This week we have all seen the horrors unfold the territory formerly known as Burma. It was renamed Myanmar in recent years by the ruling military junta. Up until 2 weeks ago Myanmar was the internationally recognized and used name for this state much to the dismay of Democracy activists and Buddhist Monks. Now, since the pictures of a dead Monk floating in the Inle Lake and the truth of the military dictatorship have immerged in mainstream media the international community has jumped on the ‘democracy for Burma’ bandwagon.
Isn’t it a little late to support these Democracy activists? Would it not have been more productive to address this issue back in 1990 when a general election voted agianst the militaristic government and these results were thrown out by then State Peace and Development Council Chairman Than Shwe? This is the man who responsible for the atrocities of recent weeks and for the renaming of this once democratic country.
Pres. Bush, at the UN meeting declared that we must support democracy in Burma. After our invasion he declared we must support democracy in Iraq, and after 9/11 he declared the Afghans ‘hated us for our freedom’. Why, after we supplied AK47’s and rocket launchers to the Taliban to support our proxy war with the Soviets did they have such a change of heart against the U.S.?
Surely, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism was a significant factor. But how did this rise occur? The Taliban, like the SPDC did in Bruma, took over Afghanistan with military might. They terrorized Afghan citizens, created a huge refugee crisis, and institutionalized Madrasah educational systems to teach Islamic fundamentalism to the oppressed and disenfranchised population. It is apparent to me that if we had supported a democratic movement and given non-military aid (in the way of education and basic necessities) to citizens in those early years we could have avoided the tragic events of 9/11. Subsequently, we could have avoided the current international quagmire we find ourselves in today. No one straps a bomb to their body if they are leading a fulfilling and secure life.
The only way to combat terrorism and promote grassroots democratic systems is to engage the population BEFORE the violence comes to a head. We have the largest military in the world and yet we have no Peacekeepers. We allocate 90% of our security budget to our own military and a fraction of it to international cooperation. It is time we switched our priorities to secure a future for our children and children all over the world.
October 5, 2007 at 12:14 am |
Subject: SO FAR CONGRESS HAS TAKEN FOUR YEARS TO REACT TO THE AMERICAN ABUSES, AND THE WAR FOR PROFIT.. WHY? PROFIT FOR THEIR SPECIAL INTEREST.
Do not “underestimate” the “anger,” “frustration,” and “determination,” of your citizens who demand “justice and fairness.”
One Thousand A Month Tortured To Death In Iraq PDF Paul Joseph Watson/Prison Planet.com | February 21 2006 – the outgoing UN human rights chief, Dr. John Pace, dropped a bombshell when he told an obscure Maltese newspaper that as many as a thousand detainees a month are being tortured to death in Iraq.
Private Contractors that routinely torture Iraqi prisoners are not subject to arrest or court martial by the coalition command. The military leaves it up to the companies to take disciplinary action. These contractors operate directly under Mossad intelligence and follow their policies on torture. The soldiers that are up for court martial have been made to be accomplises but are not the main culprits in the scandal. The private contractors working for the Mossad and the Mossad ‘advisors’ should also be on trial along with the leaders of the military at the highest level, including the Commander and Chief. –Webber
Meltdown in Iraq by George Hunsinger – Writing in the respected Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Orit Shoat summed up:
“During the first two weeks of [April], the American army committed war crimes in Fallujah on a scale unprecedented for this war. . . . Some 600 Iraqis were killed during these two weeks [estimates are now at 800 - G.H.], among them some 450 elderly people, women and children. . . . According to the organization Doctors Without Borders, U.S. Marines even occupied the hospitals and prevented hundreds of the wounded from receiving medical treatment. Snipers fired from the rooftops at anyone who tried to approach.”
Troops ‘have been abusing Iraqis for a year’: Amnesty By Marian Wilkinson – A CIA officer told the Herald that “one prisoner . . . who we were talking to did die”. And the former US officer responsible for the jail, Brigadier-General Janis Karpinski, reiterated that the cell blocks where the abuses took place were under the control of military intelligence when the prisoners were subjected to beating, rape, sexually humiliation and torture. [Gee, I wonder how many CIA/Mossad officers will go on trial over this? -ed.]
