Afghanistan 12- 5-2009

5, December 2009                  Afghanistan

Obama’s speech calling for an upsurge in troop levels in Afghanistan was both unconvincing and profoundly disappointing. The war infested culture of the Pentagon out-snookered Obama by leaking General McChrystal’s request for more troops and effectively boxed him in to adhere to the status quo. McChrystal’s “request” for more troops was eerily similar to General Westmoreland’s ongoing requests for more troops in Vietnam. I urge readers to Google ‘Bill Moyers Journal’ last month in which he featured recorded conversations between President Johnson and Robert McNamara just prior to President Johnson’s announcement of an increase in troop levels in Vietnam.

The ill-fated Soviet invasion of Afghanistan has also been largely ignored or forgotten. This turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.

Like many of his presidential predecessors, Obama shamelessly used the West Point graduates as convenient props to deliver his war message. Obama grossly exaggerated the alleged threat from Al Qaeda. The insurgency is not comprised of Al Qaeda renegades but of disparate groups of Taliban fighters. It makes little sense to augment troop levels to support the thoroughly disgraced and corrupt Karzai government, and his oppressive and corrupt Afghan police and army.

Our continued occupation is fueling the insurgency and killing more insurgents and civilians will only intensify the rage and embolden the Taliban. It is time to exit this un-winnable quagmire and negotiate a power sharing settlement with the Taliban. 

Israeli Forces attack US citizen 3-22-2009

22, March 2009                      Israeli Forces attack US citizen

Once again Israel has attempted to silence non-violent activists with brute force. The latest casualty is an American activist from Oakland, California, Tristan Anderson. Triston was critically injured by Israeli soldiers who fired a tear gas canister directly at his head during a weekly nonviolent protest against the wall in the West Bank village of N’alin. Rescue workers wearing highly visible neon uniforms and carrying bright yellow stretchers were are also targeted with a barrage of tear gas canisters.


Triston is the fourth member of the International Solidarity Movement to be gunned down by the Israeli military. Thus far, four unarmed resident of N’alim have been killed and 400 injured by the IDF since last April. It is extremely disquieting that the Obama administration and the majority of the members of Congress remain silent while Israel continues its brutal oppression of the Palestinians and international observers. One phone call from President Obama could end this mayhem. The time to act is now. IDF soldiers who were responsible for these unprovoked attacks must be held accountable. I urge readers to write to their lawmakers and President Obama and demand an end to Israel’s attacks on peaceful demonstrators.

AIG 3-16-2009

16, March 2009                                  AIG

The Obama administration’s claim that they are ‘powerless’ to stop rewarding AIG executives a staggering $165 million is somewhat disingenuous. If the federal government owns 85% of the company why don’t they send a swat team of lawyers and accountants to take over the company? Allowing these AIG executives to ‘stay the course’ and squander tax payer largesse to reward their incompetence is a prescription for disaster. A de facto nationalization of AIG would allow government officials to void existing contracts and issue pink slips to those executives who were responsible for driving the giant insurance company to the brink of total collapse. This bold action would send a chilling message to other tax payer bailout institutions to stop playing fast and loose with our tax money. Failure to act promptly will only encourage debt ridden institutions to focus on short term goals enriching corporate executives to the detriment of American taxpayers.  

Don’t Join The Army 3-4-2009

4, March 2009            Don’t Join The Army

Corporate immigration attorney, Indu Liladhar –Hathi (I-West, Feb 20), offers appalling advice to Indian immigrants encouraging them to join the military to expedite their citizenship. Americans are geniuses at conjuring up new acronyms to hide sinister intentions.  Desperate to make up their declining quotas, the Pentagon is now targeting immigrant communities with their latest carrot dubbed, Military Accessions Interest Pilot Recruiting Program or MANVI. It is very likely that these sacrificial lambs will serve eight long years in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the violence and U.S. fatalities have declined in Iraq, US combat forces have encountered escalating violence in Afghanistan. Both wars were launched by the thoroughly disgraced Bush administration on flimsy and often manufactured intelligence and contravene international law. There is no honor fighting these modern day colonial wars to gain citizenship, especially if your loved ones return in US flagged coffins.

