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Interview with John Pilger
2007-07-17 21:41:00
John Pilger, reviews the last 40 years of U.S. and U.K Foreign policy, Its costs and effects on an unsuspecting world. Trouble viewing this video? Click here.Hat Tip to Al.Technorati tags: John Pilger, U.S. U.K., Foreign Policy , news, video, interview
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Impeach Now
2007-07-17 06:26:00
Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy This is a MUST READ:Paul Craig Roberts (CounterPunch) writes:Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.Bush has put in place all the necessary measures for dictatorship in the form of "executive orders" that are triggered whenever Bush declares a national emergency. Recent statements by Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, former Republican senator Rick Santorum and others suggest that Americans might expect a series of staged, or false flag, "terrorist" events in the near future.Many attentive people believe that the reason the Bush administration will not bow to expert advice and public opinion and begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq is that the administration intends to rescue its unpopular position with false flag operations that can be used to expand the war to Iran.Too much is going wrong for the Bush administration: the failure of its Mid...
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Obama on School Violence
2007-07-17 06:02:00
A Voice Raised in ChicagoBy Bob Herbert The New York TimesSenator Barack Obama took his presidential campaign to Chicago Sunday, where he addressed an agonizing issue that has been largely overlooked by the national media ? the murder of dozens of the city?s public school students since last September.Speaking to an overflow crowd of worshipers at the Vernon Park Church of God, Mr. Obama, a resident of Chicago, said:?I asked to come here because I wanted to talk with you about the spate of violence that?s been robbing the city?s children of their future. In this last school year, 32 Chicago public school students were killed, and even more since the school year ended. This past week alone, two teens were shot in a South Side schoolyard.?You?ve probably heard more than you wanted to about David Beckham and Posh Spice in recent days, but not a lot about the deaths of these children and teenagers in Chicago. Black, Latino and poor, they are America?s invisible children.?In one Chicago p...
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Terrorism and the Law: In Washington, a Need to Right Wrongs
2007-07-17 03:49:00
New York Times Editorial:On one thing, the Constitution is clear: Congress makes the rules on prisoners....President Bush , of course, wants Congress to simply endorse his arrogation of power. The Times reported recently that the White House is seeking support for legislation that would permit the long-term detention of foreigners on American soil without charges or appeal, just on Mr. Bush?s say-so. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said ?the biggest challenge is finding a statutory basis for holding prisoners who should never be released and who may or may not be able to be put on trial.?Challenge? The very idea is anathema to American democracy. Congress did harm enough by tolerating Mr. Bush?s lawless detainee policies, and then by passing the Military Commissions Act. Giving the president a dictator?s power to select people for detention without charges on American soil would be an utter betrayal of their oath to support and defend the Constitution, and of the founders? vision of...
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"New" Osama Video NOT New
2007-07-17 03:34:00
I cannot help but think (pure conjecture, no proof) that the Bushies managed to get this into the medias hands in order to further fan the Al Qaeda fear flames they have been nurturing lately. Why? To divert attention away from the real issues, of course. Namely, the fact that the war in Iraq is lost, America is less safe than before the war began, Americans want out, Americans want universal health care, Gonzales is in deep doo doo (still and again), the Tillman cover-up continues, and corruption and incompetence have become the legacy of the Bush White House. The list goes on ....?Hot Air has the story:?New? Osama video released; Update: Mystery solved ? new video matches video shot in 2001; Update: Zawahiri directed Red Mosque jihadis? Update: It?s a re-run Video courtesy of LauraMansfield.comTrouble viewing this video? Click Here.Technorati tags: Osama Bin Laden , Video, Propaganda, news

No More Excuses
2007-07-17 03:02:00
The Krug Man points out in today's Times op ed that "the opponents of universal health care appear to have run out of honest arguments." The question is, what will Americans -- as in YOU -- do to demand universal health care? The Waiting GameBy Paul Krugman The New York TimesBeing without health insurance is no big deal. Just ask President Bush . ?I mean, people have access to health care in America,? he said last week. ?After all, you just go to an emergency room.?This is what you might call callousness with consequences. The White House has announced that Mr. Bush will veto a bipartisan plan that would extend health insurance, and with it such essentials as regular checkups and preventive medical care, to an estimated 4.1 million currently uninsured children. After all, it?s not as if those kids really need insurance ? they can just go to emergency rooms, right?O.K., it?s not news that Mr. Bush has no empathy for people less fortunate than himself. But his willful ignorance here i...
