killed by death squads for his human rights work joining the hundreds of murdered and disappeared activists there. and yet none of these reports appear anywhere in the major US television and radio programs and are barely mentioned by the principal newspapers. Instead we hear and read daily and even hourly reports revealing the lewd e-mails of Republican Congressman Foley with the Democratic Party leadership issuing press releases and denunciations and calls for investigations and resignations.
“Corruption, depravity, perversion", the Democrats tell us, "in high places is unacceptable". And the Republicans, so bold in defense of torture and secret abductions, and so audacious in signing hundreds of millions of dollars in additional military aid to Israel are shirking, cowering, stuttering and stammering that they have 'cleaned house' with the resignation of their Congressional pervert; they need to press on with the 'war against international and domestic terror' unmolested.
What is essential in perpetuating the charade of basically a 'one party' system, dedicated to defending imperial wars abroad and overseeing decay and authoritarianism at home, is the illusion of 'party competition'. To maintain this illusion of choice in the face of a wide elite consensus, a 'sideshow' is needed; preferably a show in which the minor perverts of one party can be paraded and denounced by the puffed-up moralists of the opposing party. Without this show of moral indignation and a dose of salacious titillation, voter abstention might even exceed the usual 65% for US Congressional elections.
-James Petras, a former Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York, owns a 50 year membership in the class struggle, is an adviser to the landless and jobless in brazil and Argentina and is co-author of Globalization Unmasked (Zed). His new book with Henry Veltmeyer, Social Movements and the State: Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and Argentina , was published in October 2005. He can be reached at: jpetras @ binghamton.edu
Bush warns N Korea but options are limited
Financial Times
"Although President George W. Bush delivered a stern warning to North Korea over the consequences of its nuclear test, analysts say the US has few options but to rely on its international leverage, which has been severely weakened by the war in Iraq.
Critics say the Bush administration blundered in trying to confront North Korea in late 2002 just as it was committing itself to invading Iraq.
“The Bush administration deserves particular criticism,” said Gary Samore, vice-president of the independent Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “They had unrealistic expectations of what they could achieve through pressure. The US ability to coerce North Korea is quite limited, especially in the middle of a war with Iraq.”
US ambitions to set up a global network of allied states willing to intercept suspect cargo by land, sea and air led to the formation in 2003 of the Proliferation Security Initiative. China has refused to join, however. It would be wary of giving a blanket approval for such interceptions, and analysts in Washington rule out a full naval blockade.
“That’s an act of war that could get out of hand if challenged by North Korea,” Mr Samore commented. “The US is not in a position to start a conflict on the Korean peninsula.”
The crisis over North Korea may also affect the impasse over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The failure of US policy towards Pyongyang had already influenced a shift towards a more pragmatic approach in dealing with Tehran."
"Although President George W. Bush delivered a stern warning to North Korea over the consequences of its nuclear test, analysts say the US has few options but to rely on its international leverage, which has been severely weakened by the war in Iraq.
Critics say the Bush administration blundered in trying to confront North Korea in late 2002 just as it was committing itself to invading Iraq.
“The Bush administration deserves particular criticism,” said Gary Samore, vice-president of the independent Council on Foreign Relations in New York. “They had unrealistic expectations of what they could achieve through pressure. The US ability to coerce North Korea is quite limited, especially in the middle of a war with Iraq.”
US ambitions to set up a global network of allied states willing to intercept suspect cargo by land, sea and air led to the formation in 2003 of the Proliferation Security Initiative. China has refused to join, however. It would be wary of giving a blanket approval for such interceptions, and analysts in Washington rule out a full naval blockade.
“That’s an act of war that could get out of hand if challenged by North Korea,” Mr Samore commented. “The US is not in a position to start a conflict on the Korean peninsula.”
The crisis over North Korea may also affect the impasse over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The failure of US policy towards Pyongyang had already influenced a shift towards a more pragmatic approach in dealing with Tehran."
Where are the voices?
The shame of silence in the face of Israeli and US crimes
By Paul J. Balles
10/09/06
Where are the voices of moral righteousness that the world has always depended upon to rein in the evil forces of conquering warlords? The teachers and professors - why are they silent? The virtuous - the clergy and elders of church and mosque and synagogue - who covered their mouths with duct tape and broke their pens and keyboards?