 In a recent article, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported an alarming escalation of US military suicides. Last year, the Pentagon reported 143 soldiers took their own lives. The actual number may be significantly higher. According to Salon.com reporters, Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna, “The soldiers seemed to be suffering classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder: explosions of anger, suicidal and homicidal ideation, flashbacks, nightmares and insomnia. Predictably, the Army was responding, for the most part, with disciplinary action rather than treatment, evincing little concern for possible underlying problems. The soldiers self-medicated further with predictable outcomes.” These soldiers have paid the ultimate price for the failed policies of Bush and Cheney who had little concern for the outcome of their failed policies. Instead of encouraging Indians to enroll in the US Army and participate in these immoral acts of warfare and conquest, we should call on the new Obama administration to halt these foreign adventures which is depleting our treasury of billions of dollars and sending our young to their early graves. Our bloated military budget only encourages us to build and use more terrifying weapons of human destruction while our nation is drowning in a sea of debt.  The planned escalation of troops in Afghanistan is a tragic mistake. Failure to act will sink us deeper into another Vietnam-type quagmire. I urge families to discourage their loved ones enrolling in the military. Google to ‘Winter Soldiers’ to hear riveting testimonies of veterans who have confessed to the most horrific war crimes while serving in the US military. We need to celebrate the gift of life our creator has endowed and not build more and more terrifying weapons to destroy God’s beautiful creation and his people. 

 

    

Obama’s wars 3-2-2009

2, March 2009 Obama’s wars

Obama’s Iraq speech was a major disappointment and was at complete odds with his hitherto opposition to the invasion. He conveniently ignored the brutal attack on Iraq’s sovereignty was a blatant act of aggression based on false WMD claims by the Bush administration. Obama’s congratulatory words to the combat troops, “getting the job done” sounded eerily similar to Bush’s “mission accomplished.” No apologies to the Iraqis were offered, as the Reverend Tutu of South Africa requested. More than a million Iraqis have died and many more have suffered debilitating injuries resulting from our “shock and awe” invasion. Millions of Iraqi’s fled the country and millions more are internally displaced. In a misguided attempt to achieve a mythical victory, Obama has requested an increase in war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision to increase troop levels in Afghanistan is monumental mistake. Over 100 civilians have been killed by U.S., NATO or Afghan forces in the first two months of the year. 

The bloated military budget needs to be put on a crash diet. We need to celebrate the gift of life our creator has endowed and not build more and more terrifying weapons to destroy God’s beautiful creation and his people. Finally, let us make a serious gesture of contrition and offer massive reparations to Iraq and Afghanistan for violating the sanctity of their respective countries.

Suicides 2-22-2009

22, February 2009 Suicides
The Philadelphia Inquirer is to be commended for spotlighting public attention on the alarming escalation of US military suicides. Last year, the Pentagon reported 143 soldiers took their own lives. The actual number may be significantly higher. According to Salon.com reporters, Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna, “The soldiers seemed to be suffering classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder: explosions of anger, suicidal and homicidal ideation, flashbacks, nightmares and insomnia. The Army was responding, for the most part, with disciplinary action rather than treatment, evincing little concern for possible underlying problems. The soldiers self-medicated further with predictable outcomes.” 

These soldiers have paid the ultimate price for the failed policies of Bush and Cheney who had little concern for the outcome of their failed policies. Let us bring these weary soldiers back home to their families and offer them the care and support they so desperately need. Let us send a strong message to the new Obama administration that the American people will no longer tolerate these foreign adventures which is depleting our treasury of billions of dollars and sending our young to their early graves. Our bloated military budget only encourages us to build and use more terrifying weapons of human destruction while our nation is drowning in a sea of debt.  The planned escalation of troops in Afghanistan is a tragic mistake. Failure to act will sink us deeper into another Vietnam-type quagmire. 

Response to local letter writer re: Israel 2-17-2009

17, February 2009                 Response to local letter writer re: Israel

Desmond Tuck’s letter of February 15 claims that Bob Simon’s report on 60 Minutes portrayed a skewed reality of the West Bank and illegal settlements. Glaringly omitted from his letter was any factual information to counter Bob Simon’s excellent report. Tuck, who hails from South Africa, may not be aware that the African Council of Churches and the Reverend Desmond Tutu have excoriated Israel for its war crimes and apartheid policies. Jewish-Israeli author, Susan Nathan, lamented that Israel has “dishonored the holocaust” and Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur, said that Israel's actions against the besieged Gazans were reminiscent of "the worst kind of international memories of the Warsaw Ghetto." 

Tuck is right condemning grotesque acts of violence targeting civilians. I presume he is referring to the large scale slaughter of civilians in Gaza which has been condemned by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Perhaps Tuck could explain why so many schools, mosques and even the UN building in Gaza were razed to the ground when precise coordinates of these buildings were given to the Israeli Defense Forces? Finally, I would ask Tuck to explain the rationale of deliberately withholding critical supplies of food, medicine and fuel from a starving population of 1.5 million Gazans?   

