Bill Moyers on Mideast Violence

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL



No need to add to what Moyers speaks of, just listen closely, and understand!

Prosecuting for Torture and More

Famed Prosecutor/Author Vows President Bush Will Be Brought to Justice for Mass Murder
Jan 08, 2009

The former Los Angeles County district attorney who put Charles Manson and his followers behind bars for life is not finished with outgoing President George W. Bush. Indeed—rough though the road may be—Vincent Bugliosi sees the upcoming post-Bush period as an even better time to forge ahead to try Bush on murder allegations, on the basis of Bush getting America into the deadly Iraq war under false pretenses.

PART ONE OF INTERVIEW WITH BUGLIOSI


PART TWO OF INTERVIEW WITH BUGLIOSI

"We're looking for a few good prosecutors," Bugliosi said in a December interview, describing his quest to locate some local prosecutors, among 2,200 in the nation, with the fortitude to try the president. "I have to think that there is at least one out of 2,200."

We are only one of the hundred and fifty five nations who not only signed on but formed the articles of the charter.

CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The States Parties to this Convention,

Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Recognizing that those rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,

Considering the obligation of States under the Charter, in particular Article 55, to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Having regard to article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which provide that no one may be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,

Having regard also to the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 1975 (resolution 3452 (XXX)),

Desiring to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world,

Have agreed as follows:

With more being found at Wikipedia - United Nations Convention Against Torture and other sources with a simple search.

Accountability Is A Must

Click on the graphic and join those seeking that accountability, for Laws broken, Laws of our Country and Constitution, this time!

THE WAR BEHIND ME:

Coming to terms with the reality and the lessons ignored for far too long, which ultimately by ignoring led us into the Deja-Vu of invasion and long term occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the failed leadership exposed!

Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes
Inside, the book, the Army's Secret Archive of Investigations.

Atrocities, on all sides, are only a part of the story of the Tragedy of War and Occupation.

The rest we are once again observing and those serving and sacrificing in these theaters are living, along with their families.

We have never come to terms with Vietnam, Now we have Two More Long Running Occupations to Add to that, We Had Better Learn This Time, and come to terms as a Country and a Military Power, among other Countries!!

February 1968

A month before the infamous massacre at My Lai, a U.S. Army unit in central Vietnam came upon a tiny hamlet where they found nineteen unarmed civilians—women, babies, young children, and an old man. The soldiers’ orders that day were to “kill anything that moves.” They herded the villagers into a clearing and opened fire.
Read More

About the Author

Deborah Nelson is the Carnegie Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland College of Journalism. She was previously an investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Seattle Times, and Chicago Sun-Times. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 1997 and was a project editor on Pulitzer Prize–winning investigations in 2001 and 2002. In 2006, she and military historian Nicholas Turse coauthored a series on U.S. war crimes for the Los Angeles Times. She currently serves on the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the advisory board of the Investigative Reporting Workshop.
Listen to the podcast

The Book
The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth about U.S. War Crimes

In 2005, Deborah Nelson joined forces with military historian Nick Turse to investigate an extraordinary archive: the largest compilation of records on Vietnam-era war crimes ever to surface. The declassified Army papers were erroneously released and have since been pulled from public circulation. Few civilians have seen the documents. The files contain reports of more than 300 confirmed atrocities, and 500 other cases the Army either couldn’t prove or didn’t investigate. The archive has letters of complaint to generals and congressmen, as well as reports of Army interviews with hundreds of men who served. Far from being limited to a few bad actors or rogue units, atrocities occurred in every Army division that saw combat in Vietnam. Torture of detainees was routine; so was the random killing of farmers in fields and women and children in villages. Punishment for these acts was either nonexistent or absurdly light. In most cases, no one was prosecuted at all. In The War Behind Me Deborah Nelson goes beyond the documents and talks with many of those who were involved, both accusers and accused, to uncover their stories and learn how they deal with one of the most awful secrets of the Vietnam War.

The Documents

The back reports from Deborah Nelson and Nick Turse from the LA Times in 2006.

