News For April 29, 2010

Drone Pilots Could Be Tried for ‘War Crimes,’ Law Prof Says

By Nathan Hodge

“Under the legal theories adopted by our government in prosecuting Guantánamo detainees, these CIA officers as well as any higher-level government officials who have authorized or directed their attacks are committing war crimes.” Continue

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A US-Sponsored Terror Network
Death Squads in Afghanistan

By Francis Shor

From the attack on a bridal shower in Gardez on February 12, 2010 that killed numerous civilians, including two pregnant women, to the growing list of executions of insurgents in the Kandahar area, Special Forces have become the US military version of death squads. Continue

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What's At Stake in the Issue of Iran

By Noam Chomsky

"Iran is perceived as a threat because they did not obey the orders of the United States. Militarily this threat is irrelevant. This country has not behaved aggressively beyond its borders for centuries. Israel invaded Lebanon with the blessing and help of the U.S. five times in thirty years. Iran has not done anything like this" Continue

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Atrocity and War

By Camillo Mac Bica

For the apathetic and for those who trumpet and champion war’s necessity from a safe distance, war is a distraction, bleak, dire, and unpleasant, from their consumer driven lives, better left for others and for other peoples’ children to fight. Continue

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The Military Occupation of Our Minds

By Tom Hayden

As Congress weighs Afghanistan funding, the military is escalating what it calls the "war of perceptions" at home and abroad. The question is whether the American media and Congress will collaborate in the Pentagon's press strategy or retain a critical edge. Continue

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Arizona: Truck Driver Forced to Show Birth Certificate Claims Racial-profiling

By Alicia E. Barrón

He provided his commercial driver’s license and a social security number but ended up handcuffed. Continue

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15 killed in Pakistan attacks: Five Arabs die in N Waziristan clash; six militants killed in Orakzai

Pakistan Taliban militants 'reappear' in Swat valley: Taliban militants have resumed targeted killings of local leaders in Pakistan's troubled Swat valley, officials have told the BBC.

Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive, says spy agency: Exclusive: Setback for CIA after Pakistan intelligence official admits drone attack failed to kill the Pakistan Taliban commander

Pakistan denies reports on troop shift: Pakistan Thursday denied US reports that it has shifted 100,000 troops from its eastern border with India to its western frontier with Afghanistan, terming the reports 'baseless, ridiculous and misleading'.

Govt to file murder case against Musharraf: Badar: Central Secretary of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Jehangir Badar has said that a case will be lodged against Pervez Musharraf by the state in the wake of UN Report on the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto.

French occupation force troops killed 4 Afghan civilians by mistake: French troops mistakenly killed four Afghan civilians and seriously wounded one during a clash with insurgents east of Kabul, the French military said Thursday after concluding an investigation into the bloodshed.

Nato 'kills Afghan MP relative' in raid: A prominent Afghan MP says Nato troops stormed her home and shot dead one of her relatives in an overnight raid.

Afghan Taliban getting stronger, Pentagon says: A Pentagon report presented a sobering new assessment Wednesday of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, saying that its abilities are expanding and its operations are increasing in sophistication, despite recent major offensives by U.S. forces in the militants' heartland.

Report: Afghans still skeptical of new government: Only 29 of 121 districts in Afghanistan identified as "key terrain" support or sympathize with the Kabul government, the report concluded.

U.S. seeks to prop up Kandahar governor: "Wesa is a weak governor," said Rahmatullah Raufi, a former general and Kandahar governor. "If Ahmed Wali Karzai wants him to die, he will die. If he says, 'Live,' he'll live."

Five killed in attacks on Iraq checkpoints: Five people were killed and 10 wounded, including several police officers, when two suspected suicide car bombers attacked police checkpoints in southern Baghdad yesterday, police said.

Mosul in revolt over torture claims at ‘al Maliki’s secret jail’: fficials in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have threatened a campaign of civil disobedience against the government and the army after allegations of torture and abuse at a secret prison controlled by the office of the prime minister, Nouri al Maliki.

Baghdad recount to take 2-3 weeks: Recounting all the ballots from Baghdad province will take two to three weeks, Iraq's election commission said Thursday, further delaying the formation of a new government. There are 68 seats in Baghdad up for grabs in the new 325-seat parliament.

Egyptian forces pumps gas into cross-border smuggling tunnel, killing 4 Palestinians: The Hamas Interior Ministry said in a statement the gas used to try to clear the tunnel was poisonous. Besides those killed, six people were injured, it said.

