Israeli military incursion

EIN BEIT ALMA, 26 September (IRIN) - Residents of the Ein Beit Alma refugee camp began to pick up the pieces after an intense Israeli military incursion last week left dozens homeless, and many very frightened, especially children. The fighting with Palestinian militants also caused damage to sewer systems, residents said.

Muhammed Msaimi, aged 26, hid for over a day with his wife and three children in the bathroom because of gunfights which took place outside their apartment. However, the bullets found their way into that room as well, and they crawled behind a thick wall, Msaimi, a registered refugee, said.

"Then the soldiers came and told us to leave. They said we should cover our ears. They blew up the floor above us. No one lives there," he told IRIN. The explosion knocked out the entire upper floor and caused structural damage to the rest of the building. Msaimi now lives with his in-laws.

The Israeli military said the purpose of the three-day operation was to "prevent the execution of terror attacks into the Israeli home front," and that information obtained from arrested alleged militants, 49 in all, had led them to an explosive belt which had been smuggled into Tel Aviv.

Fear

However, the effect on the civilian population was considerable, residents said.

"My children are afraid to come back here," said Msaimi, adding that they were staying at a friend's home nearby.

"The effects of these military operations at such close quarters have an incalculable impact on the well-being of the young," said Christopher Gunness from UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The agency runs psycho-social programs and has counsellors at its two camp schools.

"The children are not studying now; they are frightened. They go to school and draw, color and read stories," said Samia Abu Salah, whose children attend UNRWA schools and are taking part in a program which tries to help the children express their feelings.

Her home was invaded by the military: "We heard noises from below our bedroom. It was the Jews underneath," she recounted, referring to the Israeli soldiers. "We all moved away, into the stairwell. Then we saw them coming out of the floor, from below," Abu Salah said. The soldiers had blown up the apartment below, knocking a hole in the ceiling and were climbing upwards.

Gunness said UNRWA can offer limited financial support for those who lost their homes or suffered damage.

"Through walls" tactic

According to the residents in other homes a similar tactic, known as "through walls," was used. Soldiers go through neighbors' homes, destroying joint walls, to reach targets without being exposed in the narrow streets.

The building next to Abu Salah, four stories high, was totally demolished by Israeli bulldozers, leaving dozens homeless. Personal belongings like furniture, video tapes and clothes stick out of the rubble. The soldiers, searching for and fighting militants, did not give the residents time to get their possessions out, residents said.

Several people said the soldiers used three locals as human shields, a practice deemed illegal by Israel's High Court. The Israeli military said it was "not aware of any such incident."

In other areas, people were cordoned off while soldiers used their homes as observation points, residents said.

"My brother had 71 people in his house -- the women in one room and the men in another -- for two days," said Ghassan, a school teacher. "They used all their food in one day but received bread from the Palestinian Medical Relief on the second."

"The noises during the fighting hurt my ears so much," said Aisha, aged 74, as she sat on the floor preparing soup from UNRWA food aid.

Sewage pipes damaged during the fighting overflow outside her small home, spreading a foul smell in the air.

"The windows are broken. I hope they fix it before winter. It's getting cold now at night," she said.

This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.

Costo de la guerra.

Actualmente Estados Unidos está gastando 720 millones de dólares por día en la guerra de Irak. Un estudio realizado recientemente por el Comité de Servicio de los Amigos Estadounidenses (AFSC, por sus siglas en inglés) descubrió que el costo de un día de guerra podría cubrir la asistencia médica de más de 420.000 niños.

Joven palestino murió aplastado por topadora israelí

En los Territorios Ocupados, un joven palestino de 16 años de edad murió el jueves, tras ser atropellado por una topadora militar israelí en la Franja de Gaza. Mahmud Kayed murió aplastado cuando la topadora aceleró hacia donde se encontraba un grupo de jóvenes palestinos que estaban lanzándole piedras a soldados israelíes invasores.

Acusan a Israel de atacar civiles en guerra de Líbano

Human Rights Watch publicó un nuevo informe sobre la guerra entre Israel y Líbano del año pasado. El grupo determinó que ataques aéreos indiscriminados por parte de las Fuerzas Armadas israelíes provocaron la mayoría de las más de 900 muertes civiles en Líbano. Human Rights Watch señaló que aviones de combate israelíes dirigieron reiterados ataques contra vehículos en movimiento que trasladaban solamente a civiles que intentaban huir del conflicto.

Kenneth Roth, director ejecutivo de Human Rights Watch, dijo: “La afirmación del gobierno israelí de que las muertes de civiles en el sur de Líbano se debieron principalmente a que Hezbolá se ocultaba detrás de civiles es falsa. Mark Regev del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores fue el último funcionario israelí que sostuvo dicha afirmación. Pueden leer sobre ello en el Jerusalem Post publicado esta mañana. Dijo, ya saben, todo se debió a que Hezbolá se ocultaba detrás de los civiles. Está inventando eso. Ese no es de ninguna manera el principal motivo por el cual murieron los civiles”.

The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) has escalated its aggression against the Gaza Strip

The IOF, which has full control and clear sight over the borders, killed three children and arrested 13 civilians yesterday. This comes as Israel's prolonged closure of the Gaza Strip continues with grave implications on Gazans' human rights, especially their economic, social and cultural rights.

Moreover, at 5pm on Tuesday, 28 August 2007, the IOF entered the same Industrial Zone area and took positions inside factories under heavy fire. No casualties have been reported. Al Mezan's field workers indicated that IOF withdrew from the area at 3am on the next day, but only after detaining 13 workers and farmers. Eleven of those were released shortly later. The other two are still in detention. They were identified as 41-year-old Na'im Omar Al Bilbisi and his 16-year-old son, Mansour.

Regrettably, the Israeli attacks have continued accompanied by full silence from the part of the international community, which has failed to observe its legal and moral obligations towards the civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Al Mezan therefore renews its calls upon the international community to intervene immediately in order to cease the human rights violations committed by the IOF, and to provide effective protection for the civilian population of the OPT.

Israeli bulldozers

BETHLEHEM, 16 August (IPS) - Israeli forces began
Wednesday to bulldoze hundreds of trees on land owned by a
Catholic convent near the city of Beit Jala near
Bethlehem. This section of forest is being razed,
according to Israeli plans, to complete a section of the
separation wall, which continues to carve the West Bank
into pieces. Near the convent, the Israeli settlement
colonies of Gilo and Har Gilo, behind the wall on
Palestinian lands, continue to expand over the rocky
hillsides. When this section of the wall is completed,
several villages will be separated from each other and the
greater Bethlehem area.

Israel's arms imports

Israel's arms imports mainly come from the US and, to a lesser extent, Germany, France and the UK. The US is, of course, Israel's main supporter and provider of arms. It provides Israel with $3bn in annual aid and in 2001 alone US arms sales to Israel were worth $2.95bn. Germany is Israel's next biggest arms supplier - between 1996 and 2000, it supplied Israel with weaponry worth $765m. France exported major conventional weapons worth $50m to Israel between 1996 and 2000.

El número de iraquíes que murieron en la guerra se acerca al millón

El grupo sin fines de lucro Just Foreign Policy (Política Exterior Justa) dice que el número de iraquíes que murieron desde que comenzó la invasión estadounidense pronto superará el millón. Este es un calculo aproximado que actualiza un estudio científico llevado a cabo por investigadores de la Universidad Johns Hopkins el año pasado, en el que se concluyó que hasta julio de 2006, 601.000 muertes violentas de iraquíes eran atribuibles a la invasión.

El número de las tropas estadounidenses en Irak alcanzó una cifra sin precedentes. Funcionarios del Pentágono dicen que ahora hay 162.000 soldados estadounidenses luchando en Irak. Este número supera la cifra histórica de 161.000 soldados que se había alcanzado en enero de 2005, luego de las elecciones nacionales de Irak. Se calcula que además hay aproximadamente 180.000 contratistas trabajando para el gobierno estadounidense en Irak, lo que elevaría el número total de miembros de las fuerzas estadounidenses en este país a más de 340.000.

Mientras tanto, el New York Times informa que el número de contratistas privados que murieron recientemente en Irak supera los 1000.

Report: Number of Iraqis Killed in War Approaches One Million

The non-profit group Just Foreign Policy says the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the U.S. invasion will soon top one million. The group's estimate is a rough update of a scientific study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University last year, which concluded that 601,000 violent Iraqi deaths were attributable to the invasion as of July 2006.

The number of U.S. troops in Iraq have reached a new high. Pentagon officials say 162,000 American soldiers are now fighting in Iraq. This exceeds the previous high water mark of 161,000 troops in January 2005 after Iraq's national elections. It is estimated an additional 180,000 contractors are working for the U.S. government in Iraq bringing the total size of the U.S force in Iraq to over 340,000.

Meanwhile the New York Times reports the number of private contractors killed in Iraq recently topped 1,000.

About kidnapped journalists

The release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston earlier this month after 114 days in captivity in Gaza made headlines around the world and was hailed internationally as a victory for press freedom.

During Johnston’s nearly four months in captivity, calls for his release came from world leaders and human rights organizations alike. Over two hundred thousand people signed an online petition calling for him to be freed.

But perhaps the most poignant of Johnston’s supporters came from deep within the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Sami al-Haj, an Al Jazeera cameraman who has been jailed without charge at Guantanamo for the past five and a half years, sent a letter via his lawyer calling for Johnston’s release. He wrote: "While the United States has kidnapped me and held me for years on end, this is not a lesson that Muslims should copy."

In comparison to journalist Alan Johnston, Sami al-Haj’s story of abduction has been largely ignored by the corporate media and kept out of the global spotlight. A Sudanese national, al-Haj was working as a cameraman for the Arabic TV network Al Jazeera when he was detained on December 15th, 2001 at a Pakistani town on the border with Afghanistan. After being transferred to US custody he was flown to Bagram Air Base. Six months later he was flown to Guantanamo Bay. He was been imprisoned there without charge ever since.

Another journalist jailed by US forces without charge has also been largely kept outside of the spotlight. Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein was detained by US forces in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on April 12, 2006. To this day, he is still being held at a prison camp in Iraq by U.S. military officials who have neither formally charged him with a crime nor made public any evidence of wrongdoing. The U.S. military claims it is justified in continuing to imprison him merely because it considers him a security threat.

Gaza Collapse

In Israel and the Occupied Territories, an Israeli human rights group is warning the blockade on Gaza threatens to destroy Gaza’s already-depleted commercial sector and encourage local support for violent extremism. According to Gisha, three-quarters of Gaza’s factories have closed in just three weeks due to to a ban on importing or exporting goods. The price for raw materials has risen by up to thirty-four percent. Thirty-thousand people, or one-tenth of the workforce, are expected to lose their jobs. And in a further setback the local UN relief groups are expected to announce today an end to all construction projects in Gaza because Israel won’t allow the import of cement. An Israeli military official involved in Gaza policy described Israel’s strategy there as “no development, no progress, no humanitarian crisis.”