Vietnam

The War Crimes Files

A Tortured Past
By Deborah Nelson and Nick Turse
Documents show troops who reported abuse in Vietnam were discredited even as the military was finding evidence of worse.
August 20, 2006

Lasting Pain, Minimal Punishment
By Deborah Nelson and Nick Turse
'Americans don't do things like this,' an officer thought when he learned of three villagers' deaths. His shock grew when the soldier convicted continued to serve.
August 20, 2006

Civilian Killings Went Unpunished
By Nick Turse and Deborah Nelson
Declassified papers show U.S. atrocities went far beyond My Lai.
August 6, 2006

Verified Civilian Slayings
By Nick Turse, Deborah Nelson and Janet Lundblad
Decades-old Pentagon records show that Army criminal investigators substantiated seven massacres of Vietnamese and Cambodian civilians by U.S. soldiers — in addition to the notorious 1968 My Lai massacre.
August 6, 2006

About this report
Deborah Nelson, who wrote these articles, is a former staff writer and Washington investigative editor for The Times. Nick Turse is a freelance journalist living in New Jersey.
August 20, 2006

Winter Soldier {1972}

Winter Soldier Investigation - Wikipedia

Film-Forward Review: WINTER SOLDIER (1972)

Winter Soldier - the DVD

Winter Soldier - VVAW - Vietnam Veterans Against The War

Winter Soldier - The Site

Trailer


Into the Present: Accountability for the Orders Given on Torture and Human Rights Violations by the bush administration and rubber stamped by Congressional Republicans and any Democrats!

bush administration: Torture! {telecast 1.09.09}

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

CHAPTER 113C—TORTURE 18 USC - 2340A

War crimes 18 USC - 2441

Genocide 18 USC - 1091

Accountability Is A Must

Click on the graphic and join those seeking that accountability, for Laws broken, Laws of our Country and Constitution, this time!

Hmm, American Citizen, 147yrs., Torture, Human Rights Abuses Committed Oversea's, Hmmmm!

Looks like we have the conclusion, coming sometime today, of a bush administration justice? department trial for 'Torture' and 'Human Rights Violations' committed by an American Citizen, Overseas, as laid out in Our Laws, under Our Constitution!

Son of Liberian despot to be sentenced in US after torture trial

American citizen "Chucky Taylor" facing 147years on Human Rights Violations Committed Abroad, today, 1-09-09!!

The son of former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor was to be sentenced Friday on torture charges, under a law allowing US prosecution for human rights abuses committed abroad.

Taylor, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, was convicted of five counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to torture, one count of using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and one count of conspiracy to use a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.

His trial was the first under a 1994 US law allowing prosecution of American nationals charged with torture outside the United States.

One victim was allegedly placed naked in a pit as stinging fire ants were shoveled over his body.

He was also alleged to have tormented his victims with melted plastic, electric shocks, scalding water and beatings with "sharp metal rods."

His father, the notorious dictator Charles Taylor, is on trial for war crimes by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands.

“No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators in the United States"
Hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law

Human Rights Watch appreciates the invitation to submit a statement for the record on this important subject. On December 6, 2006, the US Department of Justice took an unprecedented step to ensure accountability for human rights violators who are in or come to the United States. The department brought the first-ever criminal charges for torture committed abroad. The charges are against Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, Jr., the son of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor and also a US citizen, who entered the United States in March 2006. The charges relate to Taylor, Jr.’s role in committing torture as head of a security unit under his father’s presidency in Liberia.

CHAPTER 113C—TORTURE 18 USC - 2340A

War crimes 18 USC - 2441


Genocide 18 USC - 1091

Related Material
U.S.: Investigate Taylor’s Son for Torture, War Crimes

The U.S. Department of Justice should investigate with a view to prosecuting Charles “Chuckie” Taylor, Jr., the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, for torture and war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. The younger Taylor is implicated in committing such abuses while he served as the commander of an elite pro-government military unit in Liberia.

The former Liberian president’s son is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, May 30 at 10 a.m. in Miami before Judge Barry L. Garber in the New North Courtroom of the Dyer Building. He is indicted for falsely stating his father’s name in a U.S. passport application. He was taken into U.S. custody on March 30 when he attempted to enter the United States at Miami International Airport.

Gee it makes one Think, now doesn't it!!!!


Sign On To The Petition, and use other means to bring about Accountability for the sake of this Country and Constitution!!

UpDate
They gave him a break, Knocked Off 50

Taylor's son jailed for 97 years

"Chuckie" Taylor, the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been sentenced by a US court to 97 years in prison for torture.

