Israel’s Military Speak Out 1-30-13

1-30-13 Israel’s Military Speak Out

An Oscar-nominated documentary, "The Gatekeepers" provides a stark admission by six former heads of Israel’s internal security (akin to our FBI and CIA) of their agency’s methods of targeted killings of militants and civilians in the Occupied Territories, including torture and the suppression of mass protests during two intifadas.  All six former heads are now critical of the methods they were assigned to use to subjugate the Palestinians and they warned that successive governments have undermined Israel’s future by refusing to make peace. A former head, Carmi Gillon, admits that “We are making the lives of millions unbearable, into prolonged human suffering. Another -  Avraham Shalom adds, “ we have become a brutal occupation force similar to the Germans in World War II." Israeli forces have begun the year with a spate of killings of unarmed Palestinian civilians. A 21-year-old Palestinian woman was the latest victim – gunned down at a West Bank School. Israeli human rights group B’Tselem castigated Israeli Defense Forces accusing them of "extensively and systematically violating their own rules of engagement when suppressing protests in the West Bank.” Dror Moreh’s powerful documentary might jump start the moribund peace process aided by Israel’s recent election which tilted power from right wing extremists to the center. It is now up to President Obama to show leadership in brokering a lasting peace and usher in an independent Palestinian state. Failure to do so will surely lead to unending conflict. 

Obama’s Second Term – Drones 1-21-13

21, January 2013 Obama’s second term – drones

President Obama deserves credit for making strong statements against assault weapons which have aborted the lives of some many Americans. However, such statements and policies are incongruent with his policies to equally vulnerable and innocent people in far-away lands who fall victims to our remote weapons of mass destruction. General McChrystal, Ex-Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, became the highest-ranking military official to excoriate Obama’s Drone Warfare.  He stated that "the resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes ... is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who’ve never seen one or seen the effects of one." Michael Boyle, a former adviser to Obama on security issues, has forcefully come out against drone warfare, saying it is encouraging arms proliferation worldwide while causing unknown civilian casualties.  He stated that “Obama has been just as ruthless and indifferent to the rule of law as his predecessor. ... The consequences can be seen in the targeting of mosques or funeral processions that kill non-combatants and tear at the social fabric of the regions where they occur.” These statements by high profile experts largely confirms the Stanford University/NYU study which estimated that 98% of the drones miss their intended targets and kill innocent men, women and children. President Obama has created a dangerous and an illegal precedent. He would be wise to heed his critics and call an immediate halt to these illegal and immoral weapons. 

Zero Dark Thirty 1-18-13

18, January 2013 Zero Dark Thirty

The movie, Zero Dark Thirty, may be a blockbuster but sadly carries a dangerous message that torture elicited useful information that led to the capture of Osama bin Laden and may therefore be justified. Torture did not lead to the capture of bin Laden. This was stated unequivocally by the Senate Intelligence Committee which spent four years investigating the CIA's torture programs. Water-boarding, sleep deprivation, stress positions, savage beatings and humiliation, the U.S. government once euphuistically dubbed “enhanced interrogation,” is an affront to our claim to be a civilized nation. Human rights have been enshrined in our laws. We often waggle our fingers at other nations on the need to close gulags and free their dissidents.  Leading senators stated, "The use of torture in the fight against terrorism did severe damage to America's values and standing that cannot be justified or expunged. It remains a stain on our national conscience." It is time for the Senate Intelligence Committee's findings — a 6,000-page factual report — be made public so that the practice of torture can be forever banished. We should also hold accountable all those government officials responsible for its barbaric practice. 

Gang Rape in India 1-4-13

4, January 2013 Gang Rape

The gang rape of the unnamed victim in Delhi has focused much needed attention into the epidemic of sexual violence. According to the Indian National Crime Registry, one woman is raped every 20 minutes. The actual numbers may be significantly higher as most victims are too humiliated and fearful to report the crimes. Out of the 24,206 rape cases reported in 2011, three-fourth of the perpetrators have not been arrested and the conviction rate is a pitiful 26%. Many cases linger on indefinitely which underscores ineptness and rampant corruption in law enforcement and the judiciary emblematic of the general malaise gripping Indian society. Currently, there are 100,000 pending cases. Delhi has now become the rape capital of the country exceeding the combined rape in all other cities. According to the London Guardian 260 men have been appointed to political office despite serious charges of crimes against women. Women activists were incensed with the careless, insensitive comments of the President’s son, who is also member of the ruling Congress Party.  He mocked the demonstrators as ‘painted women who should not be taken seriously’. Women activists are calling for a standard set of laws or protocols for investigating all acts of violence including “honor crimes” and domestic violence. Women also need to take a pledge against female fetal abortions. This repugnant practice is creating an alarming gender imbalance leading to the growing practice of bride ‘snatching’. On the home front there is no room for complacency; American women suffer a major sexual assault every 2 minutes. Regrettably, the House Republican leaders have stalled the 2012 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Finally, the US has yet to ratify the U.N. Bill of Rights for Women; only eight countries have failed to ratify the convention, leaving the U.S. in the company of Iran, Somalia and Sudan.