The Great Guantanamo

New figures show the US prison population has seen its biggest rise since the year 2000. On Wednesday, the Justice Department reported the number of prisoners increased by more than 62,000 last year. There are now more than 2,200,000 people behind bars in the United States.

Ataque aéreo de la OTAN mata a 25 civiles afganos

Alrededor de 25 civiles murieron en un ataque aéreo de la OTAN en el sur de Afganistán. Entre las personas que fallecieron se encontraban nueve mujeres y tres niños. La policía afgana dice que el ataque tuvo lugar luego de que insurgentes abrieron fuego desde residencias de particulares. Los grupos de ayuda internacional, entre ellos la Cruz Roja, recientemente acusaron a la fuerza de la OTAN -dirigida por Estados Unidos- de ignorar medidas para prevenir la muerte de civiles.

Ex investigador de Abu Ghraib: Rumsfeld sabía

Ex investigador de Abu Ghraib: Rumsfeld sabía
El ex general del Ejército que dirigió la primera investigación del Pentágono sobre los abusos en Abu Ghraib reveló que lo obligaron a retirarse, debido a que su informe era demasiado crítico con las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos. En su primera entrevista desde ese momento, el mayor general Antonio Taguba le dijo al periodista de investigación Seymour Hersh que el ex Secretario de Defensa, Donald Rumsfeld, engañó al Congreso acerca de la investigación de Abu Ghraib, minimizando cuánto sabía acerca del abuso y la tortura en la prisión. Taguba también señaló que las Fuerzas Armadas tienen fotografías y videos inéditos que muestran que el abuso y la tortura eran aún peores de lo que se había revelado hasta el momento, y afirmó haber visto un video de un soldado estadounidense uniformado sodomizando a una reclusa. El oficial indicó además que le impidieron investigar quién ordenó la tortura en Abu Ghraib. Taguba dijo: “Estos soldados de la policía militar no eran tan creativos. Alguien los estaba dirigiendo, pero me impidieron legalmente seguir investigando a las máximas autoridades. Me limitaron a un cubículo”.

¿Qué pasaría si la NBC News apoyara un golpe militar contra Bush?

por William Blum, 8 de junio del 2007

(original english version:
http://members.aol.com/bblum6/aer46.htm )

Durante la guerra fría, si un periodista o un visitante norteamericano a la Unión Soviética mostraba iglesias llenas de gente, esto se tomaba como muestra de que la gente rechazaba y escapaba del comunismo. Si las iglesias estaban vacías, era clara prueba de la supresión de la religión. Si los bienes de consumo eran escasos, se veía como una falla del sistema comunista. Si los bienes de consumo aparecían más abundantes, se especulaba que la Unión Soviética incitaba a las autoridades para intentar comprar a los ciudadanos.

Esta clase de pensamiento me recuerda a Venezuela. La mente americana anti-comunista conservadora, ve cosas pertenecientes a la más reciente "bête-noire" de Washington en su peor luz posible (al extremo que han sido incluso sinceras y no simplemente ideológicas). Si Chávez hace que la educación esté ampliamente más a disposición de las masas de gente pobre, es probablemente con el fin de adoctrinarla.
Si Chávez invita a una gran cantidad de doctores cubanos a Venezuela para que traten a los pobres, es una muestra de una nueva y cada vez mayor conspiración comunista en América latina, que incluye a Evo Morales, presidente de Bolivia. Si Chávez gana repetidas elecciones democráticas...
El anterior Secretario de Defensa Donald Rumsfeld dijo ésto: "Quiero decir, tenemos a Chávez en Venezuela con mucho dinero del petróleo. Es una persona que fue elegida legalmente como fue elegido legalmente Adolfo Hitler y luego se consolidó en el poder y ahora está, por supuesto, trabajando de cerca con Fidel Castro y el Sr. Morales y otros."

La última manifestación de este esquema mental es la condena de la denegación del gobierno venezolano de renovar la licencia de RCTV, una estación privada de televisión. Esto fue denunciado por el gobierno y los medios norteamericanos, y por el resto de la gente de pensamiento "correcto", como supresión de la libre expresión, aunque todos saben muy bien que la razón principal, el sine qua non para la denegación de la renovación de la licencia, tiene que ver con la ayuda incompetente de RCTV a favor del golpe del 2002 que derrocó brevemente a Chávez. Si hubiera un golpe militar acertado en los Estados Unidos y una estación determinada de la TV aplaudiera el derrocamiento del presidente (y la disolución del Congreso y del Tribunal Supremo, así como la suspensión de la Constitución), y si entonces, el golpe fuera invertido por otras fuerzas militares acompañadas por demostraciones populares masivas, y esa misma estación de TV no reportara nada de lo que sucedía para evitar dar ayuda al contragolpe, y en su lugar señalar de que el presidente había dimitido voluntariamente... ¿cuánto tiempo pasaría antes de que el gobierno de los E.E.U.U., de vuelta en el poder, cerrara la estación y arrestara a sus ejecutivos, con acusaciones de una media docena de leyes terroristas, encadenándolos y vistiéndolos con ropa anaranjada para nunca más ser vistos? ¿Cuánto tiempo? ¿Cinco minutos? El gobierno venezolano esperó cinco años, hasta que la licencia de la estación estuviera lista para la renovación. Y no se ha arrestado a ninguno de los ejecutivos. Y RCTV todavía tiene la libertad de difundir vía cable y satélite. Hay algún otro país en el mundo entero que sea tan clemente?[2 ]

Se puede decir que los medios en Venezuela son mucho más libres que en los Estados Unidos. ¿Puede alguien nombrar un solo periódico en Estados Unidos que se oponga inequívocamente a la política exterior de los E.E.U.U.? ¿Puede alguien nombrar una sola red de la televisión en los Estados Unidos que se oponga inequívocamente a la política exterior de los E.E.U.U.? ¿Hay algún periódico diario o red de la TV en los Estados Unidos que se haya ganado el título de "medio de la oposición"?
Venezuela tiene cantidades de medios de la oposición.

Notas
[1] Associated Press , February 4, 2006
[2] For further detail see: Bart Jones, op-ed, Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2007; http://www.venezuelanalysis.com; www.misionmiranda.com/rctv.htm

Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Man, Injure Wife

In the Occupied Territories, a Palestinian man has been shot dead and his wife seriously injured in an Israeli raid on their home in the town of Hebron. According to his children, sixty-seven year old Isaq al-Jabari confronted the troops after they burst into his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Israeli troops shot him in the jaw and then fired on his sixty-year old wife. Both were unarmed. Several Palestinian civilians have been killed or injured in Israeli raids on the Occupied Territories this week. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says two fourteen-year old children were killed in northern Gaza after they flew their kites near an Israeli military post.

U.S. Among Nations Highlighted in Amnesty Human Rights Report

Amnesty International is accusing the United States of turning the world into a global battlefield in the so-called war on terror. On Wednesday Amnesty issued its annual report on the state of human rights. The criticism of the United States was multifold – Amnesty called for Guantanamo to be shut down, for senior government officials to be held accountable for authorizing torture, and for an end to the practice known as extraordinary rendition.

For Israel and the Occupied Territories, Amnesty says Israel killed more than 650 Palestinians last year, three times the number of Palestinians killed in 2005. Half of the Palestinians killed last year were unarmed civilians. The Palestinian death toll included 120 children. During the same period, Palestinian militants killed 27 Israelis – including 20 civilians and one child.

Piden a Irán la liberación de la académica estadounidense de prisión

Familiares, amigos y colegas de una destacada académica estadounidense que está presa en Irán solicitan su liberación. Haleh Esfandiari fue encarcelada en Irán el 8 de mayo, luego de haber pasado más de cuatro meses prácticamente bajo arresto domiciliario. Es la directora del programa de Medio Oriente en el Centro Internacional Woodrow Wilson para Académicos. Esfandiari tiene ciudadanía estadounidense e iraní, y viajó a Irán el año pasado para cuidar a su madre de 93 años. El ex congresista y director del Centro Wilson, Lee Hamilton, dijo: “El pedido del Centro Wilson al gobierno iraní es sencillo. Liberen a Haleh. Déjenla regresar a su esposo, a su familia y a su trabajo”. Irán la acusa de ser agente de EEUU enviada para desestabilizar el gobierno.

Por otro lado, los cinco miembros del gobierno iraní, siguen aún secuestrados por fuerzas norteamericanas bajo el pretexto de desestabilizar a Irak. La prensa mundial parece haberse olvidado de ellos, pero no de Esfandiari.

Curiosamente, ABC News informó que la Casa Blanca aprobó un programa encubierto de la CIA para desestabilizar el gobierno iraní. Se informó que el plan incluye un esfuerzo coordinado de propaganda, desinformación e interferencia con las transacciones monetarias y financieras de Irán.

Buques de guerra estadounidenses ingresan en aguas del Golfo cercanas a la costa de Irán

La noticia surge mientras Estados Unidos realiza el mayor despliegue diurno de buques de guerra en el Golfo desde la invasión de Irak. Hoy 23 de mayo, temprano, nueve buques de guerra estadounidenses que trasladaban a 17.000 miembros de las Fuerzas Armadas ingresaron en aguas cercanas a la costa de Irán.

El Pentágono planea secretamente duplicar el número de soldados en Irak

La agencia de noticias Hearst informa que el Pentágono está planeando en forma secreta prácticamente duplicar el número de soldados de combate en Irak este año. Una nueva orden de despliegue indica que hay planes de incrementar el número de soldados de combate de 52.000 a 98.000. Contando los soldados de apoyo, el número de soldados estadounidenses en Irak podría superar los 200.000 a fin de año.

Bombas Cluster o Racimo.

Estados Unidos se niega a asistir a una reunión sobre prohibición de bombas racimo
En Perú, docenas de países se reúnen en Lima esta semana para firmar una declaración que prohíbe el uso de bombas racimo. La declaración surgió de una conferencia en Noruega realizada este año. Estados Unidos es una de las naciones más importantes que se negó a asistir a la conferencia.

Gaza Invasion

The Times of London reports Israel might be preparing another ground invasion of Gaza. Three Israeli divisions comprising 20,000 troops are on standby near the Gaza border ready for a full-scale invasion.