The Future of Afghanistan

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

USIP - US Institute Of Peace, formed by Congress in 1984.

Download the Book (.pdf 7.8 MB)- The Future of Afghanistan

The New America Foundation

Steve Clemons - Washington Note

When Mommy Comes Marching Home

Women in the military are developing PTSD at alarming rates
By Bari Walsh. Video by Devin Hahn

Michele Parkinson survived the near-daily bombings in Kirkuk. She managed the blood. She handled the nausea as she picked through the pockets of a corpse, searching for an ID. What she couldn't get through, it turns out, was a trip to the pharmacy back home in Massachusetts.

A sergeant first class in the National Guard, Parkinson had been evacuated from Iraq in 2005, suffering from severe and medically mysterious headaches. When she arrived at Fort Dix, she thought she was home free. And she felt fine — as long as she was in the company of other soldiers.

Read More Here along with Video

A Place to Visit for 'PEACE' while in DC for Inauguration

While those of you attending the Inauguration may be staying over for a few days, either before or after, you may find this a restful and enlightening venue to stop in and visit.

1/1-31 Georgetown: The Peace Mural, the unbelievable 2,000 paintings exhibition of art on war, peace, and torture that the Vietnamese-American artist Huong has on display in a 10,000 square foot gallery on M Street in Georgetown: Peace Mural Foundation

About the Artist HUONG: A young journalist at the time of the Vietnam War, Huong climbed aboard one of the last refugee boats before the fall of Saigon, wearing only one shoe and carrying her infant son in arms. She first settled in Alaska where she swapped her pen for a brush in an effort to”paint out” the passions within her. Eventually she launched an art career that has captured the attention of art audiences and critics internationally. Not unlike Picasso’s own war protest painting Guernica, Huong’s paintings collectively form a body of work addressing the global issues of war and peace. Through hundreds of painted canvases, the Peace Mural is a symbol of Huong’s determination to purge our culture from the ways of war and to advance an emerging culture of peace.

An inspiring video introduction about the artist Huong, her Peace Mural, and the mission of the Peace Mural Foundation, Inc. (6 min)


And

Vietnamese Artist Huong Strives for Peace


Here are a few links to view some of her work right now:

The War Pieces

The Peace Pieces

Let's Think Peace

The Flag at War

For much more information and directions etc. visit The Peace Mural Comes to Washington
A Time for Change ... A Time for Peace … The Time is Now

For abit more information you might want to read this Washington Post article In Images of War, a Plea for Peace
Artist Lost Father, Brother Before Fleeing Vietnam in a Small Boat in 1975

"Peace is simple," said the Vietnamese-born artist known as Huong.

Gliding through gallery rooms in Georgetown, where thousands of her paintings are on exhibit, Huong, a onetime war refugee, swept an arm toward one wall, then another.

"Very simple. . . . See?"

Here, on two floors, is her vision of peace, shaped by personal pain and expressed vividly on canvass, her style influenced by cubism.

There you will also find a slide show of Huong and her work.

Some Other Events This Coming Weekend:

Friday, Jan. 9: Warmonger's Wake

Saturday, Jan. 10: PeaceBuilders Reception, National Peace Foundation

Sunday, Jan. 11: Nonviolent PeaceForce DC Chapter Organizing Meeting

Sunday, Jan. 11: Seven Years of Guantanamo, with Hector Aristizibal

As everyone knows there will be much more going on both prior to and into the days after this Historic, on so many levels, Inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Let us Hope a New Page is turning on the real direction of this Country, not of what we like to think and say we are But Become Those Words and Actions, not only for us but for the World!

As Leaders Lead By Example, our examples have been the Negative, especially extreme negatives against even our own Laws, those Examples we've followed are how we're perceived now and have been these long seven years and will be into the near future!

Here's hoping we can rapidly change those tragic examples and lead as we should, it's up to us for those to come!

Tax Havens:

Hidden hand in the financial crisis

ANP: A look at how offshore financing helped to enable the economic meltdown

Yoo and Bybee war memos revealed

Marisa Taylor of McClatchy's D.C. bureau reports:

Former Justice Department attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee are known for their memos on torture, but little was known about their role in the lead-up to war with Iraq. Until now.