French TV screens images ‘of US helicopter crew killing Iraqis’ PARIS, May 4 [The link to the video is available for viewing in our Movies & Multimedia Section -ed.]
Horrific New Evidence of Soldiers’ Brutality in Iraq By Raymond Whitaker, Andy McSmith and Andrew Johnson Independent U.K. Sunday 02 May 2004 – Gen Taguba’s report makes it clear that far from being isolated actions by low-level personnel,intelligence interrogators encouraged the military police to “soften up” detainees. [These "intelligence" interrogators are the private mercenary soldiers employed by the Pentagon there. They include personnel from companies like Blackwater, CACI, Titan and others. -ed.]
Photos show jail abuse by US troops April 30, 2004 – The photographs were taken inside Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad, where US forces have been holding hundreds of Iraqis.
American Justice: Pictures of an Iraqi arrested and executed PDF By: khilafah.com on: 22.01.2005
Investigator: Troops drank, golfed before Iraqi killings, rape PDF August 7, 2006
G.I.’s Say Officers Ordered Killing of Young Iraqi Men PDF By PAUL von ZIELBAUER August 3, 2006
Soldiers Say Ordered to Kill Young Men PDF By ALICIA A. CALDWELL Jul 21,2006
When Torture Isn’t Good Enough PDF Booman Tribune July 14, 2006
Her face PDF by Joseph Cannon, Cannonfire – Abir Hamza, the victim of that vicious assault, was born in 1991. She was only 14 when a squad of all-American “Christian” good-old-boys killed her family, raped her, and burned her body.
New ‘Iraq massacre’ tape emerges PDF – a report filed by Iraqi police accused US troops of rounding up and deliberately shooting 11 people in the house, including five children and four women, before blowing up the building.
‘I Pretended to be Dead’ : Girl, 12, Sole Survivor When Marines Executed Her Family (With Video) PDF – War Crime Video
Photos Indicate Civilians Slain Execution-Style PDF By Tony Perry and Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writers May 27, 2006 – a 9-year-old girl, Eman Waleed, said that she saw Marines kill her grandparents and that other adults in the house died shielding her and her 8-year-old brother.
Breaking: Eyewitnesses to the Haditha massacre!!! PDF by EZ writer May 26, 2006 – The girls killed inside Khafif’s house alone were aged 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1, according to death certificates.
Easily Dispensable: Iraq’s Children PDF By Dahr Jamail 5-22-6
Video of Ex -US soldier: ‘If he didn’t answer the way we liked, we would shoot his youngest kid in the head’ (Local .MOV File) [Right-click to save] May 21, 2006
Iraq Sunnis accuse US of “atrocity” over raids PDF 15 May 2006
How Massacres Become the Norm PDF By Dahr Jamail t r u t h o u t | Perspective 04 April 2006 – An AP video of the scene shows male bodies tangled together in a bloody mass on the floor of the Imams’ living quarters – all of them with shotgun wounds and other bullet holes. The tape also shows shell casings of the caliber used by the US military scattered about on the floor. An official from the al-Sadr political bloc reported that American forces had surrounded the hospital where the wounded were taken for treatment after the massacre.
When is Killing Arab Civilians Considered a Massacre? PDF By OMAR BARGHOUTI, Counterpunch March 29, 2006 – “American forces used helicopters to drop troops on the house of Faiz Harat Khalaf situated in the Abu Sifa village of the Ishaqi district. The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 people, including five children, four women and two men, then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed their animals.”
Did American Marines murder 23 Iraqi civilians? PDF 27 March 2006
The Gruesome Reality of Operation Swarmer PDF Eman Ahmad Khamas, CommonDreams.org March 24, 2006
Photos: U.S. Soldiers Kill Children in Cowardly Attack PDF by combat Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2006
11 People, mostly women and chlidren, Killed in U.S. Raid north of Baghdad PDF By: ZIAD KHALAF, Associated Press Writer on: 15.03.2006
Beyond Abu Ghraib: Detention and Torture in Iraq PDF Amnesty International 6 March 2006
‘14,000 detained without trial in Iraq’ PDF Mike McDonough Monday March 6, 2006
U.S. invasion responsible deaths of over 250,000 civilians in Iraq PDF by John Stokes
British troops videoed ‘beating Iraqis’ PDF By: Jo Revill and Ned Temko on: 12.02.2006
“This is the face of American terrorism” PDF – Upon stealing the $10,000 that were in his coat pocket the troops that the Americans are so proud of and support, found that he did not have any weapons or explosives and then they dumped his body at the local hospital and walked away with his money.