Israel Bombs Home of Hamas Lawmaker; 8 Killed

Israel Bombs Home of Hamas Lawmaker; 8 Killed
Eight Palestinians have died after the Israeli Air Force bombed the home of a leading Palestinian lawmaker on Sunday. It was the deadliest strike since Israel began bombing Gaza last week. The home belonged to Khalil al-Haya – a Hamas representative in the Palestinian parliament. Seven of his relatives died including three of his brothers. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the bombing marked the first time in two years that an Israeli air strike targeted a member of Hamas' political wing. Israel has killed at least 40 Palestinians in Gaza since last week. Earlier today Israel bombed the Jebaliya refugee camp killing four members of Islamic Jihad. Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti condemned Israel's actions.

• Mustafa Barghouti: "This Israeli government has no shame. What they are doing in Gaza is killing people by airplanes, by F-16 jet fighters, and what they do here is also killing people by destroying their economy."

El número de muertos en el bombardeo estadounidense contra aldea afgana podría alcanzar los ochenta

El número de civiles que murieron a causa del bombardeo estadounidense de esta semana contra una aldea en Afganistán podría ser casi cuatro veces mayor que la cifra oficial de 21 muertos. El New York Times informa que residentes de la aldea Sarwan Qala afirman que murieron ochenta civiles en el ataque. Al menos tres casas fueron destruidas. La mayoría de las víctimas identificadas hasta el momento son mujeres y niños.

Israel acusado de maltratar y torturar a detenidos palestinos

Israel acusado de maltratar y torturar a detenidos palestinos
Un nuevo estudio realizado por dos de las principales organizaciones israelíes defensoras de los derechos humanos descubrió que interrogadores israelíes golpean en forma sistemática -y a veces torturan- a los detenidos palestinos.

• Sarit Michaeli, de B'Tselem, dijo: “Algunos de estos métodos incluyen la privación de los sentidos, tener a los interrogados en condiciones horribles y atados con cadenas dolorosas durante largos períodos de tiempo. En algunos casos el ISA (Ejército israelí) utiliza métodos que constituyen tortura en virtud del Derecho internacional. Esos métodos incluyen el uso de violencia física contra detenidos palestinos en violación tanto del Derecho internacional como de un fallo de la suprema corte israelí de 1999”.

B'Tselem y el Centro por la Defensa del Individuo basaron su informe en testimonios de 73 detenidos palestinos.

Número dos de Al Qaeda, al-Zawahiri, exhorta a Estados Unidos a quedarse en Irak

Número dos de Al Qaeda, al-Zawahiri, exhorta a Estados Unidos a quedarse en Irak
El número dos de Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, publicó un nuevo video en donde critica los esfuerzos de los demócratas de Washington por retirar a los soldados de Irak porque, según dijo, impedirían que Al Qaeda pueda matar a más estadounidenses.

• Ayman al-Zawahiri dijo: “Este proyecto de ley refleja el fracaso y la frustración de Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, este proyecto de ley nos quitaría la oportunidad de destruir a las fuerzas estadounidenses que hemos capturado en una trampa histórica. Le pedimos a Alá que no se retiren hasta que hayan muerto 200 o 300 mil de ellos, para que podamos darle a los que derraman sangre en Washington y Europa una lección que jamás olvidarán y que los instará a rever todo su sistema doctrinal y moral que produjo su histórica entidad criminal de cruzada sionista”.

Más de un tercio de los soldados estadounidenses en Irak están a favor de la tortura

Encuesta: Más de un tercio de los soldados estadounidenses en Irak están a favor de la tortura
Una nueva encuesta del Ejército descubrió que más de un tercio de los soldados estadounidenses que se encuentran en Irak dijeron que creen que la tortura debería estar permitida en algunos casos. Por otra parte, aproximadamente dos tercios de los infantes de marina y la mitad de los soldados del Ejército encuestados dijeron que no denunciarían a un miembro de su equipo que maltratara a un civil o destruyera propiedad civil innecesariamente. La encuesta del Ejército descubrió que menos de la mitad de los soldados encuestados creían que los no combatientes debían ser tratados con dignidad y respeto, mientras que el 10% de los soldados afirmaron que ellos mismos habían maltratado a civiles en Irak. Aproximadamente 1.800 soldados participaron de la encuesta. El Cirujano del Ejército en funciones, el general Gale Pollock, señaló que el resultado del informe era una buena noticia. Pollock le dijo a los periodistas: “Esto habla bien del liderazgo de las Fuerzas Armadas, porque no están actuando acorde a estas ideas. No están torturando a las personas”.

Luis Posada Carriles

The anti-Castro Cuban militant and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles is set to stand trial in El Paso, Texas later this week. Posada is linked to a series of deadly attacks, including the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. But in a move decried around the world, Posada will not be standing trial for terrorism. Instead, immigration charges – accused of lying to U.S. authorities when he came into the country two years ago. The Bush administration has refused to extradite Posada to Cuba or Venezuela, saying he would face torture.

There are several new developments in Posada's case. Authorities have filed documents showing the FBI believes Posada plotted a series of deadly bombings in Cuba in the 1990s. Meanwhile both Posada and the U.S. government are trying to disqualify potentially damaging evidence from his trial. Defense attorneys have filed a motion to omit Posada's statements from a 2006 interview with immigration officials. For their part, government prosecutors have filed a motion to effectively bar Posada from discussing his ties with the CIA.

Former President George H.W. Bush headed the CIA at the time of the October 1976 bombing of the Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. These developments come as the public-interest documentation center the National Security Archive has released new information further linking Posada to that attack.

About Bush Bombing Al Jazeera

In London, a British government official and a former political researcher are on trial this week for leaking a classified memo that revealed President Bush wanted to bomb the headquarters of Al Jazeera in Doha. Bush reportedly made the comment to British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a meeting in April 2004. A memo discussing Bush's comments was then leaked to the British newspaper the Daily Mirror. On the day before Bush met with Blair, then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld characterized Al Jazeera's reporting on the Iraq war as "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable." Rumsfeld said "It's disgraceful what that station is doing." The U.S. never attacked Al Jazeera's Doha headquarters but it has targeted Al Jazeera on other occasions. Investigative journalist Ron Suskind has revealed the U.S. deliberately bombed Al Jazeera's offices in Kabul Afghanistan in 2001 in order to send a message to the network. In April 2003, Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Ayyoub was killed by a U.S. missile while reporting from Al Jazeera's offices in Baghdad.

Iran to hit back at US ‘kidnaps’

IRAN is threatening to retaliate in Europe for what it claims is a daring undercover operation by western intelligence services to kidnap senior officers in its Revolutionary Guard.

According to Iranian sources, several officers have been abducted in the past three months and the United States has drawn up a list of other targets to be seized with the aim of destabilising Tehran’s military command.

In an article in Subhi Sadek, the Revolutionary Guard’s weekly paper, Reza Faker, a writer believed to have close links to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned that Iran would strike back.

“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,” he said. “Iran has enough people who can reach the heart of Europe and kidnap Americans and Israelis.”

The first sign of a possible campaign against high-ranking Iranian officers emerged earlier this month with the discovery that Ali Reza Asgari, former commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force in Lebanon and deputy defence minister, had vanished, apparently during a trip to Istanbul.

Asgari’s disappearance shocked the Iranian regime as he is believed to possess some of its most closely guarded secrets. The Quds Force is responsible for operations outside Iran.

Last week it was revealed that Colonel Amir Muhammed Shirazi, another high-ranking Revolutionary Guard officer, had disappeared, probably in Iraq.

A third Iranian general is also understood to be missing — the head of the Revolutionary Guard in the Persian Gulf. Sources named him as Brigadier General Muhammed Soltani, but his identity could not be confirmed.

“This is no longer a coincidence, but rather an orchestrated operation to shake the higher echelons of the Revolutionary Guard,” said an Israeli source.

Other members of the Quds Force are said to have been seized in Irbil, in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, by US special forces.

“The capture of Quds members in Irbil was essential for our understanding of Iranian activity in Iraq,” said an American official with knowledge of the operation.

One theory circulating in Israel is that a US taskforce known as the Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group (ISOG) is coordinating the campaign to take Revolutionary Guard commanders.

The Iranians have also accused the United States of being behind an attack on Revolutionary Guards in Iran last month in which at least 17 were killed.

Military analysts believe that Iranian threats of retaliation are credible. Tehran is notorious for settling scores. When the Israelis killed Abbas Mussawi, Hezbollah’s general secretary, in 1992 the Quds Force blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina in revenge.

Despite the Iranian threat to retaliate in Europe, Iraq is seen by some analysts as a more likely place in which to attempt abductions.

“In Iraq, the Quds Force can easily get hold of American — and British — officers,” said a Jordanian intelligence source.

Will you stop calling yourselves Americans? You ashame the whole continent!

What's wrong with being anti-American, after all, aren't they anti-World?

El Informe Anti-Imperio (feb. 2007)

El Informe Anti-Imperio

Algunas cosas que necesita saber antes de que el mundo acabe.
Febrero 3, 2007
por William Blum