In an earlier time those voices rang out louder than anthems for the dead. They brought the public who look for their guidance and counsel into the streets. The places of worship and the places of learning provided pulpits and podiums from which men and women of honour and integrity taught and guided the rest of us.
Where are those voices today when we need them most? Where have they been in the years since the self-appointed warlords took the reins of government and turned us all into accessories to the last half-century's most heinous crimes against humanity?
The constant crimes against the Palestinians alone have been raging for more than 50 years. For five decades, much of the rest of the world has tacitly accepted the occupying warlords' self-justification for murder, dispossession, theft, destruction, assassinations and torture of Palestinians.
Why the tacit acceptance of these crimes when the justification is that an Israeli life is worth 200 Talmudic times the life of a Palestinian? Where have the voices of the righteous been while these atrocities have been committed in the guise of defence?
Forty-four innocent children have been massacred in Gaza after two or three Israeli military were killed by Hamas. All of this hatred was visited upon the innocent while Lebanon burned and the world's presses rang out with condemnation of Hezbollah.
Here are just a few of the reported casualties of tribal murder in Gaza:
Bara Nasser Habib, aged three (hit by shrapnel to the head and body, Gaza City, 26 July 2006)
Shahed Saleh Al-Sheikh Eid, three days old (bled to death after airstrike, Al-Shouka, 4 August 2006)
Rajaa Salam Abu Shaban, aged three (died of fractured skull in air raid, Gaza City, 9 August 2006 )
Khaled Nidal Wahba, 15 months old (died of wounds from an airstrike, 10 July 2006)
Rawan Farid Hajjaj, aged six (killed with his mother and sister in an airstrike, Gaza City, 8 July 2006)
These are only a few of a multitude of babies slaughtered by indiscriminate tribal hatred of Israelis for Palestinians. Are these children less human or less deserving of life than their Semitic counterparts?
Ordinary apathetic Americans don't know and don't care what happens to these "ferners". As with the massacred in Darfur, foreign children are not children, but numbers. They're mere data that the news reports play with to convince the masses that the media is concerned about what happens in the world. They're not!
The media doesn't show pictures of these slaughtered babies because revelations of that kind of truth might, according to the devils in the administration, fuel terrorism.
When someone like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stands at the podium in the UN and calls G.W. Bush a devil, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd labels Chavez "a world-class nutbar". She can, and does, call Bush names herself, but the Venezuelan president isn't allowed to speak such truths.
What made Chavez "a world-class nutbar" Maureen? Was it his statement that "The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented?" She didn't say. She simply labelled Chavez a nutbar.
Perhaps Dowd faulted Chavez because he recommended Noam Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance. Chomsky's is one voice in the wilderness trying to rein in the evil forces of conquering warlords. Where are the rest?
Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have made, and are still making, a great effort to speak out against the Israeli lobbyists who control the US Congress and the media through their organized Israeli-first campaigns. But where are the rest?
The Internet allows a few, mostly unheard, voices to broadcast truths to small, select audiences of little consequence. But where are the hundreds - nay thousands - of voices of the intellectuals of America who should know better and who should speak out?
Professors, ministers, attorneys, medical professionals, judges: I'm ashamed of you! Have you lost all sense of civic responsibility? Or do you simply sleep or play while the business profiteers and the lords of war murder and maim and massacre innocents in your names?
Paul Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for 38 years. http://www.pballes.com
By Paul J. Balles
10/09/06
Where are the voices of moral righteousness that the world has always depended upon to rein in the evil forces of conquering warlords? The teachers and professors - why are they silent? The virtuous - the clergy and elders of church and mosque and synagogue - who covered their mouths with duct tape and broke their pens and keyboards?
In an earlier time those voices rang out louder than anthems for the dead. They brought the public who look for their guidance and counsel into the streets. The places of worship and the places of learning provided pulpits and podiums from which men and women of honour and integrity taught and guided the rest of us.
Where are those voices today when we need them most? Where have they been in the years since the self-appointed warlords took the reins of government and turned us all into accessories to the last half-century's most heinous crimes against humanity?
