Civilians bear brunt of bloody start to Iraq's Eid

source almanartv

12/10/2007 Iraqi women and children bore the brunt Friday of a bloody start to Eid al-Fitr as the US occupation military admitted to killing 15 in an air raid and a sinister suicide attack on kids shocked a "Nineteen suspected insurgents and 15 women and children were killed in an operation Thursday in the Lake Tharthar region", northwest of Baghdad, a US military spokesman said in a rare admission of civilian deaths. Further north in Tuz, a suicide bomber exploded a cart of sweets on a crowded playground on Friday, killing a child, a father and wounding 20 children. The post-Ramadan celebrations in the capital had already been marred by a suicide bomber who drove his car into an Internet cafe full of young men hours after they began. At least eight people were killed and 25 were wounded. According to the latest UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) report into human rights abuses in Iraq, released on Thursday, 88 civilians were killed in air strikes by the US occupation military in the three months between April and June. The report criticized the US military for not making public its findings into inquiries into incidents in which civilians are killed. According to the Iraqi Body Count website, which keeps an independent tally of Iraqi deaths, between 74,312 and 80,954 civilians have been killed since the US-led invasion of 2003.

IKD Forum on the Collapse of Law and Order

Anwar Ibrahim Press Conference - ACA Probe

United in a demand for justice

Pakistan clashes death toll at 250

source almanartv

09/10/2007 The death toll from fierce clashes in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan has risen to 250, the military said Tuesday. Fighting broke out Sunday in North Waziristan, where the United States claimed that Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and its pro-Taliban allies have regrouped since 2001. "Twenty more gunmen were killed in the fighting overnight," a senior military said. In total 150 gunmen have been killed while 45 soldiers have also died. Residents say at least four civilians have been killed in the violence but the military has not confirmed this. Most of the fighting has been near Mir Ali, the second-biggest town in rugged North Waziristan, where President Pervez Musharraf admitted earlier this year that Al-Qaeda had a presence. Meanwhile a bomb exploded on a roadside near Bakakhel town in the same a

Feb. 14 charge against Nasrallah direct polls proposal

Mohamad Shmaysani source almanarTV

09/10/2007 Leaders from the ruling February 14 bloc lobbed sharp criticism at Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for his proposal that the people be allowed to elect a president directly. In a speech Friday marking Quds Day, Sayyed Nasrallah called for direct popular elections to choose the next president if political parties failed to reach consensus on a candidate.Legal experts have found odd the deliberate noise made over Sayyed Nasrallah's proposal. Referendum is something that all parliamentary regimes resort to in critical situations. "Article 11 of the French constitution sanctions this sort of referendum," Dr. Yusuf Saadallah el-Khouri, the former head of the State Council said. For his part, constitution expert Ahmed el-Zein stresses the Lebanese constitution states on referendum, even indirectly. "in every country, in every regime, when things get complicated, the parliament is dissolved and new elections take place, and this is what happened in Turkey," Zein said. Saniora Calls Accusing Israel of Assassinations "Tragedy" Sayyed Nasrallah also accused Israel of being behind the serial killings in Lebanon. However the head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora described Sayyed Nasrallah's accusations as "a real tragedy." The February 14 bloc rushes to accuse Syria, without presenting evidence, every time an assassination takes place in the country. "The February 14 bloc, after minutes of each assassination, points the finger of accusation at Syria, but without evidence. I'm not saying that this bloc is killing its own leaders and I don't want to defend Syria. But using political analysis, I can say that the Israelis are responsible for killing the leaders of this bloc, after all, they are neither Israel's allies nor friends. There are historic incidents that point in this direction. The Zionists have killed Jews to force them to migrate to Palestine; it was essential for their project," Sayyed Nasrallah said in his speech. The real tragedy, according to opposition leaders, is to rule out an Israeli hand in the incidents that serve its interests and shake stability in Lebanon." The head of the Future Movement MP Saad Hariri echoed Saniora's position during an iftar in New York. He renewed accusations to Syria of being behind the wave of assassinations in Lebanon. "I believe Premier Saniora's response to Sayyed Nasrallah is enough." Former Prime Minister Salim Hoss said he felt distressed at the attempts "to clear Israel of crimes it accustomed us t." Speaking to the the Nour Radio Station, Hoss said those who are campaigning against Sayyed Nasrallah are allies to the US, "and I do not see any difference between what is called a US strategy or an Israeli strategy." Hariri – Ban – Court of International Character Hariri is scheduled to hold talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on ways to expedite the formation of the court of international character to try suspects in the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In addition to the tribunal and the looming presidential election, Hariri's talks are also expected to center on ways to implement other international resolutions affecting Lebanon. The Higher Judicial Council nominated 12 Lebanese magistrates in June to serve on the international court. Ban will select four out of the twelve nominated judges to serve on the court. One Lebanese judge will serve in the tribunal's trial chamber, along with two international judges, while two Lebanese judges will serve in the appeals chamber with three international judges. The deputy prosecutor at the court will be Lebanese and will be appointed by the Lebanese government in collaboration with the UN. Ban said in a report to the Security Council earlier in September that he hoped to appoint judges to the court by the end of the year. He also is expected to choose a prosecutor and someone to organize a defense team. Ban said the tribunal would not be established until the UN had an estimated $35 million to fund its operations through the first year, as well as an additional $85 million in pledges to pay for the following two years. Lebanon is expected to be billed for 49 percent of the tribunal's costs. Berri - Geneva Despite the apparent divisions between the rival political camps, Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri remained "optimistic" that a solution will soon be reached. Speaking to reporters in Geneva Monday after participating in the International Parliamentary union, Berri said: "I am hopeful that all our efforts and initiatives will bring about good results." Berri said his latest discussions with Hariri had been good, and that they would continue to build on what they had agreed so far. When asked whether Hariri's meetings with US officials had changed anything, Berri said: "The situation is good, and what we agreed upon will go, and nothing has changed." "We are optimistic about the presidential issue, and reaching a solution doesn't rely only on me, but on many sides ... and not just Hariri," said Berri. Regarding fears that Resolution 1559 would be one of the main obstacles to agreeing on a consensus president, Berri said "1559 has become a silly fear ... once a president is agreed upon, then the goal of 1559 would have been accomplished." "There should be no fears from any numbers...1559 or 1701, we are with UN Resolution 1701 and implementing it fully," said Berri. When asked about the US role in Lebanon, Berri said the US is "with and against the initiative and neutral all at the same time."