British mercenary firm with Pentagon contracts exposed in civilian shooting incident in Iraq PDF
Whistleblower! – US Interrogator Confirms Routine Iraq Torture PDF Dailykos.com – November 28, 2005
Baghdad: Iraqi girls claim kidnapping by US soldiers PDF By: http://www.iha.com.tr on: 25.10.2005
Army officer reveals new allegations of detainee mistreatment in Iraq and Afghan PDFSeptember 24, 2005
Iraqi Police accuse Britons of planting bombs PDF By: Jonathan Finer and Omar Fekeiki on: 19.09.2005 [British troops get busted during a false flag operation. -ed.]
Tal Afar Residents Send Out SOS PDF – “The Americans are seemingly bombing the city with chemical weapons,” he said, adding Tal Afar residents are speaking of suffocations and other health problems upon exposure to any hit area.
US Forces slaughter dozens of civilians in Iraq PDF By: Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey on: 01.09.2005
ar-Ramadi Massacre – 23 dead, Nineteen killed instantly, including 7 children
15 Iraqis dead after US gunfire: doctor PDF
Who Murdered 32 Iraqi Children? (Truth Comes Out) PDF By: Layth on: 17.07.2005
US Troops plant weapons on civilian kills in order to claim they are insurgents PDF Jun 25, 2005
U.S. Used NAPALM In Iraq and LIED About It *PIC* PDF
Sick strategies for senseless slaughter PDF by John Kaminski
U.S. forces abuse and torture female detainees in Iraq 4/18/2005
Army Probe Finds Abuse at Jail Near Mosul The Associated Press Saturday 26 March 2005
Iraqi doctor: US troops storm hospital Sunday 27 March 2005 – The assistant director also said US troops raided Ramadi and Haditha general hospitals a few days ago, and questioned whether doctors had become military targets and if the raids were aimed at closing hospitals.
Britain’s Abu Ghraib — BBC correspondent Paul Adams [Photos]
US troops kill Iraqi civilians PDF Sun Jan 9, 2005 – “Why did these poor people have to die?” lamented Baghdad taxi driver Doraid Abdul Khaliq, 28. “Bombing, shooting and running a tank over cars have all become something normal.”
Reporter: Wounded Iraqi Made No Movements Monday November 22, 2004 – “Through my viewfinder I can see him (Marine) raise the muzzle of his rifle in the direction of the wounded Iraqi. There are no sudden movements, no reaching or lunging,” Sites writes.
US soldier shoots Bengal tiger in Baghdad zoo 11/11/2004 – The “insurgent” in this case was a defenseless Bengal Tiger, locked up in its cage, shot dead by a drunken American soldier. What fun. What a brave soldier.
Iraq transfers war crimes? UPI – Tuesday, October 26, 2004 – The Washington Post reported Sunday that the CIA secretly transferred a dozen non-Iraqi prisoners out of Iraq in the past 18 months.
The Secret File of Abu Ghraib By OSHA GRAY DAVIDSON – A slide presentation in the classified files spells out the new “Interrogation Rules of Engagement,” specifying that soldiers, with proper approval, may subject prisoners to dietary manipulation, sleep deprivation, stress positions and the “presence of mil working dogs.”
Iraqi group claims over 37,000 civilian toll By Ahmed Janabi Saturday 31 July 2004 – Our study is the result of two months of hard work which involved hundreds of Iraqi activists and academics. Of course there may be deaths that were not reported to us, but the toll in any case could not be lower than our finding,” said Muhammad al-Ubaidi.
UK troops held torture contests, Iraqi claims KAREN MCVEIGH – A HOTEL worker who says he witnessed British troops beating his friend to death in Iraq spoke yesterday of being subjected to “torture competitions” at the hands of the army.