Memo Use of Military Force PDF


UN Security Council Resolution PDF


Further Material Breach PDF


Protected Persons PDF

Philippe Sands Considers A Legacy Of 'Torture'

Fresh Air from WHYY, January 7, 2009 · Although the Bush administration has stated that the interrogations techniques used at Guantanamo Bay came from the bottom up, British lawyer Philippe Sands disagrees.

In his 2008 book, Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values, Sands argues that the harsh interrogation policy that emerged after Sept. 11 came from high-ranking government officials and top military figures.
Sands warned in a June 2008 Fresh Air interview that the impact of the Bush administration's conduct would be felt internationally:

Read Rest Here

Listen To Todays Show With This Link

The June 2008 Discussion

You Can Listen To That One With This Link

Washington's Battle against America's Veterans

"The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans"

Veterans for Common Sense highly recommends this well-written documentary about how poorly our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are being treated. As the Houston Chronicle editorial board wrote on December 14, 2008, "Since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and all of the resulting harms to soldiers, civilians, economies and constitutional principles, no segment of society has been more abused and neglected than returning U.S. military veterans."

Description

The War Comes Home is the first book to systematically document the U.S. government's neglect of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Aaron Glantz, who reported extensively from Iraq during the first three years of this war and has been reporting on the plight of veterans ever since, levels a devastating indictment against the Bush administration for its bald neglect of soldiers and its disingenuous reneging on their benefits. Glantz interviewed more than one hundred recent war veterans, and here he intersperses their haunting first-person accounts with investigations into specific concerns, such as the scandal at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This timely book does more than provide us with a personal connection to those whose service has cost them so dearly. It compels us to confront how America treats its veterans and to consider what kind of nation deifies its soldiers and then casts them off as damaged goods.

Reviews of "The War Comes Home" --

"A breathtaking rebuke to government hypocrisy and an overdue contribution to gaining critical public awareness of this official neglect."—Publishers Weekly

"Aaron Glantz is one of the truly outstanding young journalists of our times." —Bob McChesney, author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy, and founder of Free Press

"One of the many scandals of the war in Iraq is how the administration has betrayed our returning servicemen. I'm grateful that the facts surrounding these tragedies are finally being exposed."—Paul Haggis, Academy-Award-winning director of Crash and In the Valley of Elah, screenwriter of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima

"A must-read for those who claim to support our troops."—Robert G. Gard, Lt. General, U.S. Army (ret.)

"The treatment by the Bush Administration of America's returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is one of the saddest chapters in American history. This story is painfully documented by Aaron Glantz. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to make the phrase, 'Support the Troops,' more than a slogan."—Former US Senator Max Cleland

"A fitting tribute to what these men and women fought and risked their lives and well-being for."—Gerald Nicosia, author of Home to War

"This superbly documented and eloquent book is a clarion call for honesty, compassion, outrage, and an end to the lies that cause so much suffering in far-off countries and in our own nation."—Norman Solomon, author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death

"Aaron Glantz draws on his eyewitness experiences of reporting in Iraq to bring the courage and the suffering of our troops into vivid relief. The War Comes Home exposes how physical and mental injuries plague our returning servicemen and what we can do about it."—Linda Bilmes, coauthor of The Three Trillion Dollar War

"Weep, America, cringe, America. We talk a good game about honoring all those who go into harm's way for our sake and caring for those who get physically and psychologically broken, but do we go beyond fine words and a few gold-plated flagship medical facilities? Are we walking the walk? Are we getting it right? Aaron Glantz is in our face on the military treatment facilities, the VA, and civilian society at large."—Jonathan Shay, MD, PhD, author of Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America. MacArthur Fellow

"Aaron Glantz reports on the human cost of war, what it does physically and emotionally to those young men and women who carry out industrial slaughter. He rips apart the myths we tell ourselves about war and illustrates, in painful detail, the dark psychological holes that those who have been through war's trauma endure and will always endure. He reminds us that the essence of war is not glory, heroism, and honor but death."—Chris Hedges, former New York Times foreign correspondent, author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

"We should all be reading people like Greg Palast and Aaron Glantz."—Al Kennedy, The Guardian (UK)

The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans

A Former POW Speaks......