Somalia: Somalia - Sheikh Ali Deere Decree

Somalia: Somalia - Sheikh Ali Deere the Director of the Ministry of Religion And Constitution

Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)

9 October 2007
Posted to the web 9 October 2007

Mogadishu

Sheikh Ali Dere the director of the ministry of religion in the Somali federal government announced today that no Edul-fitri prayers can be performed unless there is go ahead from this department.

In a press conference the Sheikh said that it is an order from the ministry that he belongs to. No Eid congregational prayers can be said unless officially permitted.

The Sheikh also added that this mission will jointly be carried out by both the religion department and the security agency. Sheikh Dere said that who ever does not abide by the law will face the consequence.

He said that people should not contradict the Eid festival and he also added that they will consult the leaders of the mosques.

Bush and Blair, 'children killers'

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:36:22 source PressTV

Malaysia's ex-premier, Mahathir Mohamad

Malaysian ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad has said history should remember Blair and Bush as children killers and lying war criminals.

In a keynote speech at the 'Expose War Crimes: Criminalize War Exhibition' Mahathir Mohamad said war is in fact 'legitimized terror' orchestrated by powerful states against the weak.

He added what former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush have done in Afghanistan and Iraq is much worse than the atrocities of Saddam Hussein.

The former Malaysian prime minister also suggested that a permanent tribunal be set up for criminalizing war in order to hear charges leveled at warmongers, leaders and the governments of aggressor nations.

"History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children or as the lying prime minister and president," he said, adding that terrorism stems from the actions of powerful countries that kill innocent civilians, which is much worse than the crimes of terrorists.

While the suicide attacks on September 11 killed some 3,000 people, the war on terror launched by the West has claimed the lives of millions of innocent Afghans and Iraqis, he concluded.

83 arrested on US Columbus Day

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:54:53

US Police have cracked down on Columbus Day Parade protesters and arrested 83 including university professor Glenn Morris.

Glenn Morris is an associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado.

The protestors carried dismembered baby dolls covered with fake blood to protest the killing of Indians by the European newcomers.

Columbus Day is a holiday celebrating the anniversary of the October 12, 1492, the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. Americans celebrate the event since 1934 as a national holiday.