The constant crimes against the Palestinians alone have been raging for more than 50 years. For five decades, much of the rest of the world has tacitly accepted the occupying warlords' self-justification for murder, dispossession, theft, destruction, assassinations and torture of Palestinians.
Why the tacit acceptance of these crimes when the justification is that an Israeli life is worth 200 Talmudic times the life of a Palestinian? Where have the voices of the righteous been while these atrocities have been committed in the guise of defence?
Forty-four innocent children have been massacred in Gaza after two or three Israeli military were killed by Hamas. All of this hatred was visited upon the innocent while Lebanon burned and the world's presses rang out with condemnation of Hezbollah.
Here are just a few of the reported casualties of tribal murder in Gaza:
Bara Nasser Habib, aged three (hit by shrapnel to the head and body, Gaza City, 26 July 2006)
Shahed Saleh Al-Sheikh Eid, three days old (bled to death after airstrike, Al-Shouka, 4 August 2006)
Rajaa Salam Abu Shaban, aged three (died of fractured skull in air raid, Gaza City, 9 August 2006 )
Khaled Nidal Wahba, 15 months old (died of wounds from an airstrike, 10 July 2006)
Rawan Farid Hajjaj, aged six (killed with his mother and sister in an airstrike, Gaza City, 8 July 2006)
These are only a few of a multitude of babies slaughtered by indiscriminate tribal hatred of Israelis for Palestinians. Are these children less human or less deserving of life than their Semitic counterparts?
Ordinary apathetic Americans don't know and don't care what happens to these "ferners". As with the massacred in Darfur, foreign children are not children, but numbers. They're mere data that the news reports play with to convince the masses that the media is concerned about what happens in the world. They're not!
The media doesn't show pictures of these slaughtered babies because revelations of that kind of truth might, according to the devils in the administration, fuel terrorism.
When someone like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stands at the podium in the UN and calls G.W. Bush a devil, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd labels Chavez "a world-class nutbar". She can, and does, call Bush names herself, but the Venezuelan president isn't allowed to speak such truths.
What made Chavez "a world-class nutbar" Maureen? Was it his statement that "The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented?" She didn't say. She simply labelled Chavez a nutbar.
Perhaps Dowd faulted Chavez because he recommended Noam Chomsky's book Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance. Chomsky's is one voice in the wilderness trying to rein in the evil forces of conquering warlords. Where are the rest?
Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have made, and are still making, a great effort to speak out against the Israeli lobbyists who control the US Congress and the media through their organized Israeli-first campaigns. But where are the rest?
The Internet allows a few, mostly unheard, voices to broadcast truths to small, select audiences of little consequence. But where are the hundreds - nay thousands - of voices of the intellectuals of America who should know better and who should speak out?
Professors, ministers, attorneys, medical professionals, judges: I'm ashamed of you! Have you lost all sense of civic responsibility? Or do you simply sleep or play while the business profiteers and the lords of war murder and maim and massacre innocents in your names?
Paul Balles is a retired American university professor and freelance writer who has lived in the Middle East for 38 years. http://www.pballes.com
Meanwhile in Iraq
US casualty rate in Iraq worst since Fallujah: The number of US troops being wounded in Iraq is now at its highest level for two years as American forces are confronted by increasing sectarian violence and a continuing insurgency. Figures released by the Pentagon show that 776 soldiers were wounded in action in Iraq last month.
Sunnis change names to avoid Shia death squads: Lurking in the small ads on page 10 of Al Taakhi newspaper was an announcement that Umar Salman wished henceforth to be known as Samir Salman. It was among many similar notices of submissions to the office of national identity requesting name changes.
U.S. military deaths in Iraq hit 2,748 Monday, according to count by The Associated Press: As of Monday, Oct. 9, 2006, at least 2,748 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,176 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Sunnis change names to avoid Shia death squads: Lurking in the small ads on page 10 of Al Taakhi newspaper was an announcement that Umar Salman wished henceforth to be known as Samir Salman. It was among many similar notices of submissions to the office of national identity requesting name changes.
40 corpses found in occupied Baghdad in past 24 hours: Some 40 corpses have been found in scattered places here in the last 24 hours, an Interior ministry source said on Monday.