A Former POW's Open Letter to Congress

Here is the Oath of Office I took on July 1, 1957:

I, Phillip Neal Butler, having been appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1961, I repeated this oath to be commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. I served 20 years as an active duty commissioned officer. During that time I became a Naval Aviator, flew combat in Vietnam, was downed over North Vietnam on April 20, 1965 and became a prisoner of war. I was repatriated on February 12, 1973, having served 2,855 days and nights as a POW – just short of 8 years. The Vietnamese were not signatory to any international treaties on treatment of prisoners. They pronounced us "criminals" and freely used torture, harassment, malnutrition, isolation, lack of medical care and other degradations during our captivity. I was tortured dozens of times during my captivity. But I often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served – a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I’d ever be capable of. Ironically, we POWs often reminded each other that our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.

SNIP

So what in the world has happened during the past 8 years of the Bush administration? The only defensible answer is that he and his subordinates have trampled our precious Constitution and the Rule of Law into the ground while our elected members of Congress have stood idly and complicitly by. Our highest elected officials have utterly failed with their greatest responsibility.

During these years we have seen gross attempts to institutionalize torture. Our Constitution, Article VI, (2) commonly known as the "Supremacy" clause clearly states that treaties made shall become "the supreme law of the land," thus elevating them to the level of Constitutional law.

SNIP

I suggest a visit to read the rest.

You might also take a look at the comments, most at military.com come from little 'chickenhawks' playing online soldiers!!

"Riveting" - U.S. Presidents and the Middle East

The present, National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 265 Posted - January 5, 2009, looks mighty interesting, especially reading the few documents they have linked there.

Details inconsistent policies and influence of foreign leaders

New Patrick Tyler book narrates: "A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East--from the Cold War to the War on Terror"

American Presidents from Eisenhower to George W. Bush have sought to distinguish themselves from their predecessors with sudden shifts in Middle East policy and questionable strategies that have contributed to undermining American credibility in the region, according to a new book, A World of Trouble, by veteran correspondent Patrick Tyler, a fellow of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

Tyler's account begins with a raucous night of recriminations over George W. Bush's Middle East diplomacy by former CIA Director George Tenet, and then rewinds to the grand deception of Dwight Eisenhower by Britain, France and Israel, in the Suez Crisis. In bringing the narrative forward to the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of today, Tyler gives the reader an intimate portrait of presidential decisions and the out-sized influence of White House aides and foreign leaders and their emissaries.

These are but a few, of the documents, that they have listed at the archives site:

* The private pleadings of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who in June 1973 sought to convince President Nixon that war was coming in the Middle East and that the only way to avert it was by a robust diplomatic intervention by the superpowers. Nixon and Kissinger, fearing domestic blowback in the midst of the Watergate scandal, refused to be drawn in and war broke out four months later.

* The Reagan Diary entry that sheds light on how the White House and the Saudi royal family circumvented the law on presenting lavish gifts to the President, in this case, a pair of Arabian horses.

* The top-secret channel opened by the Nixon White House with the Shah of Iran to discuss "contingency" planning by the Iranian leader to seize Saudi Arabia and its oil resources in the event of a coup or an external assault on the Saudi kingdom. (two documents)

* The confidential debate within the Nixon National Security Council on how to invent a claim of "Russian treachery" in order to justify the U.S. tilt toward Israel, and a massive resupply of its forces, during the 1973 October War. (two documents)

* The CIA's confidential description of the internal pressures within the Israeli leadership that tipped the Jewish state toward a preemptive attack on the Egyptian army in Sinai after the closure of Israeli shipping lanes in the run-up to the the Six Day War. (two documents)

Haven't read the book yet, so can't add much more, except to raise the curiosity of those that might be interested

Iraq Memorial to Life

The ongoing loss of civilian lives in Iraq is alarming and incomprehensible. Most Americans do not know how extensive the loss really has been - and continues to be. The Iraq Memorial to Life will present a striking visual image to Americans; it will illustrate the magnitude of the senseless loss of life in Iraq since March 2003.

People from all over this country, and other countries, will personally make over 100,000 markers that will be assembled to create the Memorial to be installed in Washington D.C. early in 2009.

Construction of the Memorial is planned for the lawn near the Washington Monument on the National Mall, with commemorative days scheduled for April following the sixth anniversary of the invasion.

Your help is needed... Consider making the markers for one of the incidents.

Using the menu below, you may:

* Select an incident for which you will make a memorial marker(s).

* Print out the marker template used to make a marker for each person.

* Look at the plans for the Iraq Memorial to Life.

* Sign onto to help build the memorial in Washington DC.