The Indians, who consider themselves the first settlers of the continent, have organized rallies in protest to the national holiday. Denver's parade, which was started in 1907, has a troubled history of arrests and confrontations between Columbus supporters and detractors. Protesters have called him a slave trader who touched off centuries of genocide and oppression against native people.

American Indian Movement activist Russell Means was also among those arrested in this year's rallies.

Talking to the daily Le Monde, a 78-year-old Indian exclaimed how it was possible to discover a land which had already been inhabited by Indians since 12,000 years ago. When Columbus claimed he had discovered the continent, 80 million Indians already lived there.

Police questions Olmert over Leumi affair

09/10/2007 source almanartv National Fraud Unit investigators arrived at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Jerusalem residence on Tuesday morning in order to question him over suspicions that he altered a government tender for the privatization of Bank Leumi to favor a bid lodged by a consortium controlled by his friends. On Monday, Major General Yohanan Danino, head of the Israel Police's Investigations and Intelligence Office, met with the team of investigators, which is led by National Fraud Unit chief Brigadier-General Shlomi Ayalon. Olmert has cleared two days off his schedule for the investigation. At the end of his investigation, the police will form an opinion on the case, which could take a number of weeks, and present it to the State Prosecutor's Office. The suspicions surfaced in 2005 when Olmert served as acting finance minister. Olmert is suspected of having sought to advance a bid for the controlling share of the bank filed by Frank Lowy and Daniel Abrams. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ordered the police to probe Olmert's conduct during the bank's privatization. Investigators will present the prime minister with a line of questions and try to determine whether he tried to convince Lowy and Abrams to take part in the tender and what his motives were.

US appears guilty of torture: Pelosi

08/10/2007 The United States appears to be illegally torturing terror suspects contrary to denials by President George W. Bush, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday. The country's highest ranking Democrat also said that she still hoped to get most US occupation troops out of Iraq by the end of 2008, despite the party's repeated failure to win over enough Republicans in Congress to an exit strategy. Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Pelosi said reported interrogation tactics such as simulated drowning, head slapping and exposure to extreme temperatures all amounted to banned torture. "There is a legal definition of torture that I believe this would fit. The president says it is not," she said. But the House speaker said she had received only limited briefings from the Bush administration on its interrogation tactics, and had not seen a controversial memo issued in 2005 by the Justice Department. The New York Times said last week the department's document had authorized violent techniques in interrogations of "war on terror" suspects in the same year that Congress explicitly banned torture. In an editorial Sunday, the New York Times accused Bush and his aides of conducting "a systematic campaign to mislead Congress, the American people and the world about those policies." The CIA had "modeled its techniques on the dungeons of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union," it said, while the Washington Post opined that Bush's denials "can't change the facts." source almanarTV

Iraq vows to punish Blackwater guards

08/10/2007

Iraq has vowed to punish US security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards were not provoked when they opened fire on civilians in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 people. The US embassy was tightlipped on Monday over whether those involved in the September 16 killings in Nisoor Square would be handed over for prosecution. The Iraqi government in its report into the September 16 killings released on Sunday said the Blackwater guards were unprovoked when they opened indiscriminate fire and that they should face legal punishment.
"The investigation committee appointed by Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki ... has finished its inquiry and has found that there was no evidence that the convoy of Blackwater came under fire directly or indirectly," a government statement said.
"Employees of the company violated the rules governing use of force by security companies," it said. "They have committed a crime and should be punished under the law."
It gave the toll from the shootings as 17 dead, considerably higher than the previous toll according to which at least 10 people had been killed. The statement said 22 people had been wounded. The Iraqi government would now take "judicial measures to punish the company," the statement added.
Blackwater claims its men were legitimately responding to an ambush while protecting a US State Department convoy.

Iraqi refugees protest against US bill

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 07:03:11

Rally of Iraqis in Damascus
Hundreds of Iraqi refugees in Syria have protested against a US Senate resolution that plans to divide the country into different regions.

"No for occupation and no for division," read a placard carried by one refugee. "Dividing Iraq is the start for dividing all countries in the region," read another.

The recent resolution calls on the Bush administration to encourage the Iraqi government and parliament to adhere to the country's constitution.

The Senate bill lays out a plan for a loose confederation of regions under a limited central government, leaving power with the regions.