Supremacía de Espectro Total
No ocurre a menudo que el imperio sea puesto en lugar de una de sus víctimas, amedrentado por los alcances militares
y técnicos de otro país, forzado a hablar de paz y cooperación (como en Irak y otros), esperando aplazar un ataque Americano, forzado a hacerlo a través de los años (como en Irán ahora). No, China no está por atacar Estados Unidos, pero el derribamiento de un satélite (un viejo satélite meteorológico propio) en el espacio el 11 de enero, ha hecho que un ataque de Estados Unidos a China sea más peligroso y más improbable. Ha hecho que los líderes del imperio se den cuenta que no tienen el poder total de hacer que cualquiera o todas las naciones cumplan sus órdenes.
Observen cómo los caballeros del Pentágono se han manifestado en el pasado reciente en cuanto al tema del espacio:
"Actuaremos sobre blancos terrestres algún día -- barcos, aviones, tierra, -- desde el espacio. ...Vamos a luchar en el espacio. Vamos a luchar desde el espacio y vamos a luchar hacia el espacio." General Joseph Ashy, Comandante en Jefe del Comando Espacial de EEUU, 1996 [1]
"En cuanto al predominio en el espacio, lo tenemos, nos gusta, y lo mantendremos." -- Keith R. Hall, Secretario Asistente de la Fuerza Aérea para el Espacio y Director de la Oficina de Exploración Nacional, 1997 [2]
"Comando Espacial de EEUU -- dominando la dimensión espacial de operaciones militares para proteger los intereses y las inversiones de EEUU. Integrando Fuerzas Espaciales a las capacidades bélicas a través del espectro total de conflicto. ...Durante la primera etapa del siglo 21, el poder espacial también se desarrollará como un separado y equivalente medio de guerra. ... La emergente sinergia de superioridad espacial con superioridad terrestre, marítima y aérea llevará a la Supremacía de Espectro Total. ...El desarrollo de defensas con misiles balísticos, usando sistemas espaciales y planeamiento de impactos de precisión desde el espacio, ofrece un contrataque a la proliferación mundial de ADM (armas de destrucción masiva). ...El espacio es una región con crecientes intereses e inversiones comerciales, civiles, internacionales y militares. La amenaza a estos sistemas vitales también se está incrementando. ... El Control del Espacio es la capacidad de dar acceso al espacio, libertad de operaciones dentro del medio espacial, y la capacidad de negar a otros el uso del espacio, si se requiere." -- "Comando Espacial de EEUU: Visión para 2020", 1997 [3]
"El espacio representa una manera fundalmentalmente nueva y mejor para aplicar fuerza militar" -- Comando Estratégico de EEUU. 2004 [4]
Y ahora de repente aparece China, con la capacidad de hacer parecer todo este discurso orgulloso como algo tonto. En un anuncio a la prensa una semana luego del derribamiento, el vocero del gobierno Tom Casey declaró, presumiblemente sin glogloteos: "Por supuesto que nos preocupa cualquier esfuerzo de cualquier nación que estuviese dirigido al desarrollo de armas u otras actividades en el espacio. ... No queremos ver una situación donde haya militarización del espacio." Habló del "uso pacífico del espacio", y estuvo preocupado sobre la amenaza a la "vida moderna como la conocemos", porque "todos los países del mundo dependen de tecnologías basadas en el espacio, satélites metereológicos, de comunicaciones y otros aparatos".
Un periodista preguntó: "Estados Unidos condujo un ensayo así, destruyendo un satélite en el espacio?"
Sí, dijo Casey, en 1985. Pero eso fue diferente porque "había una Guerra Fría que estaba teniendo lugar entre EEUU y la Unión Soviética" y había muchos menos satélites moviéndose en el espacio. [5]
El Congresista Terry Everett, Republicano senior del subcomité de servicios armados en fuerzas estratégicas, dijo que el ensayo de China "presenta serias preocupaciones sobre la vulnerabilidad de nuestros bienes basados en el espacio. ... Dependemos de los satélites para una buena cantidad de usos militares y comerciales, desde navegación a transacciones ATM." [6]
Aún anterior al ensayo chino, el Washington Post señaló: "Para las tropas de EEUU crecientemente dependientes de satélites sofisticados de comunicación, recolección de inteligencia y misiles guiados, la posibilidad de que esos sistemas espaciales puedan ser atacados se ha convertido en una preocupación mayor. ... La Administración insiste en que no hay carrera armamentista en el espacio, aunque los EEUU son los únicos que se opusieron a un llamado a conversaciones en las Naciones Unidas sobre el tema de mantener armas fuera del espacio. ... A pesar de que el Tratado del Espacio Exterior de la Naciones Unidas de 1967, firmado por EEUU, permite sólo usos pacíficos del espacio, algunos creen que EEUU se está moviendo hacia algún tipo de armamentismo, especialmente relacionado a un sistema defensivo con misiles." [7]
Tom Casey, el vocero del Departamento de Estado, trató de dar la mejor impresión de que EEUU no tiene idea de porqué China haría algo así -- "Quisiéramos ver y comprender y saber más de qué es lo que están tratando de alcanzar aquí." ... "exactamente cuáles son sus intenciones" ... "preguntas que surgen sobre cuáles son las intenciones de los chinos" ... "no sólo la naturaleza de lo que hicieron, sino el propósito y la intención" [8]
Pero EEUU puede imaginarse bien cuál fué la intención de China. Los chinos estaban respondiendo a los esfuerzos de la administración Bush, y de la administración Clinton antes, de establecer y mantener la supremacía militar en el espacio y utilizarla como arma de amenaza o como tal. Beijing deseaba alertar a Washington que en cualquier conflicto futuro con China, EEUU no estará tratando ni con Irak ni Afganistán, ni Yugoslavia, Panamá o Grenada.
"Pero qué se esperaban?" pregunta Lawrence Martin, columnista del Globe and Mail de Canadá. "Por varios años, China, Canadá y virtualmente todo país del mundo, han estado urgiendo a EEUU a entrar en un tratado de control de armas en el espacio exterior. Dejen los cielos en paz, por favor. Reunámonos y trabajemos una solución. Se llama seguridad colectiva. ...El señor Bush y el señor Cheney no mostraron ningún interés en un tratado espacial. Su política espacial nacional trata esencialmente de hegemonía en los cielos. Se oponen al desarrollo de nuevos regímenes legales o cualquier otra medida que restrinja sus designios. Una resolución de la Naciones Unidas para prevenir una carrera armamentista en el espacio, fué apoyada por 151 países a favor y con zero en contra. EEUU se abstuvo. Quieren control estratégico." [9]

NOTAS
[1] "Aviation Week and Space Technology" (New York), Agosto 5, 1996, p.51
[2] Speaking to the National Space Club (Washington, DC), Setiembre 15, 1997
[3] Los extractos están en la misma secuencia que fueron encontrados en el folleto de Agosto 1997 empezando en la p.1.
[4] Marzo 2004, www.stratcom.mil/fact_sheets/fact_sm.html. In 2002, the U.S. Space Command se fusionó con el U.S. Strategic Command.
[5] State Department Press Briefing, Enero 19, 2007, www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/79056.htm
[6] Associated Press, Enero 19, 2007
[7] Washington Post, Diciembre 17, 2006; p.12
[8] Ver nota 5
[9] Enero 25, 2007 p.A19

(traducción: Ignacio Mendez)

Matanza de 153 civiles en Samarra

La oposición de Iraq denuncia una matanza de 153 civiles en Samarra
Según la policía, la operación militar apoyada por EE.UU. habría acabado con 35 insurgentes.


Bagdad.- Fuentes de seguridad anunciaron hoy que 35 insurgentes murieron en la aldea de Samarra en una operación militar iraquí-estadounidense, mientras que el Partido Islámico de Iraq acusa a estas tropas de masacrar en esa operación a 153 personas, incluidos niños y mujeres.

Según fuentes de seguridad, fuerzas conjuntas iraquíes y estadounidenses bombardearon y rastrearon la aldea de Samarra, al sureste de Bagdad, debido a la presencia de "organizaciones terroristas relacionadas con Al Qaeda".

Sin embargo, Omar Heikal, presidente de la comisión de derechos humanos del suní Partido Islámico de Iraq, aseguró que las fuerzas conjuntas impusieron el miércoles un cerco de seguridad alrededor de la aldea y que al día siguiente la bombardearon, causando la muerte de 153 personas.

Mujeres y niños
Heikal negó la versión oficial e insistió en que los muertos son civiles entre los que hay muchos niños y mujeres, aunque no precisó su número.

El presidente de la comisión de DDHH de este partido explicó que la operación militar finalizó la tarde de hoy y que más de cien casas habían sido destruidas o incendiadas y decenas de habitantes detenidos.

Agregó que mientras duraba la operación se había puesto en contacto con las autoridades castrenses estadounidenses para que cesaran los bombardeos, pero que un general, cuyo nombre no reveló, se negó y dijo que una vez que la operación había comenzado no se podía detener.

Heikal, que relató que todavía había numerosos cadáveres bajo los escombros, instó a las organizaciones internacionales de defensa de los derechos humanos a que intervinieran para evitar que se repita "un genocidio como el perpetrado en la aldea de Samarra y como el que ocurrió en Al Zarca, en la provincia de Nayaf".

Israel Set To Bust Iran's Bunkers

Axis Of Evil: Israel is denying published reports that it will soon strike Iran with nukes. But contingency plans no doubt exist. And we may have some contingency plans of our own.

Israel's Foreign Ministry has denied reports in the Sunday edition of the London Times that Tel Aviv has drafted plans to take out three Iranian nuclear facilities using bunker-buster bombs armed with mininukes with the strength of 1/15th of the bombs used in 1945 against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Then again, Israel, until recently, maintained the public fiction that it had no nukes at all.

And statements by Israeli officials have indicated that Israel is quite willing to put an end to, or at least derail indefinitely, Iran's nuclear program -- just as it did Iraq's in 1981 when it bombed the French-built Osirak nuclear reactor outside Baghdad.

Before his incapacitating stroke, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, according to the Times, ordered Israel's armed forces to be ready to take out Iran's uranium enrichment sites.

In September 2004, Israel contracted to buy 500 one-ton BLU-109 bunker-buster bombs from the U.S. capable of penetrating 30 feet of earth or concrete to hit Iranian underground facilities such as those at Natanz.

According to the Times report, two Israeli air force squadrons are in training for a mission to strike three key Iranian facilities, the first being Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges are being installed. The squadrons have been making round-trip flights to Gibraltar, practicing the 2,000-mile round-trip flight to Iranian targets.

Also on the target list is a uranium conversion facility near Isfahan. Stored in tunnels there, according to a recent statement by an Iranian vice president, are 250 tons of UF-6 gas, used in the enrichment process.

A third target would be a heavy-water reactor at Arak that may soon be producing weapons-grade plutonium.

Over a year ago, Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, told foreign journalists in Tel Aviv he believed diplomacy was at a dead end: "The fact that the Iranians are successful time after time in getting away from international pressure . . . encourages them to continue their nuclear project."

Washington may be hedging its bets as well. It may not be an accident that a naval aviator, Adm. William Fallon, who commanded a carrier air wing during Desert Storm, has been chosen to replace Gen. John Abizaid as the head of Central Command. It would be the U.S. Navy that would carry out the mission of keeping Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz or striking at oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

On Dec. 11, the Eisenhower Strike Group -- consisting of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower , three escort ships and an attack submarine -- entered the Persian Gulf. Reuters reported this month that officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS John C. Stennis battle group, originally scheduled for a Pacific deployment, would be joining the Eisenhower in the Gulf instead.

Last month, Ephraim Sneh, deputy Israeli defense minister, said: "The time is approaching when Israel and the international community will have to decide whether to take military action against Iran."

Perhaps the West can succeed with meaningful sanctions that undermine Iran's less-than-stellar economy. Or maybe we can exploit the political weakness of Iran's government, shown by the recent rebuke of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in local elections, by working to aid opposition groups.

But the clock is ticking. Israel has once before taken action to disable a foe's nuclear program. And when Israelis say "never again," they mean it, even if that means using their military in the interest of self-preservation.

Guantanamo abuse

'Guantanamo abuse boasts' probed
The US Pentagon has ordered an inquiry into alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay after reports that camp guards boasted of beating and mistreating detainees.

A marine sergeant who visited the camp has said she understood "striking detainees was a common practice".

The sergeant's sworn statement said she had overheard a guard describe slamming a detainee's head into a cell door.

The US has meanwhile rejected a call by British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to close Guantanamo Bay.

Ms Beckett is the highest ranking British official to attack the US over the camp, where hundreds of "war on terror" suspects are being held without charge.

She said the US detention camp did as much to radicalise extremists as it did to promote security.