3,000 held in America’s global gulag PDF – In Syria, detainees sent by Washington are held at “the Palestine wing” of the main intelligence headquarters and a series of jails in Damascus and other cities. Egypt has also received a steady flow of militants from American installations.
Soldier’s defense team wants 100 witnesses from Cheney on down for Abu Ghraib case Sunday, June 13, 2004 By Cindi Lash and Michael A. Fuoco – By putting top government officials like Vice President Dick Cheney on their witness list, England’s attorneys are serving notice that in defending their client, they will attempt to put on trial the Bush administration’s policies on intelligence gathering from detainees.
Torture and Rumors of Torture June 10, 2004 – “[Hersh] said he had seen all the Abu Ghraib pictures. He said, ‘You haven’t begun to see evil…’ then trailed off. He said, ‘horrible things done to children of women prisoners, as the cameras run.’ He looked frightened.”
Sanchez Authorized Torture at Abu Ghraib t r u t h o u t | 06.13.04 – Sanchez decided on Oct. 12 to remove several items on the list and to require that prison officials obtain his direct approval for the remaining high-pressure methods.
New Report Documents Extensive U.S. War Crimes In Iraq…
Purported “Transfer of Sovereignty” Condemned as Farce, Despite UN Resolution
CA Guardsman alleges detainee abuse in Iraq Published on Thursday, June 10, 2004 – Sgt. Greg Ford said he repeatedly had to revive prisoners who had passed out, and once saw a soldier stand on the back of a handcuffed detainee’s neck and pull his arms until they popped out of their sockets.
Use Of Dogs In Abuse Scandal Authorized: Report WASHINGTON, June 11, 2004 – two dog handlers at Abu Ghraib were “having a contest” to see how many detainees they could make involuntarily urinate out of fear of the dogs
Ignoring Iraqi Death Toll Labelled a Holocaust Denial Gideon Polya. – His startling estimate is that, for Iraq, excess mortality and infant mortality are “currently of the order of 100,000 per year, or about 300 per day”.
John Howard, George Bush: war criminals Rohan Pearce – “Gonzales said he feared `prosecutors and independent counsels who may in the future decide to pursue unwarranted charges’ based on a 1996 U.S. law that bars `war crimes,’ which were defined to include `any grave breach’ of the Geneva Conventions.”
War Crimes: What Secrets Can the Photos Reveal? By Steve Weissman t r u t h o u t | Perspective Tuesday 25 May 2004 – According to intelligence sources that Sy Hersh quoted in the New Yorker, Rumsfeld turned to a super-secret Special Access Program, or SAP, which was in the business of killing or capturing al-Qaeda suspects all over the world, and where possible, interrogating them using Stress and Duress techniques banned by the Geneva Conventions. Now the covert operators would bring the same techniques to Abu Ghraib.
New Details of Prison Abuse Emerge By Scott Higham and Joe Stephens Washington Post Friday 21 May 2004 – Hilas also said he witnessed an Army translator having sex with a boy at the prison. He said the boy was between 15 and 18 years old. Someone hung sheets to block the view, but Hilas said he heard the boy’s screams and climbed a door to get a better look. Hilas said he watched the assault and told investigators that it was documented by a female soldier taking pictures.
‘US soldiers started to shoot us, one by one’ Rory McCarthy in Ramadi Friday May 21, 2004 – “We went out of the house and the American soldiers started to shoot us. They were shooting low on the ground and targeting us one by one,” she said.
`They didn’t even spare one child’ Air strike kills families in their beds U.S. maintains target was hideout SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI
U.S. kills 40 Iraqis, at wedding party PDF The Associated Press May 19, 2004 [At least they won't be tortured in prison. -ed.]
Congress hiding soldiers’ photos of torture – The worst he said was a picture o
‘They were kicking us, laughing. It was a great pleasure for them’ Rory McCarthy in Basra Saturday February 21, 2004 – Troops searched the building and arrested the staff, driving them off to a British military base in Basra, southern Iraq. It was only a formality and the men would be released shortly, they said. Four days later Baha was dead.