Israel (Response to local letter writer) 2-2-2009

2, February 2009 Israel (Response to local letter writer)

Writer Norman Licht (Post Feb 2, 2009) offers more twisted logic to justify Israel’s war of terror. Glaringly omitted from Licht’s scores of letters is the terror tactics used by Israeli settlers to dispossess Palestinians of their land. These include demolition of hundreds of Palestinian homes and thousands of trees. The construction of hundreds of illegal settlements in the West Bank in an orchestrated effort to deny the Palestinians their own state. Perhaps, Licht could explain the rational of building bypass roads for the exclusive use of Jews in the settlements. Even apartheid South Africa did not sink to such levels. Perhaps, Licht could explain Israel’s decision to impose a crippling blockade of humanitarian aid of food, medical supplies and fuel to an already impoverished 1.5 million hostages in Gaza. Is this not an act of terror and a clear violation of international law? Perhaps Licht could explain the deliberate targeting of densely populated civilian areas in Gaza with high velocity military weapons. Many of those that perished had deposits of white Phosphorus burns – a banned chemical substance.  Finally, I would ask Licht why the UN compound was targeted and many civilians bled to death because ambulances were often forbidden from helping the injured? 

More on Gaza:

Israel’s savage assault on Gaza has stirred world-wide condemnation. Most poignantly, a veteran anti-apartheid leader, Dennis Brutus led a huge demonstration in Durban, South African. Brutus was instrumental in organizing a highly successful cultural boycott against South African which eventually resulted in freedom for the oppressed native Africans It has impoverished 1.5 million residents of Gaza by its crippling blockade of food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity. It has deliberately targeted homes, medical clinics, ambulances, schools, mosques and the University. It has displayed callous unconcern for human life bombing high density areas killing hundreds of civilians including a large number of women and children. More recently, Israel deliberately rammed a ship carrying critically needed medical supplies condemning scores of civilians to a slow, painful death. Fearful of the images of dead and wounded and the infrastructure damage reaching the world press, Israel has forbidden press photographers and journalists from entering Gaza. I urge readers to contact their representatives and demand an immediate cease fire and suspension of military aid to Israel. Failure to do so will make us complicit to the genocide of the Palestinians. Largely hidden from the US press is the large scale protests in Israel. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak hurriedly canceled his planned visit to Tel Avis University. An Israeli organization called Courage to Refuse called on IDF soldiers to refuse to participate in the genocide in Gaza.  Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak cancelled his visit to Tel Aviv University on Jan. 19 after students called him a “murderer.” One war resisters’ organization in the Israeli state, Courage to Refuse, published a newspaper advertisement condemning the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians and calling on soldiers to refuse to fight in Gaza.

CBS’s 60 Minutes – A Middle Perspective 1-30-09

30, January 2009                   CBS’s, 60 Minutes – A Middle Perspective

In a recent broadcast, Bob Simon of the CBS Minutes team provided a strikingly honest perspective on the Middle East crisis. A map of the West Bank was shown with hundreds of illegal settlements built on confiscated Palestinian land making it impossible for the Palestinians to ever establish their own state. “This is the goal. And this is the reality," Weiss, who is mayor of a large settlement, told Bob Simon.  Bypass roads have been constructed for the exclusive use of Jewish settlers forcing Palestinians to use older roads and pass through hundreds of military checkpoints causing humiliating delays.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a former candidate for Palestinian president, told Bob Simon that his repeated requests to visit relatives in Jerusalem, his birthplace, had been denied. No such restrictions apply to Jewish residents. Such draconian laws bare a strong resemblance to those that were imposed by the white apartheid government in South Africa restricting the movement of native Africans.

Simon was shocked to learn that Israeli troops routinely enter the homes of Palestinians, without notice, and hold them hostage for extended periods of time. This practice is well documented in Jerrold Cohen's book on the Israeli occupation.

It is now up the Obama administration to charter a new course based on respect for human rights and dignity. As a first step, the Gaza siege must be lifted to allow humanitarian aid to reach the imprisoned population.

CBS’s 60 Minutes 1-30-09

30, January 2009

Dear Editor,   CBS’s, 60 Minutes

In a recent broadcast, Bob Simon of the CBS Minutes team provided a strikingly honest perspective on the Middle East crisis. A map of the West Bank was shown with hundreds of illegal settlements built on confiscated Palestinian land making it impossible for the Palestinians to ever establish their own state. “This is the goal. And this is the reality," Weiss, who is mayor of a large settlement, told Bob Simon.  Bypass roads have been constructed for the exclusive use of Jewish settlers forcing Palestinians to use older roads and pass through hundreds of military checkpoints causing humiliating delays.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, a former candidate for Palestinian president, told Bob Simon that his repeated requests to visit relatives in Jerusalem, his birthplace, had been denied. No such restrictions apply to Jewish residents. Such draconian laws bare a strong resemblance to those that were imposed by the white apartheid government in South Africa restricting the movement of native Africans.