"The continuing detention without fair trial of prisoners is unacceptable in terms of human rights, but it is also ineffective in terms of counter-terrorism."

But a US spokesman said the camp was needed to house "some very dangerous people", including those who were behind the 9/11 attacks.

Red Cross visit

The Pentagon's inspector general said the US military's Southern Command, which oversees the Guantanamo Bay camp, had been ordered to investigate complaints of alleged mistreatment.

Military lawyers who represent detainees at the camp have filed an affidavit that describes guards boasting of abusing prisoners.

Marine Sgt Heather Cerveny, who went to the base three weeks ago as a legal aide to a military lawyer, said five navy guards described in detail how they beat up detainees.

"The one sailor specifically said 'I took the detainee by the head and smashed his head into the cell door'," she said in the affidavit.

"From the whole conversation, I understood that striking detainees was a common practice," the sergeant wrote.

"Everyone in the group laughed at the others' stories of beating detainees."

The sergeant also reported that some guards claimed they denied detainees privileges purely to annoy them.

The BBC's James Westhead in Washington says the allegations are significant because they come from a serving member of the US military.

Separately, the Red Cross said on Friday that it had met top terror suspects at the camp.

The US has said it recently transferred the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and other al-Qaeda suspects to the camp.

They were believed to have been held before that in secret CIA-run jails.

Some 450 terror suspects are thought to be detained at the camp.

Liberation!

I think that it is pretty safe to say that when George W. Bush and his mouthpieces in the media claim that Iraqis have been “liberated” by the American invasion on that sovereign nation (that never once in its history threatened us), it is the same as saying that the people who were jumping to their deaths out of the burning World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 were being “liberated” from terrorism! It’s their logic; not mine! Think about it! – Jesse, Editor, TvNewsLIES.org

Reaparición de Nasrala en Beirut

Reaparición multitudinaria de Nasrala en Beirut
· Cientos de miles de seguidores aclaman al líder de Hizbulá en su primera aparición pública desde el comienzo de la guerra con Israel
· "Ningún ejército del mundo podrá forzarnos a dejar nuestras armas"

Beirut.-
Ante cientos de miles de partidarios y simpatizantes que acudieron a un barrio del sur de Beirut al "festival de la victoria", el líder del grupo chií Hizbulá, jeque Hasan Nasrala, aseguró que ningún ejército del mundo es capaz de desarmar a su milicia.

Nasrala, que aparecía por primera vez en público desde el pasado 12 de julio cuando Israel lanzó su guerra no declarada de 34 días contra Líbano por el secuestro de dos soldados israelíes por milicianos de Hizbulá, explicó que había decidido asistir al mitin pese al peligro potencial que ello suponía para su persona y los demás asistentes, ante la posibilidad de un ataque israelí.

Sobre el desarme de Hizbulá, como exige la ONU, Nasrala dijo que la milicia no estará siempre armada, pero antes hay que "tratar varias causas" que, en su opinión, justifican tal medida, entre ellas "la incapacidad del ejército para defender el país". "Ningún ejército del mundo podrá forzarnos a dejar las armas", subrayó Nasrala, quien agregó que "estas armas no son chiíes; son armas libanesas para todos los libaneses y nunca serán usadas dentro del país".

El líder chií, arropado por sus seguidores, subrayó también que "lo primero que hay que hacer es construir un Estado fuerte, justo, que proteja a la patria y sus ciudadanos y ustedes verán que el problema de las armas se resolverá solo sin tener que recurrir a la mesa de negociaciones". Desde primeras horas de hoy, miles de personas fueron llegando, desde diferentes regiones de Líbano, en coche, en autobuses o a pie de al Dahía, como se conocen los barrios del sur de Beirut, devastados por la guerra.

Desde su aparición, los presentes ovacionaron a su líder coreando frases como "Nasrala, eres el emisario de Dios", "Nasrala, Nasrala la victoria nos pertenece" o "Nasrala, eres el líder de nuestra generación". El carismático dirigente chií saludó a sus seguidores y avanzó entre los presentes hasta alcanzar la tribuna. El lugar parecía un mar amarillo, color de Hizbulá, debido a las numerosas banderas de la organización que portaban sus seguidores que escucharon con suma atención las palabras de su dirigente.

"Estamos aquí para celebrar la nueva victoria histórica y divina conseguida por la Resistencia" Islámica (el brazo armado de Hizbulá), dijo Nasrala, de 46 años, quien alabó a sus combatientes, que pudieron "resistir el fuego continuo durante 30 días" del ejército israelí a cuyos soldados, dijo, "convirtieron en ratones atemorizados". Nasrala dijo que la Resistencia Islámica dispone actualmente de más de 20.000 misiles y "que ahora es más fuerte de lo que lo era antes de la guerra contra Israel".

El dirigente chií advirtió a Israel de que la paciencia de la Resistencia podría acabarse si continúa "violando la frágil tregua". "Les digo a los sionistas: si vosotros habéis obtenido garantías secretas, éstas no implican al pueblo libanés, ni a la Resistencia. La paciencia tiene límites", afirmó. El líder de Hizbulá insistió en que los dos soldados israelíes secuestrados no serán liberados si no se produce un intercambio de prisioneros.

En su discurso, Nasrala elogió al presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, a quien describió como "un gran líder", en relación al discurso que pronunció en la Asamblea General de la ONU, donde dijo que el presidente de Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, es "el demonio". Fotos del mandatario venezolano habían sido instaladas desde la víspera en el lugar del mitin con el lema "gracias Chávez", y en una de las pancartas se podía leer: "nuestra coalición va desde Gaza a Beirut, pasando por Damasco y Teherán hasta nuestro hermano Chávez".

El líder de Hizbulá condenó, asimismo, la política de Washington que describió como una "política de mentiras, contraria a los derechos humanos y las libertades".

US supports all terrorists and accuses the noble people of Palestine of terrorism

US supports all terrorists and accuses the noble people of Palestine of terrorism.

Orumiyeh, West Azarbaijan prov, Aug 31
Iran-US-President

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that the US supports all the terrorist groups and accuses the noble people of Palestine who are struggling to liberate their territories from occupation of terrorism.

He said in his address to the people of Sardasht that the United States supplied Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with advanced weapons and helped the then Iraqi regime with propaganda machine against Iran.

Ahmadinejad said that Washington also has a record of supporting terrorist attacks against residents of Iranian cities in the province including in Sardasht.

Criticizing the American brand of democracy, President Ahmadinejad said that the so-called advocates of democracy backed an invasion of Lebanon which displaced about five million people and levelled their houses to ground based on a pre-meditated conspiracy.

Ahmadinejad lambasted the White House for refusing to accept his offer to hold a televised debate without any censorship with US President George W. Bush on international issues and said that they are afraid of the logic of the great nation of Iran.

"They say that Iranian nation should not acquire nuclear energy, because there may be deviation in future," he said criticizing the US lobbying with other members of the Security Council against Iranian nuclear program.

"Iranian nation has never ignored provisions of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but, they themselves have both deviated from NPT and used weapons of mass destruction.

"So, if there should be restrictions, they should be subject to it," he said.

Ahmadinejad said that Iran had presented a reply to the package of incentives of the Group 5+1 (five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) which provides an excellent chance for moving in line with justice.

"If they are men of law and justice, they should know that Iranian nation defend their own rights," he concluded.

Un grupo supuestamente islamista rapta a 2 periodistas

Un grupo supuestamente islamista radical amenaza con matar a dos periodistas de la Fox secuestrados en Gaza
"Las Brigadas de la Guerra Santa" dan un plazo de 72 horas para la liberación de los presos musulmanes de las cárceles de EE.UU.

Un grupo hasta ahora desconocido, "las Brigadas de la Sagrada Yihad", que tiene todas las características de ser en realidad una operación israelí, ha reconocido que tiene secuestrados al corresponsal y al cámara de la cadena de televisión Fox, capturados hace 9 días, y ha lanzado un ultimátum de 72 horas para cumplir ciertas condiciones; de lo contrario, amenaza con matarlos.

En un comunicado remitido a la prensa, este "nuevo grupo" pide la absurda "liberación inmediata de los musulmanes que están en cárceles americanas" y amenaza de lo contrario con "sacrificar" a sus cautivos. La técnica es utilizar secuestros para presentar a los palestinos como fanáticos locos y sin ideología clara y de paso eliminar personas o periodistas que muestran la realidad en forma incómoda para Israel.

"Vamos a intercambiar a las presas y presos musulmanes que estén en cárceles estadounidenses por lo que tenemos. Vamos a darles 72 horas, a partir de la medianoche de hoy para que tomen una decisión", citó la agencia de noticias palestina Ramattan. "Si aceptan y satisfacen nuestra condición, nosotros cumpliremos nuestra promesa. Si no, esperen, y nosotros vamos a esperar", afirma el comunicado.

"Las Brigadas de la Sagrada Yihad", sobre las que no están vinculadas a ningún otro grupo, emitieron además un vídeo de los secuestrados en los que aparecen solos, vestidos con ropa de deporte y sobre un fondo oscuro que no revela detalle alguno.

Se trata de la primera información que emiten los secuestradores desde que capturaron a los periodistas.

El corresponsal Steve Centanni, estadounidense de 60 años, y el cámara Olaf Wiig, neozelandés de 36, fueron capturados hace diez días momentos después de aparcar su coche delante del hotel en el que residían en la costa de la ciudad de Gaza.

Un grupo de "palestinos" con la cara descubierta y que viajaban en un coche todo terreno metieron a la fuerza a Centanni y a Wiig en el maletero de su vehículo y derribaron de un codazo en la cara a uno de los guardaespaldas extranjeros que protegían al equipo de periodistas.

El suceso, que duró a penas segundos y fue llevado a cabo, según testigos, con bastante profesionalidad, se registró ante un grupo de miembros de las fuerzas palestinas de seguridad que se resistieron a intervenir y se preocuparon de proteger a aquellos a los que escoltaban.

Este secuestro no sigue el mismo patrón que otros que se han producido en los territorios palestinos. Generalmente, los secuestradores han pedido empleos, o la libertad de familiares encarcelados, y los secuestros se han resuelto tras cortas negociaciones.

Los secuestros de periodistas extranjeros se han repetido durante los últimos años en Gaza, pero en casi todos los casos acabaron con la liberación de los rehenes pocos días e incluso horas después de su captura.

Cuando se produjo el secuestro, el Departamento de Estado estadounidense recomendaba a sus ciudadanos no entrar en la franja de Gaza por temor a ser objeto de agresiones.

El ministro palestino de Interior, Said Siyam, condenó hoy miércoles el "fenómeno de los secuestros de extranjeros" que, según sus palabras, contradice "la ética y costumbre de los palestinos".

