Truthdig - Reports - Taking a Stand Against War

Truthdig - Reports - Taking a Stand Against War

Posted on May 11, 2008

By Scott Ritter

As someone who has been urging focused citizen activism for some time now, I find it heartening that there are those in the United States who put action to words and seek to lead by example. This is the case with Chicago Alderman Joe Moore, who, together with seven of his 49 colleagues (Toni Preckwinkle, Sandi Jackson, Eugene Schulter, Robert Fioretti, Freddrenna Lyle, Ricardo Munoz and Mary Ann Smith), has prepared a resolution for the Chicago City Council opposing war on Iran. By itself, this resolution most probably will not serve to alter the policies currently being pursued by the Bush administration. But when a great American city such as Chicago takes the lead in expressing its rejection of irresponsible national policy, other cities should, and will, take notice.

I have been asked to be a witness, together with other experts on Iran and U.S. Middle East policy, before the City Council as it considers this resolution. I think it is of great importance that the representatives of the people of Chicago vote to adopt it in its entirety. I would also encourage other municipalities to consider similar resolutions opposing war on Iran, and to express their concern through the adoption of resolutions which, collectively, might serve as a notice to the United States Congress, as well as the administration of President Bush, that a war with Iran would not be supported by the citizens of this land.

The Human Rights Crime in Gaza | ForeignPolicy | AlterNet

The Human Rights Crime in Gaza | ForeignPolicy | AlterNet: "The world is witnessing a terrible human rights crime in Gaza, where a million and a half human beings are being imprisoned with almost no access to the outside world. An entire population is being brutally punished.

This gross mistreatment of the Palestinians in Gaza was escalated dramatically by Israel, with United States backing, after political candidates representing Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Authority parliament in 2006. The election was unanimously judged to be honest and fair by all international observers.

Israel and the US refused to accept the right of Palestinians to form a unity government with Hamas and Fatah and now, after internal strife, Hamas alone controls Gaza. Forty-one of the 43 victorious Hamas candidates who lived in the West Bank have been imprisoned by Israel, plus an additional 10 who assumed positions in the short-lived coalition cabinet."

Secret Law Hearing Follow-Up � Secrecy News

Secret Law Hearing Follow-Up � Secrecy News: "A recent Senate hearing on the subject of “secret law” drew an appreciative review today from syndicated columnist and first amendment champion Nat Hentoff.

“So important was an April 30 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution that it should have been on front pages around the country,” he wrote.

“Titled ‘Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government’ and chaired by Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat. it focused on an issue ignored by the presidential contenders that has deeply weakened our rule of law.”

See “Let the Sunshine In” by Nat Hentoff, via The Washington Times, May 12.

“It’s a given in our democracy that laws should be a matter of public record,” wrote Senator Feingold in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. “But the law in this country includes not just statutes and regulations, which the public can readily access. It also includes binding legal interpretations made by courts and the executive branch. These interpretations are increasingly being withheld from the public and Congress.”"

Thorstein Veblen on The Web

Thorstein Veblen on The Web: "Text of The Theory of The Liesure Class

The institution of a leisure class is found in its best development at the higher stages of the barbarian culture; as, for instance, in feudal Europe or feudal Japan. In such communities the distinction between classes is very rigorously observed; and the feature of most striking economic significance in these class differences is the distinction maintained between the employments proper to the several classes. The upper classes are by custom exempt or excluded from industrial occupations, and are reserved for certain employments to which a degree of honour attaches."

Aspartame Manufacturer Ajinomoto Sues UK Supermarket Chain, ASDA owned by Walmart, for Removing Chemical from Stores!

Aspartame Manufacturer Ajinomoto Sues UK Supermarket Chain, ASDA owned by Walmart, for Removing Chemical from Stores!: "This is astonishing!

The world's largest Aspartame and MSG manufacturer, Ajinomoto, has decided to sue ASDA, the UK Supermarket chain, for removing the sale of products containing aspartame, the neurotoxic and carcinogenic artificial sweetener, which was done

AT THE REQUEST OF THEIR OWN CUSTOMERS!"