Simon was shocked to learn that Israeli troops routinely enter the homes of Palestinians, without notice, and hold them hostage for extended periods of time. This practice is well documented in Jerrold Cohen's book on the Israeli occupation.

It is now up the Obama administration to charter a new course based on respect for human rights and dignity. As a first step, the Gaza siege must be lifted to allow humanitarian aid to reach the imprisoned population.

Response to Daily’s Offensive Cartoon 1-16-09

16, January 2009,                  Response to Daily’s offensive cartoon

Your January 14 cartoon is a classic example of media bias. Contrary to Sentinel’s depiction of the conflict, are the searing images (see BBC and YouTube) of murdered children juxtaposed with their dismembered parents in boxes accompanied by the wailing sounds of grief stricken residents in the world’s largest man-made concentration camp. This is a testimony of Israel’s war of terror.

It speaks volumes of our own media bias that these images are hidden from the US public. Israel and we, as suppliers of these weapons of mass killing, have violated all norms of civilized conduct. The terror raining down on Gaza has little to do with Hamas and everything to do with Israel’s messianic zeal for territorial gain. It is telling that we in the US never hear a counter argument to “Israel has a right to exist.” Do not the indigenous people who were driven off their land have a right to exist?

Turn back the pages of history and we witness a consistent pattern of ethnic cleansing from “Plan D” of 1947-48 which resulted in the eradication of 369 Palestinian towns by the Jewish terrorist organization, Haganah, and the subsequent massacres and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians in such places as Deir Yassin, al-Dawayima, Eilaboun, Jish, Ramle and Lydda. As Rabbi Hescel so aptly stated “the greatest sin of all in the Nazi era was silence.” When we remain silent to the suffering and the incredible aggression against the Palestinian people, then we are all culpable.

Response to Local Letter re Israel 1-14-09

14, January 2009                   Response to local letter re: Israel

Desmond Tuck (Post, January 13) is very selective in his outrage. His is certainly right in condemning Hamas for launching rockets killing innocent people. But sadly he and other letter writers are deafeningly silent on the mindless slaughter of innocent Palestinians. Contrary to Israel’s false claims, parroted by US politicians, it was Israel who violated the ceasefire when they launched an unprovoked attack inside the Gaza Strip, killing six persons on November 4 (see Israeli’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website).  It is a pity Tuck and other letter writers failed to vent their collective anger at Israel when it imposed a draconian blockade of Gaza creating a monstrous humanitarian crisis. Mary Robinson, the former High Commissioner for Human Rights, described this action “as a destruction of a civilization.”

Our stubborn military and political support for Israel’s state sponsored terror and denial of state’s rights for the Palestinians have pitted against us against most of the world and severely compromised our security. Of the 164 nations at the UN, only Nauru, Palau, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Australia support Israel and the US.

Support for Israel’s ongoing slaughter is not an act of loyalty but an act of betrayal. Israel’s actions are indefensible and will only intensify the anger and desire for revenge against Israel and the US. This does not bode well for Israel’s future and our security.

Obama Nominees 1-11-09

11, January 2009                   Obama nominees

Obama’s recent announcement of Admiral Dennis Blair, as Director of National Intelligence, is extremely disturbing. Blair played a critical role offering unconditional US military support to top Indonesian general, Wiranto, during the brutal massacre of the East Timorese in the 1990’s which wiped out one third of the population. When world opinion forced the Clinton administration to halt its military and diplomatic support to Indonesia, Blair defied Washington and continued his unwavering support to Wiranto.

It is odd that senior democrats have reacted so strongly against the nomination of Leon Panetta as head of the CIA but have thus far given a free pass to Blair, ignoring his past history. Perhaps, bruised egos of these democrats who were not informed of Panetta’s appointment may have had a lot do with their public opposition. Panetta, who vigorously opposes torture and abuse of detainees, would be a welcome change.

On the other hand, Blair’s appointment must be vigorously opposed. Obama must make a clean break from our dark past history and usher in new era based on respect for human rights. We must hold Obama accountable to his election promise of ‘change we can believe in’. We must demand an immediate halt to supporting regimes that sponsor terrorism such as Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.