Iraqi women, children in US custody By Ahmed Janabi – “Surrender, we have your wife”, this threatening note has been found at the homes of many Iraqis.
Drowned Iraqi ‘was forced into river by five US soldiers’ 14.02.2004 – Zeidun Fadhil and his cousin Marwan Fadhil were allegedly taken to a remote spot on the shore and ordered into the river at gunpoint. When they refused, the soldiers were said to have forced them into the river. Zeidun, who could not swim, drowned in the strong current. His cousin survived to tell the story.
Britain Faces ICC Investigation Into Use of Cluster Bombs by Tracy Kramer – Jan 21 – The report alleges that the use of cluster bombs and bunker-buster missiles during the conflict was contrary to international law. At a press conference Tuesday one of the lawyers, Professor Bill Bowring of London Metropolitan University, said, “There is a considerable amount of evidence of disproportionate use of force causing civilian casualties.”
U.S. Is Violating Accord on POWs by Leon Friedman – So the prisoner-of-war designation is meaningless, just a charade to hide our own failure to abide by international law in other areas. We are just saying to the world community: “See, we abide by international treaties – once in a while.”
Living by the Fence by Jo Wilding – The November 2003 study by the Uranium Medical Research Committee (UMRC) said: “Witnesses living next to the airport report 3,000 civilians were incinerated by one morning’s attack from aerial bursts of thermobaric and fuel air bombs. Since the cessation of the main phase of battle, several of the Baghdad area battlefields. [were] landscaped by the US forces and Iraqi contractors, thus preventing a thorough examination.”
Fallujah
Article 6(b) of the 1945 Nuremberg Charter defines a Nuremberg War Crime in relevant part as the “. . . wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages. . .” According to this definitive definition, the Bush Jr. administration’s destruction of Fallujah constitutes a war crime for which Nazis were tried and executed.
US BOMBED FALLUJA HOSPITAL SO THAT WORLD WOULD NOT GET REPORTS OF CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
Posted Nov 8, 2004 – It is a war crime to deliberately destroy civilian medical facilities. The hospital was shut down because doctors told people how many innocents were killed by the American assault, thus making it a military target. Any pretence of civilization is now gone.
Private contracting companies such as Haliburton and KBR, as well as BlackWater, a private army of civilians, continue to operate in Iraq, making profits and replacing the U.S. military’s role without any accountability or oversight by the US Government. As Americans and Iraqis are dying, reports continue to emerge that reveal despite a failing war strategy, the business strategies of these companies allow them to continue profiting.
October 5, 2007 at 12:15 am |
Georgetown University–George Washington University, private Universities.
Harvard University–Yale University, private Universities.
All above Universities are highly influenced by AIPAC LOBBY. To the point that
administrations, professors, and contributions come from AIPAC and other
organizations with ISRAELI influence on such education system.
To the extreme point that our Congressmen & Senators are unduly influenced
by their staffers that come from those universities, also taking their advisor
members from the professors of such universities.
We also feel that the SCREENING of information, e-mails, documents, even
editorials, are scanned by staffers to present only information benificial to the
AIPAC, ISRAELI cause. That BILLS introduced on the floor, are even
written by such staffers. That PORK entered into or attached to BILLS are
done so by staffers.
When we the AMERICAN people request reform of GOVERNMENT such
practice should also be reformed. It seems our elected officials are immediately
guided into this corrupt system.
Enough interviews have been done with past officials etc, that points this out.
BUT year after year, the system of undo influence continues. EVEN to the
point that all trips to Israel for INFORMATION GATHERING, is done to take
away any support for the true victims of conflict in the Middle East.
The Palestenian people, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and soon to
be Iran, if their influence continues.
The Church organizations in this country bought into this Israeli propaganda
along time ago. Seemingly, and wrongfully agreeing with the human rights
violations, abuses and genocide for the last 60 years.
It is time our complete system of governing, foreign policy, and foreign
influences be REFORMED.
Do not “underestimate” the “anger,” “frustration,” and “determination,” of your citizens who demand “justice and fairness
October 6, 2007 at 7:45 pm |
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December 19, 2008 at 6:25 pm |
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