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Washington Shrugged
2007-07-17 02:53:00
He Rang the Alarm on Darfur By Nicholas D. KristofThe New York TimesSome day an American president will visit a genocide museum in Darfur and repeat the standard refrain: If only we had known ...But that excuse will ring hollow, because there was a whistle-blower in the heart of the Bush administration. Roger Winter, whom President Bush had appointed in 2001 to a senior post in the U.S. Agency for International Development, frantically tried to ring alarm bells ? but instead the administration turned away.If there was a hero within the U.S. government on Darfur, it was Mr. Winter. But it was doubly frustrating for him because in 1994 he had the same experience during the Clinton administration, when he was running a refugee organization and desperately trying to galvanize officials to respond to the Rwandan genocide.In outrage at Bill Clinton?s inaction during the Rwandan slaughter, Mr. Winter abandoned the Democratic Party and became a Republican.Mr. Winter, 65, who also served in t...
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White House Continues Tillman Cover-up
2007-07-15 05:20:00
Panel Demands Records on Tillman's Death By Scott LindlawThe Huffington Post:"SAN FRANCISCO ? Two influential lawmakers investigating how and when the Bush administration learned the circumstances of Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death and how those details were disclosed accused the White House and Pentagon on Friday of withholding key documents and renewed their demand for the material.The White House and Defense Department have turned over nearly 10,000 pages of papers _ mostly press clippings _ but the White House cited "executive branch confidentiality interests" in refusing to provide other documents.House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Tom Davis, R-Va., the committee's top-ranking Republican, said Friday the documents were inadequate. They insisted that the Defense Department turn over the additional material by July 25 and asked that the White House do likewise...."Cartoon Credit: ? White Noise InsanityTechnorati tags: Pat Tillman, White House, Bus...
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Green Jobs
2007-07-15 05:00:00
The Green Road Less TraveledBy Thomas L. FriedmanThe New York TimesWhoever knew ? I.B.M. is managing traffic congestion in Stockholm. Well it is, and therein lies a story.Probably the biggest green initiative coming down the road these days, literally, is congestion pricing ? charging people for the right to drive into a downtown area. It is already proving to be the most effective short-term way to clean up polluted city air, promote energy efficiency and create more livable urban centers, while also providing mayors with unexpected new revenue.Imagine a day when you will go online and buy a pass to drive into any major urban area and the price of your pass will be set by whether you are driving a hybrid or a Hummer, the time of day you want to drive, the road you want to use and how much carbon your car trip will emit. And if there is an accident on the route you normally take, an alert will be sent to a device in your car warning you to go a different way.Well, that day is pretty...
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Who's Sorry Now?
2007-07-15 04:51:00
By Maureen Dowd The New York TimesThere?s not much lately that we?d like to import from China .Certainly not the yummy steamed buns stuffed with shredded cardboard soaked in a caustic agent used to make soap. Or the tasty toothpaste laced with an antifreeze ingredient. Or the scrumptious seafood with a chemical kick. Or those pet foods with kibbles and bits of poison.But there is one thing made in China we could use: mea culpas of high officials.Zheng Xiaoyu, a top regulator who helped create China?s Food and Drug Administration, accepted $850,000 in bribes from drug companies and became enmeshed in the mistakes that flooded the market with dangerous drugs. Before he was executed Tuesday, he wrote a short confession titled ?How I Look on My Mistakes.??Thinking back on what has happened these years, I start to see the problems clearly,? he wrote in prison. ?Why are the friends who gave me money all the bosses of pharmaceutical companies? Obviously because I was in charge of drug admini...