Iraq: At least 13 killed, 46 wounded in occupied Baghdad: At least 13 people were killed and 46 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeast Baghdad on Monday, police said.
Another 6 Killed in Ongoing U.S. Occupation: Gunmen killed Amer al-Hashemi, the brother of Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi in northern Baghdad late on Sunday, police and members of the Sunni Islamic Party said.
Three Marines killed in western Iraq : The deaths of the three soldiers brought to at least 32 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the start of October.
11 dead as Australian firm linked to food poisoning of police: Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick and 11 may have died from poisoning at a base in southern Iraq after eating food provided by an Australian contractor.
Aid worker for U.S.-based Muslim charity killed in Iraq: A key staffer for a Muslim humanitarian organization based in suburban Detroit was slain in his native Iraq, the group said Monday. Abdul-Sattar Abdullah Al-Mashhadani was killed Saturday at a checkpoint run by one of the sectarian militias in Baghdad, Southfield-based Life for Relief and Development said in a statement.
How Al Qaeda views a long Iraq war: A letter from Al Qaeda leaders found in Iraq shows that the group sees the war as a boon for its cause.U.S. military deaths in Iraq hit 2,748 Monday, according to count by The Associated Press: As of Monday, Oct. 9, 2006, at least 2,748 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,176 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Meanwhile in Palestine
Video Debate : The Israeli Lobby: Does it Have Too Much Influence on US Foreign Policy?: John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published an article in the London Review of Books. Entitled “The Israel Lobby: Does it Have too Much Influence on US Foreign Policy,” it drew swift charges of anti-Semitism in the editorial pages of American newspapers.
Two Palestinians Killed by Israeli Occupation Forces: Palestinian medics said a 14-year-old boy was killed in northern Gaza.
A Palestinian killed and others injured in Israeli bombardment of occupied Gaza: A Palestinian man was killed and four others were seriously injured when the Israeli army bombed a house in Beit Hanoun area northern Gaza Strip on Monday, local radio stations said.
Join Jenin childrens' struggle to break the Walls of Hatred through art: Walls of Hatred are being built in the Middle East. In the West Bank and Gaza these walls are built with concrete, whereas another Wall of Hatred has been constructed through Aerial Bombs in Lebanon. Within the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jenin is also turning into a big prison, surrounded by an electronic fence and guarded by Israeli army patrols. As peasants are being cut off from their land, students cannot reach their universities and children are unable to get to school, the separation ideology and policy are becoming daily reality.Rabbi leads defence of Palestinian olive groves: For the first time in four years, the family has been able to harvest the crop. Last time Mr Karni tried, radical Jewish settlers set fire to the tinder-dry land and beat him as he fled. “I’m so happy to be here,” he said, stretching to reach a branch in the relentless sun. “This is my land and if I can’t come here to farm it I feel incomplete. I must do this to keep the land in my family.” Mr Karni, 58, a Muslim, can go about his business without threat largely because of a rabbi who has co-ordinated with the Israeli Army and police to be on the spot to provide protection
IDF aims to keep out 'escorts' of Palestinian farmers during harvest: The Israel Defense Forces is demanding that Palestinian farmers not allow Israeli and foreign sympathizers to escort them during the olive harvest to places where military protection is needed against abusive settlers, Palestinian sources in the Nablus region told Haaretz. An Israeli security source confirmed the report, saying that IDF officers have been influenced by statements of settlers, who say they are enraged during the harvest by the presence of Israeli leftists who act as provocateurs.
Army kills Nablus resident at Huwwara checkpoint south of the city: Eyewitnesses at the checkpoint said that the Sa'adah ran towards a car at the checkpoint when he was shot by a number of soldiers. They said that he was not holding a knife as the soldiers claimed. However, soldiers insisted that they found the knife in his clothes after killing him while searching the body.
Israel Arrests Bil’in Journalist: Emad, who was filming at the time, was arrested by an Israeli Border policeman. When Emad arrived at the police station in Givat Zeev, he was wounded. The Border Police soldiers claimed a radio “fell” on him in the jeep, on the way to the station. He was taken to the Hadassah – Har Hatzofim hospital and was then taken back to the police station in Givat Zeev. After he was interrogated, the police refused to view the tapes that Emad filmed. Emad is accused of “assault on an officer” and of stone throwing and was sent to the Etzion prison.