IDF troops kill Gazan at "border" protest: A 20-year-old Palestinian died Wednesday afternoon after being critically wounded by IDF gunfire during a morning protest against a buffer zone being built between the eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, Gaza medical officials said.

Settlers attack Palestinian village to protest police crackdown: Far-rightists from the West Bank settlement of Yizthar on Thursday marched through a neighboring Palestinian village and attacked local homes, to avenge a series of arrests by Israel Police earlier in the day.

Poll: Majority of Israel's Jews back gag on rights groups: More than half of Jewish Israelis think human rights organizations that expose immoral behavior by Israel should not be allowed to operate freely, and think there is too much freedom of expression here, a recent survey found.

Report: Obama promised Abbas a Palestinian state within two years: Obama promised Abbas that the United States would make great effort to help see that Palestinian goal achieved, the official told the London-based newspaper

Israel: US seeks closer ties with minister held responsible for controversial construction decision: Interior Minister Eli Yishai has been officially invited to visit the White House. The decision is apparently the result of the US Administration's desire to forge closer ties with the minister they perceive to be behind the east Jerusalem construction turmoil during Vice President Joe Biden's visit in Israel.

Palestinians Defending Their Homes: 5 Minute Video - Around 50 Palestinians and internationals had managed to stop the work of the bulldozers for several hours in the village of Al Walaja, on 25.04.2010. - The Israeli soldiers used stun grenades and tear gas canisters directly at people, as well as pepper spray. One Palestinian got arrested and several were injured. Once completed the Wall will totally surround the village.

Hezbollah: Egyptian jailings 'unjust and politicised': "The verdicts that were issued... against the mujahideen who were providing support for the mujahideen in Gaza are political and unjust... against these honourable mujahideen," he was quoted as saying.

Another conflict with Lebanon?: Jordan's King Abdullah has recently disclosed that he believes an Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon conflict is “imminent.” The fact that Israeli authorities are handing out gas masks and have launched a media campaign stressing their importance lends credibility to the monarch's chilling prediction.

William Hague: I have Iran in my sights: "It's the Iranian nuclear programme," he says. "We have consistently been the party arguing for tough sanctions and a strong European approach over the last few years, and are very frustrated that this hasn't emerged strongly enough."

Eni to pull out of Iran oil field: Italy's Eni says it will not extend its contracts to develop an Iranian oil field as it may lead to US sanctions against the oil firm.

US Navy has encounter with Iranian jet: The official says "there was nothing threatening about the aircraft itself or how it presented itself."

MI5 files on 7/7 attacks 'impossible' to access: It would be "impossible" to reveal secret MI5 files about the 7/7 London terror attacks, a court has been told.

Detainee transfer documents buried in Canadian military shipping containers: Records of Afghan detainee transfer orders showing whether Canadian military commanders took the risk of torture into account are buried in sea shipping containers and "may take years" to locate, the Military Police Complaints Commission was told Tuesday.

'US seeks deal' in Guantanamo case: Plea bargain reportedly offered to Canadian detained in Afghanistan at age 15.

Obama administration defies congressional subpoena on Fort Hood documents: The Obama administration said Tuesday it would provide more information to Congress about the Fort Hood shootings but continued to defy a subpoena request for witness statements and other documents.

Truck driver forced to show birth certificate claims racial-profiling : 3TV caught up with Abdon after he was released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in central Phoenix. He and his wife, Jackie, are still upset about what happened to him.
Stranger than fiction? Install microchips in illegal immigrants, GOP candidate says: Instead of building a border fence to help stem illegal immigration, the U.S. government should implant microchips into immigrants before deportation, much like what is done with pets, Pat Bertroche, an Urbandale physician and one of seven Republicans running in the 3rd District Congressional primary, said Monday.
Exposing the Christian Right's New Racial Playbook: A diversity summit at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University reveals that the religious right's survival depends on the black and the brown.
Colorado Cops To Use Biometric Iris Scanners For Suspects, Kids And Seniors : 2 Minute Video Report
Laura Bush suggests poison at summit: FORMER US first lady Laura Bush writes in her forthcoming autobiography that she and her husband George W. Bush may have been poisoned when they became ill at a summit in Germany in 2007.
Eurozone edges closer to endgame as Greek contagion hits Portugal: Parallels with Lehman's collapse in 2008 as markets predict that Greece will default on debt
California Governor's plan to sell state buildings would cost a bundle, report says: The state's plan to make some quick cash by selling office buildings and other properties and leasing them back would cost taxpayers a bundle over the long haul, according to a new state report.