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Chertoff's Truth
2007-07-15 04:40:00
Don't Laugh at Michael ChertoffBy Frank Rich The New York TimesMICHAEL CHERTOFF, President Bush ?s fallback choice for secretary of Homeland Security after Bernard Kerik, is best remembered for his tragicomic performance during Hurricane Katrina. He gave his underling, the woeful Brownie, a run for the gold. It was Mr. Chertoff who announced that the Superdome in New Orleans was ?secure? even as the other half of the split screen offered graphic evidence otherwise. It was Mr. Chertoff who told NPR that he had ?not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who do not have food and water,? even after his fellow citizens had been inundated with such reports all day long. With Brownie as the designated fall guy, Mr. Chertoff kept his job. Since then he has attracted notice only when lavishing pork on terrorist targets like an Alabama petting zoo while reducing grants to New York City. Though Mr. Chertoff may be the man standing between us and Armageddon, he is seen...
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Iraq PM: Country Can Manage Without U.S.
2007-07-15 02:40:00
Bassem Mroue (Huffington Post) reports:BAGHDAD ? Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress on Saturday, saying Iraq i forces are capable and American troops can leave "any time they want."One of his top aides, meanwhile, accused the United States of embarrassing the Iraqi government by violating human rights and treating his country like an "experiment in a U.S. lab."Al-Maliki sought to display confidence at a time when pressure is mounting in Congress for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. forces. On Thursday, the House passed a measure calling for the U.S. to withdraw its troops by spring, hours after the White House reported mixed progress by the Iraqi government toward meeting 18 benchmarks.During a press conference, al-Maliki shrugged off the progress report, saying that difficulty in enacting the reforms was "natural" given Iraq's turmoil....Continue reading. Also See:Even as Loved Ones Fight On, War Doubts Arise - Ne...
More About: Government , Military , Country , Foreign Policy

The American Ruling Class: Nickle and Dimed
2007-07-14 20:39:00
Barbara Ehrenreich is featured in this musical excerpt from The American Ruling Class , a "dramatic-documentary-musical" starring Harper's Magazine editor emeritus Lewis Lapham. "Divine madness" says The Montreal Mirror. Visit TheAmericanRulingClass.org to reserve a DVD and for openings in your area. Distributed by Maitland Primrose Distribution.Trouble viewing the video? Click Here.Technorati tags: American Ruling Class, Documentaries, Lewis Lapham, Barbara Ehrenreich, Music, YouTube, videos
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6 Years of Bush: Lawlessness, Waste and Incompetence
2007-07-14 20:05:00
Ralph Nader writes (Counterpunch.org):Thursday, July 12, 2007's Washington Post was another day of well-supported headlines chronicling the lawless, incompetent, wasteful, negligent, bumbling and multiple perils to our nation's security and safety caused by the Bush -Cheney regime.One headline reads: "U.S. Warns of Stronger Al-Qaeda." The report by the Bush Administration's National Counterterrorism Center was titled "Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West." Safe havens are being established in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan.In recent days, George W. Bush has told audiences of the growing menace of Al-Qaeda inside Iraq.There was no Al-Qaeda in Iraq before Bush's invasion.Five hundred billion dollars (and vast bloodshed) later and we are left with the Bush government's own assessment of Al-Qaeda's resurgence and spread!Officials inside and retired generals, diplomats and intelligence specialists outside the Bush government have warned before and after the Iraq in...