Israeli air strike kills 1 in Gaza: witnesses: An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded three others in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, witnesses and medical officials said. A hospital doctor said the dead civilian was a 14-year-old boy, correcting medical officials who earlier said he was 17. The boy's father was among the wounded, medical officials said.
Freed detainee: “Female detainees were attacked after administration claimed that two tried to flee"
She added that the conditions in Ayalon are very bad, and that the detainees are lacking the basic needs such as soup, clothes and toothpaste and that the soldiers walk through their room several times while they are sleeping. The detainees who were moved from Telmond prison to Al Ramleh and Al Jalama are currently carrying a hunger strike and demand to be moved back to Telmond detention facility.
Abbas, Haniyeh meet to end escalation of violence: Preparations were being made in the Palestinian Authority for a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh scheduled to take place on Monday evening. The two will meet in a final attempt in preventing an escalation of the political crisis in the PA, which could spiral into civil war.
Hamas PM: Political infighting won't lead to Palestinian civil war: Addressing 300 religious and political leaders in Gaza at a "unity and reconciliation" feast on Sunday, Haniyeh appealed for calm. "We may criticize each other, raise our voices," he said. "However, it is certainly our concern and religious and moral commitment that matters don't come down to conflict, infighting and civil war."
Qatari FM to hold separate talks with Abbas, Haniyeh in Gaza: Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al Thani was to hold separate talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza on Monday evening, after a hoped for three-way meeting seemed unlikely to go ahead. The Qatari foreign minister helds talks in Syria on Thursday with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.
Fatah chair in PA parliament calls for new elections: The chairman of the Fatah faction in the Palestinian parliament yesterday called for new elections in the Palestinian Authority. "How can one authority have two heads blaming each other?" Azzam al-Ahmed told a press conference in Ramallah. "If so, we must turn again to the people," he said. "Any country whose government reaches a dead end calls for early parliamentary elections. Those who trust themselves do not fear the people," he added.
Bleak Ramadan in Palestine: The village mosque in Qisarya has been "converted into a bar," according to Walid Khalidi's All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated in 1948 (184). Qisarya (Caesarea) according to Benny Morris in Khalidi (183) "was the first pre-planned, organized expulsion of an Arab community by the Haganah in 1948." The expulsion took place on February 15, 1948, before any Arab army entered historic Palestine, and before Israel was declared a state. -Respected Palestinian journalist, Khalid Amayreh writes about Israeli ethnic cleansing, 21st century style.
Hamas' fall is nearer: In this context, portions of Haniyeh's speech were interesting. He complained about powerful forces in the world, headed by the United States, that have been wrestling his government since it was first established. Clearly hinting at PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and his Fatah movement, Haniyeh added that to his great regret, there are those in the Palestinian camp who are abetting this. Haniyeh had a clearer cavil about his brothers, the Arab governments. Since his party's election victory, no Arab government has invited him to visit aside from the emirate of Qatar.
Vital but unlikely: Also very low is the rate of those who believe Israel may achieve peace with the Palestinians and Lebanon within the next five years. The prevailing assessment is that these three regional actors - the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon - are not interested in an agreement with Israel, even though a majority of the Israeli-Jewish public views achieving peace, particularly with the Palestinians and Lebanon, as being in Israel's vital interests.
Beleaguered Olmert courts Right-wingers: With his current coalition under threat, Mr Olmert, who won the general election in March at the head of the centrist Kadima party, has put out feelers to Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home). The move indicates that Israel's dalliance with centrist politics will end soon.
In N.Y., Sparks Fly Over Israel Criticism: The historian, Tony Judt, is Jewish and directs New York University's Remarque Institute, which promotes the study of Europe. Judt was scheduled to talk Oct. 4 to a nonprofit organization that rents space from the consulate. Judt's subject was the Israel lobby in the United States, and he planned to argue that this lobby has often stifled honest debate. An hour before Judt was to arrive, the Polish Consul General Krzysztof Kasprzyk canceled the talk. He said the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee had called and he quickly concluded Judt was too controversial.