Siyam hizo estas declaraciones en una reunión con una delegación neozelandesa, encabeza por el diplomático Peter Rider, que llegó a la franja de Gaza para intentar conseguir la liberación de los periodistas.

El ministro palestino dijo que su Ministerio ha puesto a las fuerzas de seguridad "en estado de alerta desde el primer día" y que el Gobierno de Hamás está interesado en acabar con el caos que se registra durante los últimos años en los territorios palestinos.

Cheney orchestrated Israel’s losing war

Dick Cheney orchestrated Israel’s losing war against Hizbullah by authorizing George Bush and Condoleezza Rice to encourage Ehud Olmert to launch the war against Lebanon as a prelude to America’s forthcoming war against Iran.

Following briefings from top Israeli military officials, Cheney approved plans for an air war against Lebanon as a preliminary move to disarm Hizbullah in advance of America’s broader military objective - to launch an air war against Iran. Had the US launched its war against Iran without Olmert’s intervention in Lebanon, Hizbullah would have been free to attack Israel. Cheney’s plan was designed to disarm Hizbullah, but it was based on what now appears to have been a false assumption - that Israel would win their war in Lebanon.

According to Seymour Hersh, Israel’s tactical profile for disarming Hizbullah was modelled on US plans to disarm Iran. Following Cheney’s guidance, the Pentagon mapped out a comprehensive campaign of air strikes against Iran’s civilian infrastructure targeting airports, bridges, roads, power stations as well as military command and control centres and other key buildings identified as hostile territory. According to a former senior intelligence official who talked to Hersh, Israel’s attack on Lebanon and Hizbullah is a “mirror image” of US plans for its imminent war with Iran.

Responding to the pressure of time, Cheney and his circle of advisors urged the Israelis to launch their war against Lebanon at the earliest date possible in order to allow the US war against Iran to launch during George Bush’s presidency. Apparently, now that Israel has dealt its blow against Hizbullah, Bush and Cheney feel less constrained about ordering their war against Iran.

A former diplomat who talked to Hersh predicted that the Iran crisis “will really start at the end of August, when the Iranians will say no (sic),” to a UN deadline to halt their uranium enrichment project.

During the autumn campaign for midterm elections, it is becoming increasingly likely that Cheney will encourage Bush to order the launch of the Iran War – a ploy designed to rekindle support for their neoconservative strategy for world domination.

Following the defeat of Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary, the Republicans have seized on the war against terror as their most effective political message for attacking their Democratic Party rivals. Most Democrats now favour a smooth and certain withdrawal of US forces from Iraq rather than the open-ended policy favoured by the Bush-Cheney White House that would leave troops in the field indefinitely.

Even though the cessation of hostilities was scheduled to take place in the early hours of this morning, both sides are prepared for the ceasefire to fail. But, the continuation of war between Israel and Lebanon will make no difference to Bush and Cheney’s plans to attack Iran, a scheme that is driven by political factors rather than geostrategic calculations.

Fresh Israel raids after UN vote

Fresh Israel raids after UN vote
Israeli terrorists say it has begun "broadening" a ground offensive in Lebanon - hours after the UN Security Council voted for a ceasefire plan.
Israeli militias are moving towards the strategically significant Litani River, a spokeswoman said. Fresh air strikes inside Lebanon left several dead.
The UN passed a resolution urging a "full cessation of hostilities".
Israel will not halt military action.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is asking the cabinet not to endorse the resolution, describing it as negative and unacceptable.
Even as diplomats finalised the draft, Israel radio said their terrorist groups had been ordered to seize ground as far as the Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.
"We are expanding the combat areas to the Litani River and to areas from which (Hezbollah) rockets are fired on Israel in order to reduce and eventually stop these attacks," a senior commander in northern Israel, General Alon Friedman, was quoted as telling public radio.
Early on Saturday Hezbollah also fired a salvo of 20 rockets at Israel, AFP reported.

Invasion
Long columns of tanks and troops crossed the border under cover of darkness, reports from northern Israel said.
The Security Council emphasises the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasises the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis.
According to Lebanese security sources, at least five people were killed in Israeli air strikes in a village near Tyre.
Israeli jets also raided the city of Sidon - north of the Litani River - destroying facilities at a power station. It is only the second time Sidon has been hit in the conflict, which began more than four weeks ago.
However, Israeli officials gave no details as to the scale of the offensive and it is not clear whether this is the big push into Lebanon that Israel has been threatening.
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says there are some indications this could be sabre-rattling before Sunday's cabinet meeting.

Hezbollah factor
An adviser to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora gave the resolution a cautious welcome, but there was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.
If the implementation takes place accurately and the Israelis stick to the resolution... I think Hezbollah will also accept it.
Eli Farzli, Lebanese Information Minister said.
Lebanese Information Minister Eli Farzli said Hezbollah would abide by the terms set out at the UN.
"If the implementation of the resolution takes place accurately, and the Israelis stick to the resolution, and if the Lebanese government accept it, then I think it means that Hezbollah will also accept it, and I think that Hezbollah will stick to the 1701 resolution," he said.
The Lebanese cabinet is also due to discuss the issue this weekend.
The new resolution says Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel while Israel must end "offensive military operations" in Lebanese territory.

Other key points include:
* Some 15,000 peacekeeping troops for the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Unifil, which will receive a beefed-up mandate to monitor and enforce the ceasefire
* Lebanon's government asked to deploy troops to the south of the country, previously the domain of Hezbollah.
* Israel required to withdraw troops currently in southern Lebanon as UN and Lebanese forces are deployed
* Drawing up of plans for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the final settlement of the Israel-Lebanon border area, including the Shebaa farms area claimed by Hezbollah.
The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said the deal should not "open a path to lasting peace between Lebanon and Israel".
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the resolution, but stressed that fighting should stop immediately following its adoption.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called the adoption of the resolution "a historic turning point".
But the foreign minister of Qatar, which currently sits on the Security Council, said the resolution still contained imbalances in favour of Israel.

Pilotos de combate israelíes pasan por alto objetivos en forma deliberada.

Pilotos de combate israelíes pasan por alto objetivos en forma deliberada
El periódico “The Observer” informa que al menos dos pilotos de combate israelíes pasaron por alto objetivos de bombardeo en el Líbano, porque estaban preocupados de haber recibido órdenes de bombardear civiles.

Semitic Genetics

With a new technique based on the male or Y chromosome, biologists have traced the diaspora of Jewish populations from the dispersals that began in 586 B.C. to the modern communities of Europe and the Middle East.
The analysis provides genetic witness that these communities have, to a remarkable extent, retained their biological identity separate from their host populations, evidence of relatively little intermarriage or conversion into Judaism over the centuries.
Jews, Palestinians, and Syrians share a genetic link.
Another finding, paradoxical but unsurprising, is that by the yardstick of the Y chromosome, the world's Jewish communities closely resemble not only each other but also Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, suggesting that all are descended from a common ancestral population that inhabited the Middle East some four thousand years ago.
Dr. Lawrence H. Schiffman, chairman of the department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, said the study fit with historical evidence that Jews originated in the Near East and with biblical evidence suggesting that there were a variety of failies and types in the original population. He said the finding would cause "a lot of discussion of the relationship of scientific evidence to the manner in which we evaluate long-held academic and personal religious positions," like the question of who is a Jew.
The study, reported in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted by Dr. Michael F. Hammer of the University of Arizona with colleagues in the United States, Italy, Israel, England and South Africa. The results accord with Jewish history and tradition and refute theories like those holding that Jewish communities consist mostly of converts from other faiths, or that they are descended from the Khazars, a medieval Turkish tribe that adopted Judaism.
The analysis by Dr. Hammer and colleagues is based on the Y chromosome, which is passed unchanged from father to son. Early in human evolution, all but one of the Y chromosomes were lost as their owners had no children or only daughters, so that all Y chromosomes today are descended from that of a single genetic Adam who is estimated to have lived about 140,000 years ago.
In principle, all men should therefore carry the identical sequence of DNA letters on their Y chromosomes, but in fact occasional misspellings have occurred, and because each misspelling is then repeated in subsequent generations, the branching lineages of errors form a family tree rooted in the original Adam.
These variant spellings are in DNA that is not involved in the genes and therefore has no effect on the body. But the type and abundance of the lineages in each population serve as genetic signature by which to compare different populations.
Based on these variations, Dr. Hammer identified 19 variations in the Y chromosome family tree.
The ancestral Middle East population from which both Arabs and Jews are descended was a mixture of men from eight of these lineages.
Among major contributors to the ancestral Arab-Jewish population were men who carried what Dr. Hammer calls the "Med" lineage. This Y chromosome is found all round the Mediterranean and in Europe and may have been spread by the Neolithic inventors of agriculture or perhaps by the voyages of sea-going people like the Phoenicians.
Another lineage common in the ancestral Arab-Jewish gene pool is found among today's Ethiopians and may have reached the Middle East by men who traveled down the Nile. But present-day Ethiopian Jews lack some of the other lineages found in Jewish communities, and overall are more like non-Jewish Ethiopians than other Jewish populations, at least in terms of their Y chromosome lineage pattern.
The ancestral pattern of lineages is recognizable in today's Arab and Jewish populations, but is distinct from that of European populations and both groups differ widely from sub-Saharan Africans.
Each Arab and Jewish community has its own flavor of the ancestral pattern, reflecting their different genetic histories. Roman Jews have a pattern quite similar to that of Ashkenazis, the Jewish community of Eastern Europe. Dr. Hammer said the finding accorded with the hypothesis that Roman Jews were the ancestors of the Ashkenazis.
Despite the Ashkenazi Jews' long residence in Europe, their Y signature has remained distinct from that of non-Jewish Europeans.
On the assumption that there have been 80 generations since the founding of the Ashkenazi population, Dr. Hammer and colleagues calculate that the rate of genetic admixture with Europeans has been less than half a percent per generation.
Jewish law tracing back almost 2,000 years states that Jewish affiliation is determined by maternal ancestry, so the Y chromosome study addresses the question of how much non-Jewish men may have contributed to Jewish genetic diversity.
Dr. Hammer was surprised to find how little that contribution was.
"It could be that wherever Jews were, they were very much isolated," he said. The close genetic affinity between Jews and Arabs, at least by the Y chromosome yardstick, is reflected in the Genesis account of how Abraham fathered Ishmael by his wife's maid Hagar and, when Sarah was then able to conceive, Isaac. Although Muslims have a different version of the story, they regard Abraham and Ishmael, or Ismail, as patriarchs just as Jews do Abraham and Isaac.

Confrontation with Hamas and Hezbollah-Noam Chomsky

Confrontation with Hamas and Hezbollah
by Noam Chomsky; July 29, 2006

[The following excerpt is from the Epilogue to Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy, by Noam Chomsky & Gilbert Achcar, edited with a Preface by Stephen R. Shalom, to be published by Paradigm Publishers September 15, 2006

Q: How would you assess the Israeli and U.S. responses to the election of Hamas, and to the ensuing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon?