More About: Government , Impeachment , Years , Ralph Nader

Bush's First Video Blog: "I Torture People"
2007-07-14 09:21:00
Trouble viewing this video? Click Here.Technorati tags: Bush Blog, Scooter Libby, video, comedy, satire, youtube
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The Secret History of the American Empire
2007-07-14 08:55:00
Watch John Perkins on Book TV discuss his newest book "The Secret History of the America n Empire"The program runs for a little over an hour and is worth watching. About the Program:John Perkins talks about his follow-up to his 2005 book, "Confessions of an Economic Hitman," at Barnes & Noble in New York City. In his new book, Mr. Perkins argues that the United States uses its foreign policy to further U.S. business interests around the globe, often to the detriment of poor countries.About the AuthorJohn Perkins is the founder and chairman of Dream Change, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable development. He is a former international business consultant.Technorati tags: American Empire, Book TV, John Perkins, Video , The Secret History of the American Empire, books

West Will Fail, Says Ex-CIA Operative
2007-07-14 08:42:00
Sarah Smiles and Brendan Nicholson report for theage.com.au:AS PESSIMISM grows in the US about Iraq , the American commander there has warned that the war will take many years to win and a former top CIA officer has told a Sydney conference that defeat is inevitable in both Iraq and Afghanistan.Michael Scheuer, who headed the CIA's bin Laden unit until 2004, said the West was losing the global battle against Muslim insurgents....Photo Credit: Former CIA officer Michael Scheuer. (Andrew Meares/theage.com.au)Technorati tags: CIA, Michael Scheuer, Iraq, War on Terror, news
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Dr. Gupta's Bias
2007-07-14 08:36:00
Bill Scher reports (Campaign for America's Future):Michael Moore and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta faced off yesterday on Larry King Live, following Moore's on-air criticism of Gupta's anti-SiCKO piece which accused Moore of "fudg[ing] some facts."Moore, on his website, is ably taking Gupta to task on the factual points.And as Huffington Post?s Rachel Sklar notes, during Larry King Live, ?Moore cites his source for every statistic offered ... yet Gupta ignores it, all of it, including Moore restating, again, that all of this was available in this email [sent by Moore?s team to CNN] from June 28, 2007.?But what was most striking was when Gupta showed the heart of his bias, a bias against having our government guarantee universal health care.Gupta says to Moore, ?You criticize the government so soundly. But you're willing to hand over one of our most precious commodities, our health care in this country, to the government.?Moore rebutted, ?I actually love our government ... It does a gr...
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Ron Paul: U.S. In "Great Danger" Of Staged Terror
2007-07-13 18:32:00
Congressman & presidential candidate warns of economic collapse precipitated by bombing of IranPaul Joseph Watson,Prison Planet. reports: Presidential candidate Ron Paul says the U.S. is in "great danger" of a staged terror attack or a Gulf of Tonkin style provocation while also warning that a major collapse of the American economy is on the horizon and could be precipitated by the bombing of Iran and the closure of the Persian Gulf.Speaking to The Alex Jones Show, the Texas Congressman was asked his opinion on Cindy Sheehan's recent comments that the U.S. is in danger of a staged terror attack or a Gulf of Tonkin style provocation that will validate the Neo-Con agenda and lead to the implementation of the infrastructure of martial law that Bush recently signed into law via executive order, as well as public pronouncements from prominent officials that the West needs terrorism to save a doomed foreign policy."I think we're in great danger of it," responded the Congressman, "We'r...
More About: Terrorism , Terror , Great

Dems Hedge on Tax Loophole
2007-07-13 05:46:00
An Unjustified PrivilegeBy Paul Krugman The New York TimesDuring the 2000 presidential campaign, Ralph Nader mocked politicians of both parties as ?Republicrats,? equally subservient to corporations and the wealthy. It was nonsense, of course: the modern G.O.P. is so devoted to the cause of making the rich richer that it makes even the most business-friendly Democrats look like F.D.R.But right now, as I watch Senate Democrats waffle over what should be a clear issue of justice and sound tax policy ? namely, whether managers of private equity funds and hedge funds should be subject to the same taxes as ordinary working Americans ? I?m starting to feel that Mr. Nader wasn?t all wrong.What?s at stake here is a proposal by House Democrats to tax ?carried interest? as regular income. This would close a tax loophole that is complicated in detail, but basically lets fund managers take a large part of the fees they earn for handling other peoples? money and redefine those fees, for tax purpo...