Inglewood Police Discuss Deadly Officer-Involved Shooting - News Story - KNBC | Los Angeles

Inglewood Police Discuss Deadly Officer-Involved Shooting - News Story - KNBC | Los Angeles: "INGLEWOOD, Calif. --
Inglewood police killed one man and wounded another when they opened fire on a vehicle, saying they believed the occupants had shot at them -- although it turned out that the men were unarmed and their car was never struck with bullets."

Blast kills Gaza teacher in front of her children - Middle East, World - The Independent

Blast kills Gaza teacher in front of her children - Middle East, World - The Independent: "By Donald Macintyre in Khan Younis
Monday, 12 May 2008

The UN is demanding an investigation into how the Israeli military killed one of its Palestinian school teachers by blasting open the front door of her Gaza home with explosives in the presence of three of her children."

American Chronicle | Americans Are Living (And Dying) In A Militarized Police State

American Chronicle | Americans Are Living (And Dying) In A Militarized Police State: "Dave Gibson
May 05, 2008
Today, police departments across the United States more closely resemble an occupying army than they do public servants responding to calls for help. Police officers can now be seen wearing helmets and body armor and carrying AR-15's, just to deliver simple warrants. The militarization of our police departments not only gives the appearance of a military dictatorship but places the public at great risk."

Why the presidential candidates won't talk about Israel | csmonitor.com

Why the presidential candidates won't talk about Israel | csmonitor.com: "Israel, celebrating its 60th birthday last week, has proved to be an expensive ally for the United States.

Since its birth, Israel has received at least $114 billion from the US in direct foreign economic and military aid, says Shirl McArthur, a retired US diplomat who periodically updates his Israel cost estimates for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WREMA), a magazine often critical of US policy toward Israel.

That estimate, Mr. McArthur notes, is conservative. For instance, he has not factored inflation into that $114 billion cumulative sum. The late Washington economist Thomas Stauffer did that calculation several years ago. He found total official aid to Israel, up to 2002, came to $247 billion. He added other costs of US support of Israel (interest on debt, higher oil prices, etc.) to reach a highly controversial total of $1.6 trillion.

For comparison, the cost to the US of the Iraq war is running about $144 billion a year."

�Harper’s Extreme Posture No Way to Support Israel : Information Clearing House - ICH

�Harper’s Extreme Posture No Way to Support Israel : Information Clearing House - ICH: "One wonders what Harper would make of those Israelis, as well as Jewish Canadians and others, who do strongly support Israel but also question some Israeli policies.

What would he say about the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians? This newly formed umbrella organization of 23 groups, critical of some Israeli policies, obviously does not “hate Israel,” or “hate the Jewish people.”

Harper’s position is designed to silence and delegitimize even the mildest criticism of Israeli policies."

The Existentialist Cowboy

The Existentialist Cowboy: "Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bugliosi: George W. Bush Should be Tried for Mass Murder

It has been my position for years that George W. Bush should be prosecuted for various capital crimes, not the least of which are the deaths following from his wars of naked aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. [See: US Codes, Title 18, Section 2441] I have urged that a Federal Grand jury bring indictments against George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condo Rice, Don Rumsfeld and numerous other co-conspirators, accomplices and accessories-after-the fact. Now --a heavy hitter, a tough-minded, legendary prosecutor wants to see George W. Bush stand trial for mass murder. Vince Bugliosi is famous for his prosecution of Charles Manson and his ascerbic critique of a Supreme Court decision that made no law --Bush v Gore. He now claims that George W. Bush should stand trial for the crime of mass murder of US citizens."

Chris Floyd Online - New Britney Spears Sex Tape Bares All!