* View related links & learn about other ways you can help the project be successful.

* Please donate at least a small amount & help to make this happen.


How You Can Help Create the Iraq Memorial to Life

How Israel is Multiplying Hamas by a Thousand

Molten Lead in Gaza

JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, Aljazeera’s Arabic channel was reporting on events in Gaza. Suddenly the camera was pointing upwards towards the dark sky. The screen was pitch black. Nothing could be seen, but there was a sound to be heard: the noise of airplanes, a frightening, a terrifying droning.

It was impossible not to think about the tens of thousands of Gazan children who were hearing that sound at that moment, cringing with fright, paralyzed by fear, waiting for the bombs to fall.

As a matter of fact, the cease-fire did not collapse, because there was no real cease-fire to start with. The main requirement for any cease-fire in the Gaza Strip must be the opening of the border crossings. There can be no life in Gaza without a steady flow of supplies. But the crossings were not opened, except for a few hours now and again. The blockade on land, on sea and in the air against a million and a half human beings is an act of war, as much as any dropping of bombs or launching of rockets. It paralyzes life in the Gaza Strip: eliminating most sources of employment, pushing hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation, stopping most hospitals from functioning, disrupting the supply of electricity and water.

Those who decided to close the crossings – under whatever pretext – knew that there is no real cease-fire under these conditions.

That is the main thing. Then there came the small provocations which were designed to get Hamas to react. After several months, in which hardly any Qassam rockets were launched, an army unit was sent into the Strip “in order to destroy a tunnel that came close to the border fence”. From a purely military point of view, it would have made more sense to lay an ambush on our side of the fence. But the aim was to find a pretext for the termination of the cease-fire, in a way that made it plausible to put the blame on the Palestinians. And indeed, after several such small actions, in which Hamas fighters were killed, Hamas retaliated with a massive launch of rockets, and – lo and behold – the cease-fire was at an end. Everybody blamed Hamas.

Read Rest Here

Uri Avnery's Column of Gush Shalom

Gaza's Scant Resources Stretched to Exhaustion

Stench in the air: scant resources stretched to exhaustion

FIDA BASAL, 20, was not there when the missile struck her uncle's house the day after Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza. But her sister, Hanin, 18, was.

Fida found Hanin at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. One of Hanin's legs, her sister was told, had been amputated. "I want her leg now," Fida screamed at her mother. "God has no mercy. You get me her leg now."

Her uncle lost both legs.

Yet on Sunday the day Israeli troops flooded Gaza and ground battles with Hamas began, there appeared not to be a single one.

The casualties at Shifa on Sunday - 18 dead, hospital officials said, among a reported 30 around Gaza - were women, children and men who had been with children. One surgeon said he had performed five amputations.

"I don't know what kind of weapons Israel is using," said a nurse, Ziad Abd al Jawwad, 41, who had been working 24 hours without a break. "There is so much amputation.

Read Rest Here

U.S. Supplied, Israel Uses WMD's

Depleted uranium found in Gaza victims

Medics tell Press TV they have found traces of depleted uranium in some Gaza residents wounded in Israel's ground offensive on the strip.

Norwegian medics told Press TV correspondent Akram al-Sattari that some of the victims who have been wounded since Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip on December 27 have traces of depleted uranium in their bodies.

Read Rest Here

Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells

Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.

As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops' advance. "These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in," said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.

The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world's mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel's offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.

Read Rest Here

Camp Hope 2009

If you're in or near Chicago, or traveling to this coming week, and you didn't know about or might have heard about, Pay A Visit to Camp Hope 2009

Down the street from Barrack Obama's home on Chicago's south side: CAMP HOPE 2009

Sub-freezing temperatures and a brisk wind did not darken the day in Drexel Park for the kick off of Camp Hope, an 18-day vigil just down the street from Barrack Obama's home on Chicago's south side, yesterday.

Organized by a coalition of social justice, religious and peace organizations from the Chicago area, Camp Hope's goal is to remind President-elect Obama of the progressive themes he sounded in his campaign and urge him to follow through with policy changes when he takes office later this month. { Read more }

Location

Every day from New Year’s to Dr. Martin Luther King Day, whatever winter has in store for us, we will set up at the intersection of East Hyde Park Boulevard and South Drexel Avenue, Chicago.