Noam Chomsky: The U.S. response reveals, once again, that the United States supports democracy if and only if it conforms to U.S. strategic and economic objectives.

Perhaps it would be useful to review some highlights since Hamas was elected in late January 2006.

On February 12, the statements of Osama bin Laden were reviewed in the New York Times by NYU law professor Noah Feldman. He described bin Laden's descent into utter barbarism, reaching the depths when he advanced "the perverse claim that since the United States is a democracy, all citizens bear responsibility for its government's actions, and civilians are therefore fair targets." Utter depravity, no doubt. Two days later, the lead story in the Times casually reported that the United States and Israel are joining bin Laden in the lower depths of depravity. Palestinians offended the masters by voting the wrong way in a free election. The population must therefore be punished for this crime. The "intention," the correspondent observed, "is to starve the Palestinian Authority of money and international connections" so that President Mahmoud Abbas will be "compelled to call a new election. The hope is that Palestinians will be so unhappy with life under Hamas that they will return to office a reformed and chastened Fatah movement." Mechanisms of punishment of the population are outlined. The article also reports that Condoleezza Rice will visit the oil producers to ensure that they do not relieve the torture of the Palestinians. In short, bin Laden's "perverse claim"; but when the United States advances the claim, it is not ultimate evil but rather righteous dedication to "democracy promotion."1

These paired articles elicited no comment that I could discover. Also overlooked was the fact that bin Laden's "perverse claim" is standard operating procedure. Familiar examples are "making the economy scream" when Chileans had the effrontery to elect Salvador Allende -- the "soft track"; the "hard track" brought Pinochet. Another pertinent illustration is the U.S.-UK sanctions regime that murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, devastated the country, and probably saved Saddam Hussein from the fate of other monsters like him (often supported by the United States and Britain to the very end). Not quite bin Laden's doctrine; rather, much more perverse, not only in terms of scale but also because Iraqis could not by any stretch of the imagination be held responsible for Saddam Hussein.

The most venerable illustration is Washington's forty-seven-year campaign of terror and economic strangulation against Cuba. From the internal record, we learn that the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations determined that "[t]he Cuban people are responsible for the regime," so they must be punished with the expectation that "[r]ising discomfort among hungry Cubans" will cause them to throw Castro out (JFK). The State Department advised that "[e]very possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba [in order to] bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of the government."2 The doctrine remains in force.

Without continuing, we find ample evidence that it is no departure from the norm to adopt bin Laden's most perverse claim in order to punish Palestinians for their democratic misdeeds.

The United States and Israel then proceeded to implement their "intention," with scrupulous care. Thus, for example, an EU proposal to provide some desperately needed aid for health care was stalled when U.S. "officials expressed concerns that some of this money might end up paying nurses, doctors, teachers and others previously on the government payroll, thereby helping to finance Hamas." Another achievement of the "war on terror." With U.S. backing, Israel also continued its terrorist atrocities and other crimes in Gaza and the West Bank -- in some cases, perhaps, in an attempt to induce Hamas to violate its embarrassing cease-fire, so that Israel could respond in "self-defense," another familiar pattern.3

In May 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert announced his plan to formalize Sharon's West Bank expansion programs, which were announced along with the "Gaza disengagement." Olmert chose the term "convergence" ("hitkansut") as a euphemism for annexation of valuable land and resources (including water) of the West Bank, programs designed to break the continually shrinking Palestinian areas into separated cantons, virtually isolated from one another and from whatever corner of Jerusalem will be left to Palestinians, all imprisoned as Israel takes over the Jordan valley and controls air space and any external access. In a stunning public relations triumph, Olmert won praise for his courage in "withdrawing" from the West Bank as he put the finishing touches on the project of destroying any hope for recognition of Palestinian national rights. We were enjoined to lament the "anguish" of the residents of scattered settlements that would be abandoned as they "converge" into the territories illegally annexed behind the cruel and illegal "Separation Wall." All of this proceeds, as usual, with a kindly nod from Washington, which is expected to fork up the billions of dollars needed to carry out the plans, though there are occasional admonitions that the destruction of Palestine should not be "unilateral": It would be preferable for President Mahmoud Abbas to sign a surrender declaration, in which case everything would be just fine.

The people of Gaza and the West Bank are supposed to observe all of this submissively, rotting in their virtual prisons. Otherwise they are sadistic terrorists.

The latest phase began on June 24, when the Israeli army kidnapped two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from their home in Gaza. They were "detained" according to brief notes in the British press. The U.S. media mostly preferred silence.4 They will presumably join the 9,000 other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, 1,000 reportedly in prison without charges, hence kidnapped -- as were many of the rest, in that they were sentenced by Israeli courts, which are a disgrace, harshly condemned by legal commentators in Israel. Among them are hundreds of women and children, their numbers and fate of little interest. Also of little interest are Israel's secret prisons. The Israeli press reported that these have been "the entry gate to Israel for Lebanese, especially those who were suspected of membership in Hezbollah, who were transferred to the southern side of the border," some captured in battle in Lebanon, others "abducted at Israel's initiative" and sometimes held as hostages, with torture under interrogation. The secret Camp 1391, possibly one of several, was discovered accidentally in 2003, since forgotten.5

The next day, June 25, Palestinians kidnapped an Israeli soldier just across the border from Gaza. That did happen, very definitely. Every literate reader also knows the name of corporal Gilad Shalit, and wants him released. The nameless kidnapped Gaza civilians are ignored; international law, while rightly insisting that captured soldiers be treated humanely, absolutely prohibits the extrajudicial seizure of civilians. Israel responded by "bombing and shelling, darkening and destroying, imposing a siege and kidnapping like the worst of terrorists and nobody breaks the silence to ask, what the hell for, and according to what right?" as the fine Israeli journalist Gideon Levy wrote, adding that "[a] state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization." Israel also kidnapped a large part of the Palestinian government, destroyed most of the Gaza electrical and water systems, and committed numerous other crimes. These acts of collective punishment, condemned by Amnesty International as "war crimes," compounded the punishment of Palestinians for having voted the wrong way. Within a few days, UN agencies working in Gaza warned of a "public health disaster" as a result of developments "which have seen innocent civilians, including children, killed, brought increased misery to hundreds of thousands of people and which will wreak far-reaching harm on Palestinian society. An already alarming situation in Gaza, with poverty rates at nearly eighty per cent and unemployment at nearly forty per cent, is likely to deteriorate rapidly, unless immediate and urgent action is taken."6

The pretext for punishing Palestinians is that Hamas refuses to accept three demands: to recognize Israel, cease all acts of violence, and accept earlier agreements. The editors of the New York Times instruct Hamas leaders that they must accept the "ground rules that have already been accepted by Egypt and Jordan and by the Arab League as a whole in its 2002 Beirut peace initiative" and, furthermore, that they must do so "not as some kind of ideological concession" but "as an admission ticket to the real world, a necessary rite of passage in the progression from a lawless opposition to a lawful government" -- like us.7

Unmentioned is that Israel and the United States flatly reject all of these conditions. They do not recognize Palestine; they refused to end their violence even when Hamas observed a unilateral truce for a year and a half and called for a long-term truce while negotiations proceed for a two-state settlement; and they dismissed with utter contempt the 2002 Arab League call for normalization of relations, along with all other proposals for a meaningful diplomatic settlement. Even when it accepted the "Road Map" that is supposed to define U.S. policy, Israel added fourteen "reservations" that rendered it entirely meaningless, eliciting the usual tacit approval in Washington and silence in commentary.8

The Hamas electoral victory was eagerly exploited by the United States and Israel. Previously, they had to pretend that there was "no partner" for negotiations, so they had no choice but to continue their project of taking over the West Bank, as they had been doing systematically since the Oslo Accords were signed (extending earlier actions). The pace of settlement peaked in 2000, the last year of Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, then escalated under Bush-Sharon. With Hamas in office, Olmert and his cohorts can lament that there is "no partner." Therefore, they must proceed with annexation and destruction of Palestine, counting on articulate Western opinion to applaud politely, perhaps with mild reservations about unilateral "convergence," and to suppress the fact that while Hamas's programs are in many respects entirely unacceptable, their own are comparable or much worse, and are not just rhetoric: They are systematically implementing their denial of any meaningful Palestinian rights, a crucial difference.

The next act in this hideous drama opened on July 12, when Hezbollah launched a raid in which it captured two Israeli soldiers and killed several others, leading to an all-out Israeli attack, killing hundreds and destroying much of what Lebanon has painfully reconstructed from the wreckage of its civil wars and the Israeli invasions. Whatever its motives, Hezbollah took a frightful gamble, for which Lebanon would surely pay dearly. Here we see the danger of processes that have led to the rise of "parallel or alternative leaderships that can protect [civilian populations] and deliver essential services" with their own military wings, as veteran Middle East correspondent Rami Khouri has noted.9

On the motives, analysts differ. "Hezbollah's official line," the Financial Times reports, "was that the capture was aimed at winning the release of the few remaining Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. But the timing and scale of its attack suggest it was partly intended to reduce the pressure on the Palestinians by forcing Israel to fight on two fronts simultaneously." Many agree, recalling Hezbollah's reaction to the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000 -- when it seized soldiers in a cross-border raid that led to a prisoner exchange -- as well as its response to Israel's devastating attacks in the West Bank in 2002 (Amos Harel).10 Others highlight the prisoner motive, which is also suggested by the exchange in 2000, by the fact that Hezbollah had attempted capture of soldiers before the recent crisis, and by the matter of Israel's secret prisons, mentioned earlier. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese academic specialist on Hezbollah, regards the Gaza connection as primary, but argues that one should not ignore "the domestic significance of these hostages."11

Still others regard Iran and/or Syria as the main actors. Many experts and Iranian dissidents disagree, though few doubt that Iran and Syria authorized Hezbollah's actions. Most Arab rulers place the blame on Iran. At an emergency Arab League summit, they were willing "to openly defy Arab public opinion" because of their concerns about Iranian influence. One Dubai military specialist commented that the Iranians, by means of Hezbollah, "are embarrassing the hell out of the Arab governments," who are doing nothing while "[t]he peace process has collapsed, the Palestinians are being killed. . . . And here comes Hezbollah, which is actually scoring hits against Israel." The criticism of Hezbollah was opposed by Syria, Yemen, Algeria, and Lebanon; the Iraqi parliament, "in a rare show of unity," condemned the Israeli attack as "criminal aggression," and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose designation Washington applauded, "call[ed] on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression." The fact that most Arab leaders, however, are willing to "defy public opinion" may have large-scale regional implications, strengthening radical Islamist groups. It is noteworthy that the "Supreme Guide" of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Mahdi Akef, sharply condemned the Arab states. "The Brotherhood would win a comfortable majority" in a free election in Egypt, according to Middle East scholar Fawwaz Gerges, and has broad influence elsewhere, including with Hamas, one of its offshoots.12

A broader analysis is suggested by retired colonel Pat Lang, former head of the Middle East and terrorism desk at the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency: "This is basically tribal warfare. If you have someone who's hostile to you and you're unwilling to accept a temporary truce, as Hamas offered, then you have to destroy them. The Israeli response is so disproportionate to the abduction of the three men it appears it's a rather clever excuse designed to appeal both to their public and to the U.S."13

Speculation about motives and conflicting factors should not blind us to the tragedy that is unfolding. Lebanon is being destroyed, Israel's Gaza prison is suffering still more savage blows, and on the West Bank, mostly out of sight, the United States and Israel are consummating their project of the murder of a nation, a grim and rare event in history.