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Are You Friggin' Kidding Me?!
2007-07-12 05:53:00
The Times just reported that: "Undercover Congressional investigators set up a bogus company and obtained a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March that would have allowed them to buy the radioactive materials needed for a so-called dirty bomb...." Where would be without Bush ie's precious Department of Homeland Security ? Throw these incompetents out! Illustration: iFlipFlop: August 2006Technorati tags: New York Times, Homeland Security, news
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'Inspiring Progress' on Iraq?
2007-07-12 05:37:00
By Nicholas D. KristofThe New York TimesAs we debate what to do in Iraq , here are two facts to bear in mind:First, a poll this spring of Iraqis ? who know their country much better than we do ? shows that only 21 percent think that the U.S. troop presence improves security in Iraq, while 69 percent think it is making security worse.Second, the average cost of posting a single U.S. soldier in Iraq has risen to $390,000 per year, according to a new study by the Congressional Research Service. This fiscal year alone, Iraq will cost us $135 billion, which amounts to a bit more than a quarter-million dollars per minute.We simply can?t want to be in Iraq more than the Iraqis want us to be there. That poll of Iraqis, conducted by the BBC and other news organizations, found that only 22 percent of Iraqis support the presence of coalition troops in Iraq, down from 32 percent in 2005.If Iraqis were pleading with us to stay and quell the violence, maybe we would have a moral responsibility to ...
More About: Bush , Nicholas Kristof , Progress

Bush and Cheney's Tortured Secrecy
2007-07-12 05:13:00
(CLICK CARTOON FOR LARGER VIEW)David Cole | Salon.com : Can the White House win a constitutional showdown with Congress over executive privilege after shredding the nation's trust?"...The Bush administration has lost the confidence of the American public, nowhere more so than on claims of unchecked executive power and privilege. Its chief proponent of executive supremacy, Vice President Chen ey , now has an approval rating of 13 percent, the lowest of any vice president in the nation's history. With these circumstances, the Bush administration may ultimately prefer a resolution through the courts. At least it has a majority there...."Technorati tags: Bush, Cheney, Salon, Secrecy , Executive Privilege, news
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Overprivileged Executive
2007-07-12 05:05:00
New York Times Editorial:"It is hardly news that top officials in the current Justice Department flout the law and make false statements to Congress, but the latest instance may be the most egregious. When Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wanted the USA Patriot Act renewed in the spring of 2005, he told the Senate, ?There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse.? But The Washington Post reported yesterday that just six days earlier, the F.B.I. had sent Mr. Gonzales a report saying that it had obtained personal information it should not have.This is hardly the first time Mr. Gonzales has played so free and loose with the facts in his public statements and Congressional testimony. In the United States attorneys scandal ? the controversy over the political purge of nine top prosecutors ? Mr. Gonzales and his aides have twisted and mutilated the truth beyond recognition.Congress and the American public need to know all that has gone on at the Justice Department. But ins...
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Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised
2007-07-11 19:17:00
The New York Times reports:Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday that top Bush administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to ?water down? a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches. He also said he was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings.And administration officials even discouraged him from attending the Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable...
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History as an Alibi
2007-07-11 07:41:00
By Maureen Dowd The New York TimesOn Friday, Condi Rice played hooky and spent the afternoon at the Tiger Woods golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in suburban Maryland.She had lunch at the clubhouse with Tiger, who had dedicated the contest to American servicemen. She followed Phil Mickelson and Brad Faxon for a bit, after having them over to the White House on the Fourth to watch the fireworks. She gave interviews about her newfound affection for golf, laughing about her errant drives and ?wicked hook.?Like W. going out boating and fishing in Kennebunkport as Britain and its new prime minister, Gordon Brown, reeled from terrorist attacks, Condi acted as if she didn?t have a care in the world. And why on earth should she?The homeland security chief, Michael Chertoff, has a gut feeling that a Qaeda cell might be coming or already be here. ?Summertime seems to be appealing to them,? he said, sounding more like a meteorologist than the man charged with keeping us safe.With 30...
