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Afghanistan Crimes: Absolving Higher-Ups
by Stephen Lendman
Murder anywhere is bad enough. Nuremberg chief prosecutor Robert Jackson called preemptive aggressive war killing "the supreme international crime against peace."
Convicted Nazi war criminals were hanged. American ones keep killing with impunity.
On March 11, up to 20 US Special Forces (trained killers) murdered 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children aged 2 - 12 while they slept. Two women were also raped before soldiers killed them. Bodies of all victims were then burned to conceal evidence.
It wasn't an isolated incident. It happens regularly in all US wars. Rarely is anyone held accountable, especially responsible parties up the chain of command to the top. More on that below.
On March 22, The New York Times headlined, "US Sergeant Faces 17 Counts of Murder in Afghan Killings," saying:
Sergeant Robert Bales "is accused of walking away from his remote base in southern Afghanistan and shooting and stabbing members of several families in a nighttime ambush."
Netanyahu v Obama - What next?
By Alan Hart
The headline over an article in Ha-aretz by Bradley Burston on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s poker game with President Obama was If Obama wins in November, is Netanyahu in trouble? That’s a question I’ve had in my own mind for quite some time and it begs another. What, really, worries Netanyahu most - the prospect (not real) of Iran posing an existential threat to Israel or the prospect (real) of a second-term Obama?
There is, Burston wrote, something new in the air, something Netanyahu does not like. What is it? “American conservatives have begun to think out loud that Barack Obama will win in November.”
Heading for Inevitable Disaster
by Stephen Lendman
In 1959, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz liberated Cuba from imperial America, police state rule, and mafia bosses who turned the nation into a casino and brothel.
Cubans may want change, but won't tolerate recolonization under puppets serving Washington's interests.
On August 13, Fidel turns 86. After leading Cuba for decades, surviving hundreds of US attempts to kill him, a punishing embargo, and numerous other hostile acts, illness forced him to step down in December 2008.
It didn't slow his determination to speak and write vital truths, especially on issues of war and peace.
Palestinians Denied Essentials to Life
by Stephen Lendman
Besides persecution, repression, and injustice, deprivation defines life in Occupied Palestine. Essentials fall way below minimum standards.
Shortages and crises affect water, sanitation, electricity, fuel, and vital healthcare when most needed.
On March 14, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) headlined, "Occupied Lives: Switching off hospitals," saying:
Gaza's hospitals, including al-Shifa (Gaza's largest medical complex), "fac(e) severe difficulties in providing basis services...." As a result, the right to health and life are undermined. "Such problems have been a consistent feature of life in the Gaza Strip since the current closure was imposed in 2007."
A Dialogue on Protest, Sharing and Justice
from an interview with Mohammed Mesbahi
by Adam Parsons
"As the economic crisis worsens, the foremost responsibility of governments is to redesign our political and economic systems so that no-one dies of hunger. But this will never happen without an unparalleled uprising of public support."
All the commentary from expert analysts about the crumbling financial system is almost useless to understand what is really happening in the world today. Countless articles are written about how to fix the economy and restore growth to the system, but they are only relevant to a system that was never sustainable and is now coming to an end. What we call the ‘system' has become so complicated that it appears to have a life of its own, and not even the most sophisticated banker understands what is going on anymore. Few economists speak in terms that mean anything to the ordinary person who is struggling to find or keep a job, make ends meet and provide for their family. The disconnection between the worlds of powerful politicians in their private meetings, and the everyday lives of the people they are called to serve is more apparent than ever before. But at the same time, something profoundly new is happening throughout the world that requires a much simpler way of looking at things if we are to comprehend what it means.
Poland's Monsanto action lays 1000s of dead bees on Govt steps
By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom
Ag Ministry begins process to ban MON810
On March 15, over 1,500 beekeepers and their allies marched thru the streets of Warsaw, depositing thousands of dead bees on the steps of the Ministry of Agriculture, in protest of genetically modified foods and their requisite pesticides which are killing bees, moths and other agriculturally-beneficial insects around the globe.
Later that day the Minister of Agriculture, Marek Sawicki, announced plans to ban MON810, which has become ineffective at deterring pests in the US.
The Future is Ours if We Want It
By Timothy V. Gatto
One thing should be obviously apparent to everyone; the Republicans don’t stand a chance of defeating Obama, no matter who the eventual nominee is. If the GOP ends up with a brokered convention and becomes deadlocked, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jeb Bush drafted. That is probably the Democrats worst nightmare. I know it’s mine.
Still, it really doesn’t matter to most of us which corporate-run party wins the election, not in the long run. I understand that Obama played the hand he was dealt impressively. If you believe that we are really coming out of this economic recession. Otherwise he folded on health care, widened the war in Afghanistan the same day he received the Nobel Peace Prize (and what was that about?), signed more legislation that further eroded the Bill of Rights, failed to close Guantanamo, and refused to order Attorney General Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate war crimes and torture under the Bush-Cheney regime. Altogether, it was not quite a sterling performance by a so-called constitutional scholar.
Dying for Justice
by Stephen Lendman
Hanaa Shalabi
On March 20, Hana's 34th hunger strike day began. The previous day, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) said she's in imminent danger of dying.
After examining her, its doctor "determined that she must be hospitalized immediately." More on that below.
Wrongfully arrested, abused, uncharged, and administratively detained at HaSharon Prison, she's hunger struck over a month for justice. Israel doesn't care if she lives or dies.
On March 19, PHR-I's doctor explained her condition. She risks imminent death because of significant physical deterioration.
The process includes "muscle breakdown, with a weight loss of 14 kg (31 lb.) since the onset of the hunger strike, a very slow pulse, and a drop in blood sodium levels. These symptoms could indicate grave damage to the heart and the beginning of the breakdown of the heart muscle, which could lead to heart failure at any moment."
Netanyahu's pretext for war - Islamic Jihad missiles
By Michael Collins
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has his pretext for an attack on Iran. He left Washington disappointed by President Obama's reluctance to saddle up for Armageddon. Now he's got the formula.
Haaretz (daily news), one of Israel's few liberal media voices, linked Gaza based missile attacks on Israel to the presence of Iranian military experts. This fits nicely into the Netanyahu strategy. Here's how Haaretz reported events:
"Iran pressured Islamic Jihad and popular resistance groups in Gaza to continue firing rockets into Israel despite cease-fire, says high-ranking Jerusalem official.
"Iranian military experts are active in the Gaza Strip and in Sinai, according to a high-ranking official in Jerusalem. The official said the Iranians entered the areas via Sudan and Egypt, and added that some of the rocket-launching systems in Gaza were manufactured under Iranian supervision." Haaretz.com, March 19
The paper went on to say how shocked members of the Israeli left were with the overall theme of the article announcing a unified Israel in support of an attack on Iran.
Of course, any attack is so crazy on so many levels, it is exhausting to comprehend. Aside from the potential collapse of the world economy and the pervasive suffering, let's focus on a sure fired reason that the United States won't green light such a move.
Asking the Wrong Questions About War
by Stephen Lendman
Former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller now writes Times op-eds on alternate Mondays, as well as articles for The New York Times Magazine.
Too bad his columns get failing grades. Scoundrel journalism is featured. Truth and full disclosure are excluded. His March 18 article is typical.
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