These actions, and the Western response, illustrate all too clearly the amalgam of savage cruelty, self-righteousness, and injured innocence that is so deeply rooted in the imperial mentality as to be beyond awareness. One can easily understand why Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization, is alleged to have said that he thought it might be a good idea.

-- July 20, 2006

Notes

1. Noah Feldman, "Becoming bin Laden" (review of Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden), New York Times Book Review, February 12, 2006, p. 12; Steven Erlanger, "U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster," New York Times, February 14, 2006, p. A1.

2. Louis Pérez, "Fear and Loathing of Fidel Castro: Sources of U.S. Policy Toward Cuba," Journal of Latin American Studies 34, no. 2 (May 2002), pp. 227–254.

3. Steven R. Weisman, "Europe Plan to Aid Palestinians Stalls Over U.S. Salary Sanctions," New York Times, June 15, 2006, p. A10. See also Tanya Reinhart, "A Week of Israeli Restraint," Yediot Ahronot, June 21, 2006. A striking illustration of this pattern is the intense (and failed) effort to elicit Palestinian violence to justify the planned 1982 invasion. Palestinian violence does continue, however, notably in the form of Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza by groups that refused to accept the Hamas truce -- actions both criminal and foolish.

4. Jonathan Cook, "The British Media and the Invasion of Gaza," Medialens (UK), June 30, 2006; Josh Brannon, "IDF Commandos Enter Gaza, Capture Two Hamas Terrorists," Jerusalem Post, June 25, 2006; Ken Ellingwood, "2 Palestinians Held in Israel's First Arrest Raid in Gaza Since Pullout," Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2006, p. A20. Apart from the Los Angeles Times, there were only a few marginal words in the Baltimore Sun (June 25) and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (June 25). Moreover, no mainstream media source chose to refer to this event when discussing Shalit's capture. The only serious coverage I know of in the English-language press appeared in the Turkish Daily News (June 25). (Database search by David Peterson.)

5. Aviv Lavie, "Inside Israel's Secret Prison," Ha'aretz, August 22, 2003; Jonathan Cook, "Facility 1391: Israel's Guantanamo," Le Monde Diplomatique, November 2003; Chris McGreal, "Facility 1391: Israel's Secret Prison," Guardian, November 14, 2003, p. 2.

6. Gideon Levy, "A Black Flag," Ha'aretz, July 2, 2006; Christopher Gunness, "Statements by the United Nations Agencies Working in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," July 8, 2006; Amnesty International press release, "Israel/Occupied Territories: Deliberate Attacks a War Crime," AI Index: MDE 15/061/2006 (Public), News Service No. 169, June 30, 2006.

7. Editorial, "A Problem That Can't Be Ignored," New York Times, June 17, 2006, p. A12.

8. Israeli Cabinet Statement on Road Map and 14 Reservations by State of Israel, July 9, 2004, originally released on May 25, 2003.

9. Rami G. Khouri, "The Mideast Death Dance," Salon, July 15, 2006.

10. Roula Khalaf, "Hizbollah's Bold Attack Raises Stakes in Middle East," Financial Times, July 13, 2006, p. 5; David Hirst, "Overnight Lebanon Has Been Plunged into a Role It Endured for 25 Years -- That of a Hapless Arena for Other People's Wars," Guardian, July 14, 2006, p. 29; Megan K. Stack and Rania Abouzeid, "The Nation of Hezbollah," Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2006, p. A1; Neil MacFarquhar and Hassan Fattah, "In Hezbollah Mix of Politics and Arms, Arms Win Out," New York Times, July 16, 2006, pp. I:1; Amos Harel, "Israel Faces a Wide Military Escalation," Ha'aretz, July 12, 2006; Uri Avnery, "The Real Aim," July 15, 2006, Gush Shalom Web site.

11. Mouin Rabbani, Democracy Now!, July 14, 2006, transcript available online; Saad-Ghorayeb, quoted in Halpern and Blanford, "A Second Front Opens for Israel," p. 1. [The number of prisoners is unknown, apart from the one or two officially admitted. In what may be the first mainstream reference, Ha'aretz commentator Nehemia Shtrasler writes that in the course of the six years since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, "no one found it correct to neutralize the central demand of Hezbollah: freeing the Lebanese prisoners. The head of the Lebanese government, Fuad Siniora, stated two days ago that freeing these prisoners is a central condition for any agreement. In addition to Samir Quntar, Israel holds about 15 Lebanese prisoners, who have been held here for many years. It was possible to free them long before -- to the hands of the moderate Siniora." See Shtrasler, "A Path to Strengthen the Extremists," Ha'aretz, July 21, 2006 (in Hebrew). (Information added July 22, 2006.)]

12. Hassan Fattah, "Militia Rebuked by Some Arab Countries," New York Times, July 17, 2006, p. A1; Dan Murphy and Sameh NaGuib, "Hizbullah Winning over Arab Street," Christian Science Monitor, July 18, 2006, p. 1; Edward Wong and Michael Slackman, "Iraqi Prime Minister Denounces Israel's Actions," New York Times, October 20, 2006, p. A1; Fawwaz Gerges, Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy (Orlando, FL: Harcourt Inc., 2006), p. 26.

13. Lang, quoted in Dan Murphy, "Escalation Ripples Through Middle East," Christian Science Monitor, July 14, 2006, p. 1.

Why ‘two states’ is not the solution for Palestine

The massacre at Qana is typical of the malicious brutality with which Israel has conducted all its wars, not just the present one. It poses the perennial question of how Israel can ever coexist peacefully with the rest of the Middle East.

For over 30 years the Palestinian movement, supported by much of the left and progressive opinion worldwide, has had an official policy for addressing this question - the two-state solution.

The idea is that a settlement could be reached between Israel and the Palestinians allowing the two to live side by side peacefully in separate, democratic states. The late Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), justified signing the 1993 Oslo Accord by arguing it was a step towards a two-state solution.

But the experience of the “peace process” since Oslo has produced very clear evidence that the two-state solution cannot work. One reason is the massive imbalance of power between the two sides.

Israel is one of the greatest military powers in the world, backed and subsidised by the US. In contrast the Palestine Authority (PA) is given limited authority over a fragmented territory, and is financially dependent on outside powers such as the European Union that can withdraw their support at whim, as Hamas has discovered.

Israeli policy has worked to perpetuate this imbalance - to keep the PA weak and dependent.

Supporters of a two-state solution argue that this state of affairs is a consequence of the malevolence of Israeli politicians, and maybe also by the incompetence of their Palestinian counterparts. This argument fails to address the reason that the Israeli leadership gives for all the measures that weaken the PA - the need to preserve the security of the Jewish state. This is more than just hypocrisy.

Israel is a settler colonial state - in other words, a state on territory seized from the original inhabitants and occupied by privileged outsiders backed by the Western imperialist powers. All settler states face the problem of what to do with the people whose land they stole.

Solution

The best solution - from the settlers’ point of view, of course - is extermination, ideally stretched over several centuries. The US, Canada, and Australia bear witness to the success of this policy.

Another solution is to turn the original inhabitants into the settlers’ labour force. This happened in South Africa, Rhodesia, Kenya, and Algeria. This has the big disadvantage that sooner or later the dispossessed get organised and take the country back, as they did in all these cases.

The Zionist colonisers drove out millions of Palestinians, most to neighbouring countries. The rest are still subject to Israeli rule, which to differing degrees they resent and resist, with enormous sympathy from the Arab masses.

The result is to leave Israel in a permanent state of insecurity. It lives alongside those it dispossessed, in a state of perpetual war with them.

Israel can’t exterminate the Palestinians - even the Nazis needed the cover provided by the Second World War to attempt the Holocaust. Right wing Israeli politicians advocate expelling the Palestinians to neighbouring states, but this would just increase antagonism with the Arab world.

But Israel can’t make peace with the Palestinians. The only real settlement would be one that allowed the millions of Palestinian refugees to return - but this would destroy the basis of Israel as an exclusively Jewish state.

So any Israeli “settlement” with the Palestinians is necessarily phoney. Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who embarked on the “peace process”, did so on the cynical assumption that the PLO was an undemocratic organisation that could enforce order on the Palestinians. Hence a dose of real democracy - such as Hamas’s election victory - threatens to blow everything apart.

The only real way out lies in the policy that the PLO abandoned in the mid-1970s - a single secular and democratic Palestinian state in which Jews and Arabs, Christians and Muslims live together on the basis of equality. This may seem completely utopian amid the present carnage. But don’t the horrors currently unfolding demand radical solutions?

Baghdad gunmen kidnap 26 people

Gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms have kidnapped 26 people in a commercial district in central Baghdad, interior ministry officials have said.
The gunmen pulled up in 15 vehicles and rounded up staff and customers of a firm on a shopping street in Arasat.
The head of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce was apparently seized along with 10 of his staff, as well as 15 employees of a mobile phone company nearby.
Mass kidnappings have become a feature of the sectarian violence across Iraq.
Iraqi government officials denied that the gunmen were genuine police officers, branding them "terrorists" on state TV, reports said.
There have been regular reports that Iraqi police are involved in abductions and so-called death squads, but little concrete evidence.
Insurgents have regularly disguised themselves as police to carry out attacks.
The U.S. has in many opportunities kidnapped foreigners and blamed insurgents to boost the War on Terror speech. They have also in the past disguised as Sunnis attacking Shias and inversely to reinforce their antagonisms.

Quick operation
One witness told he saw gunmen handcuff and blindfold the victims.
A guard standing across the street said the kidnappers arrived in police cars without number plates.
They separated the women from the men and took only men.
"I saw police cars without number plates come up to the office. They separated the women employees and took only men. They took some guards, workers and the manager.
"The whole operation took less than 10 minutes."
The Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce is an independent organisation and affiliated with the US government. It has branches around Iraq and in Jordan.