Chris Floyd Online - New Britney Spears Sex Tape Bares All!: "New Britney Spears Sex Tape Bares All! PDF Print E-mail
Monday, 21 April 2008

(UPDATED BELOW)

I know no one cares about Somalia; every time I write about it on the website, the traffic drops like a stone. (Let's see if that headline draws a few eyeballs, though. If it works, we might just rename the whole damn blog.) But I don't care if no one cares. There is a continuous slaughter and ravaging of innocent human beings going on in Somalia, a vast atrocity that is sponsored, funded, greenlighted and directly aided by the United States government, and I'm going to keep on writing about it."

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder - CommonDreams.org

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder - CommonDreams.org: "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder
by Vincent Bugliosi

There is direct evidence that President George W. Bush did not honorably lead this nation, but deliberately misled it into a war he wanted. Bush and his administration knowingly lied to Congress and to the American public — lies that have cost the lives of more than 4,000 young American soldiers and close to $1 trillion."

Chris Floyd Online - Shoot, Kill, Lie, Repeat: America's New Moral Universe

Chris Floyd Online - Shoot, Kill, Lie, Repeat: America's New Moral Universe

Shoot, Kill, Lie, Repeat: America's New Moral Universe

Friday, 09 May 2008

Tell me that this doesn't sound like something out of a history of Nazi tactics in World War II: The rules [of engagement]t explicitly allowed the killing of unarmed Iraqis under certain circumstances...Specifically, the snipers were allowed to shoot unarmed people running away from explosions or firefights....Of course, it's not unusual for innocent people to run from explosions. Didier, who has since been promoted to captain, said that "if that individual makes contact with you and then breaks contact of their own accord and disarms themselves while they are breaking contact, they are still an engageable target because they are not wounded, nor did they surrender." He explained, "They are only breaking contact so that they can engage coalition forces at a later time." In court, Sgt. Anthony Murphy, one of the snipers who was responsible for a questionable kill, testified that he interpreted this order about breaking contact so they can engage at a later time as: "Engage fleeing local nationals without weapons." In other words, if an innocent, unarmed Iraqi runs away to seek safety from a suicide bombing, a missile attack or a gunfight -- which any human being would instinctively do -- then he is fair game to be killed by an American sniper. The excerpt above comes from a story in Salon.com, "Killing by the Numbers," about an "elite" U.S. sniper squad that murdered a captured, unarmed civilian in cold blood. A more detailed excerpt follows below, but I'd like to deal briefly with one ancillary aspect first.

Ann Wright | Japanese People Still Say "No More War"

Ann Wright | Japanese People Still Say "No More War"

Despite Bush Administration Pressure,
the Japanese People Continue to Say "No More War"
By Ann Wright
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 05 May 2008

After the end of World War II, the Japanese Constitution, written by the United States for the defeated Japanese, rejected war as a solution for conflict. Article Nine states: "Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized."

Now, 61 years later, the Bush administration is undermining the spirit and intent of Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution by urging the Japanese government to allow the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to provide air and sea logistics assistance to Bush's war on Iraq. Former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage in 2004 complained, "Article Nine is an impediment to the US-Japanese alliance," an alliance the Bush administration wants to use to spread the financial and military operational burden of the war on Iraq.

Over the objections of many Japanese citizens, the Japanese government has provided limited numbers of refueling ships for resupplying American warships and logistic transport aircraft that fly supplies into Baghdad. A recent decision by the High Court of Nagoya found that Japanese Air Self-Defense Force missions into Iraq were unconstitutional as they violated Article Nine.

One Hundred and Eleven (111) Pro-Impeachment Candidates (!!!)

One Hundred and Eleven (111) Pro-Impeachment Candidates (!!!): "I've done no survey. There are probably a heck of a lot more candidates out there who haven't contacted me or I haven't happened to run across. But I have put together a list, thus far, of 111 candidates for Congress, the Senate, or the White House who support impeaching Bush and Cheney. Here's the list, organized by office and by state / district:

http://afterdowningstreet.org/2008candidates

Most of the candidates on the list are Democrats, either incumbents or challengers. Others are Green, Libertarian, Independent, and even Republican."