On most days, our presence in Hyde Park will be from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with an emphasis on the periods from 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM and from 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM. Please see the calendar for the schedule of community forums, films, other special events endorsed by Camp Hope and for variations to the regular daily presence in Hyde Park.

Participating Organizations

We recognize that other groups will also be organizing campaigns intended to communicate with the general public about crucial issues in advance of President-elect Obama's inauguration. We vigorously uphold the right to free speech. As we exercise our right to free speech, we further recognize our responsibility to clarify this coalition's commitment to nonviolence. This commitment challenges us to strive for nonviolence in our lifestyles and personal interactions, and to reject any and all reliance on threat, force and weapons in resolving disputes, be they domestic or international.

Voices for Creative Nonviolence,
Justice and Peace Shares,
Pax Christi Springfield,
AFSC Chicago, Illinois Great Lakes Regional Office,
8th Day Center for Justice,
Kairos, Chicago,
North Suburban Peace Initiative,
North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice,
Hyde Parkers for Peace and Justice,
Peace Action Sub-committee- First Unitarian Church of Chicago,
Veterans For Peace,
Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ,
Midwest Pacifist Center,
Northside Action For Justice,
Eco-Justice Collaborative,
Chicago Area CodePINK,
CODEPINK - NW Indiana,
DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice,
Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice,
Catholic Action Network for Social Justice (St. Louis),
Pax at St. Louis University,
Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice,
South Siders for Peace,
Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition,
Social Justice Committee of University Church,
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice,
New Life Midwifery Services,
Movimiento 10 de Marzo,
West Suburban Faith-based PEACE Coalition,
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Chicago Area Chapter,
Informed Energy Decisions,
Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization,
Nuclear Energy Information Service,
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization,
Illinois Solar Energy Association,
Blacks in Green,
Oxfam International,
Christian Peacemaker Teams,
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space,
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
St. Liborius Peace and Justice,
Generations For Peace,
Logan Square Neighbors for Justice and Peace,
Casa Maria Catholic Worker - Milwaukeem
Peninsula Peace and Justice- Maine

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Below are the events starting with tomorrow 1-5-09, the previous days and writeups you can find at the site:

Schedule & Events

Jan 5 2009 3:00pm - 9:00pm Vigil, Walk and Screening - "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

Jan 7 2009 6:30pm - 8:30pm Evening discussion on withdrawal of troops from Iraq

Jan 8 2009 7:00pm - 8:30pm "Abandoning War: A Peoples' Agenda" featuring Col. Ann Wright, Michael McPhearson,and Stephen Kinzer

Jan 9 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm Premiere Showing of "War on the Family"

Jan 10 2009 7:00pm - 8:30pm Myths and Realities about U.S. War in Afghanistan -A Presentation by Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid

Jan 11 2009 11:30am - 1:00pm Screening & Discussion - "Taxi to the Dark Side"

Jan 11 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm Witness Against Torture Forum: From Guantanamo to the Streets of Chicago

Jan 12 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm Economic Justice Forum

Jan 14 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm An Evening With Ali Abunimah

Jan 15 2009 6:30pm - 8:30pm Immigration Reform and Workers Rights

Jan 16 2009 7:00pm - 8:30pm Blackwater Worldwide In Illinois and Beyond: The Dangers of Outsourcing Our Security

Jan 17 2009 10:00am - 12:00pm Eco-Justice Collaborative- Morning Presentation and Walk to Vigil Site

Jan 17 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm Political Satirist Dave Lippman and the Singing C.I.A. Agent formerly known as George Shrub

Jan 18 2009 8:00am - 6:00pm Closing of Camp Hope with Candlelight Vigil- Sending off of Caravan to DC

Jan 18 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm Nature of Racism Lecture Discussion: Neo-Racism and the Myth of a Post-Racial US American Empire

Jan 19 2009 8:00am - 6:00pm Vigil at the Federal Building to celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday

Visit The Site: Camp hope 2009 for much more information!

Veterans of george's War Want a Bailout

392,000 Pending Appeals to VA for Help

It's not easy to get the runaround when you have a traumatic brain injury from George's war.



Did You Know 200,000 Vets Are Sleeping on the Streets?

America's promise to "Support the Troops" ends the moment they take off the uniform and try to make the transition to civilian life.

Demand O'Reilly apologize to the "non-existent" homeless vets he attacked →