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War Drum Beats on The Brain
2007-07-11 06:30:00
Tom Tom Friedman's analysis in his latest Times op ed (scroll down) of how to handle the Iraq fiasco is as full of holes as the aftermath of an insurgent's car bomb explosion in an Iraqi marketplace. Yo--Tom. Absent from your discourse is the fact that the Iraqis -- not the U.S. installed, incompetent puppet government in Iraq -- but the Iraqi people want us out and have said so for years. Bush has said on the record that if the Iraqis want us to go, we'll go. Uh huh. Then why are we still there? We have made Iraq into a literal living hell. Is it any wonder that the people want us to get the hell out of their country? That's point one.Point two: no one is talking about the fact that our tax dollars have built permanent military bases all over Iraq (the Green Zone has been described as the equivalent of a small city) for a reason -- and it has nothing to do with any professed intention to eventually leave Iraq. No one is talking about disbanding these bases. No one is...
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SAVE DARFUR: What You Can Do Now
2007-07-11 06:11:00
Watch the Ad and Pass it OnFor the past four years, Sudan's government has broken promise after promise to the international community time while the people of Darfur continue to suffer. Our latest TV ad emphasizes the need to keep the pressure on Sudan to end this cycle of lies that keeps the death toll rising in Darfur.The best way to keep pressure on Sudan to cooperate is by building our movement and demanding action. By passing on the video of our new ad, you can help grow our cause and move world leaders to action.Fill out the forms HERE to send a message to your friends and families asking them watch the new ad and build the pressure.Bloggers, link to this post or grab the code from YouTube , post it and link your post to this page.Technorati tags: Save Darfur, Darfur, Activism , YouTube, video
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Wednesday News
2007-07-10 20:17:00
Why Bush Gave Scooter Libby a Pass'Panic Mode' Over GOP Revolt on IraqFred Thompson is Dumb As HellDC Madam Exposes GOP Senator as Hypocritical Whoremonger"While Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) was busy defending the sanctity of marriage against gays and the "Hollywood left" publicly, he was busy denigrating it behind closed doors with prostitutes."62 Immigrants Die in US Jails"Sixty-two immigrants have died in US jails since 2004 for lack of medical care, human rights groups told members of the US Congress Monday. 'Deficient medical care in immigration detention is a systematic problem and needs to be addressed,' said Tom Jawetz, of the American Civil Liberties Union, the largest US group defending civil rights," reports Agence France-Presse.EU Mediterranean States Call for Middle East Peace Conference"Francois Murphy reports for Reuters that the foreign ministers of EU's Mediterranean states - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Romania and Slovenia have...
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War: Crime Against Humanity
2007-07-10 04:26:00
Abusing Iraq i CiviliansBy Bob Herbert The New York TimesWith no end yet in sight for the long dark night of the Iraq war, The Nation magazine is coming out this week with an article that goes into great and disturbing detail about the brutal treatment of Iraqi civilians by some U.S. soldiers and marines.The article does not focus on the handful of atrocities that have gotten substantial press coverage, like the massacre in Haditha in November 2005. Instead, based on interviews conducted on the record with dozens of American combat veterans of the war, the authors address what they describe as frequent acts of violence in which U.S. forces have abused or killed Iraqi civilians ? men, women and children ? with impunity.The combination of recklessness, wantonly destructive behavior born of panic and deliberate acts of cold-blooded violence by G.I.?s are believed to have cost the lives of thousands of innocent Iraqis, the article says. The soldiers interviewed said they believed that onl...
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