Around 400 demonstrators who carried flags of the war-torn country gathered in the protest.

US military: Blackwater guilty

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:13:30

A US military report has concluded that Blackwater security guards opened fire on Iraqis without provocation and used excessive force.

Blackwater troops were involved in a Baghdad shootout last month that left up to 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

The report clearly states that private security firm was to blame for the Sept. 16 incident.

"It was obviously excessive, it was obviously wrong," said a US official who refused to be named.

"The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them," the official was quoted as saying.

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official and five eyewitnesses described a second deadly shooting involving the same Blackwater guards minutes after the incident in Nisoor Square, the Washington Post reported.

North Carolina-based Blackwater has said its guards reacted lawfully to an attack on the convoy they were protecting.

Israel: Iranians to pay price for electing Ahmadinejad

source almanarTV

06/10/2007 Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech during the International Quds (Jerusalem) Day rallies in Tehran stirred fear in several Israelis and caused angry responses. Ahmadinejad suggested holding a referendum on the transfer of Israel's Jews to Europe, Canada or Alaska. "Let a referendum be held in Palestine. It is our clear proposal to European countries," Ahmadinejad said. Likud MK Yisrael Katz used improper words in his response when he said that Ahmadinejad should be destroyed. "The State of Israel has to declare that it will do all to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction and that should Iran harm Israel in any way, whole areas in Iran will be completely wiped out and the Iranian people who is responsible for electing Ahmadinejad will pay the price," Katz said. Kadima MK Tzachi Hanegbi also suggested that "The United States and leading European countries should urgently convene the Security Council to adopt a resolution that imposes more sanctions on Iran." However, Meretz MK Yossi Beilin claimed that Ahmadinejad was "dangerous to the world and his people" adding that people in the world should organize a coalition in order to "help the Iranian people to get rid of him".

Israeli forces launch raid into Gaza

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 07:58:07

Israeli tanks in Gaza

Israeli forces accompanied by tanks and Apache helicopters have entered Gaza city, opening fire at Palestinian residents.

At noon Saturday, three bulldozers backed by four tanks started to raze installations in the industrial zone near Karni commercial crossing in the east of Gaza City.

Residents in the area said the helicopters opened machine gunfire to provide cover for the forces on the ground while children threw stones at the tanks.

Palestinian fighters, carrying mines and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers, fought the sudden incursion.

Earlier, the Israeli army rolled into eastern parts of central Gaza Strip and clashed with Palestinian militants before withdrawing in the morning, residents of al-Maghazi and al-Burij refugee camps told DPA.

The incursion came as a Palestinian research center for prisoners' issues called on Egypt to renew its mediation between Israel and the Palestinian factions that are holding an Israeli soldier in Gaza.

The Palestinian factions are demanding Israel release older prisoners, women, children and the infirm from its jails in exchange for the soldier. Israel is holding about 11,000 Palestinians.

Israel's toy soldiers

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:44:13
By Chris Hedges

Jewish teenagers in a military training camp

If you are a young Muslim American and head off to the Middle East for a spell in a fundamentalist “madrassa,” or religious school, Homeland Security will probably greet you at the airport when you return.

But if you are an American Jew and you join hundreds of teenagers from Europe and Mexico for an eight-week training course run by the Israel Defense Forces, you can post your picture wearing an Israeli army uniform and holding an automatic weapon on MySpace.

The Marva program, part summer camp part indoctrination, was launched in Israel in 1981. It allows participants, who must be Jewish and between the ages of 18 and 28, to fire weapons, live in military barracks in the Negev desert and saunter around in an Israeli military uniform saluting and taking long hikes with military packs. The Youth and Education Corps of the Israel Defense Forces run four 120-strong training sessions a year.

“Upon arrival, the participants experience an abrupt change into army life: wearing uniforms, accepting army discipline, and learning the programs and lessons integral to the program,” the Let Israelis Show You Israel Web site reads. “The program includes military content such as: navigation, field training, weapons training, shooting ranges, marches and more, as well as educational content such as: Zionism, Jewish Identity, history and knowledge of the land of Israel. All of this is taught in Hebrew in an intensive eight weeks.”

“The participants finish the program after completing a short, intensive, exhilarating military experience that allows them to taste Israel in a way that they never could before-as part of the Israel Defense Forces,” the site reads. “They leave the program with a feeling of belonging and a strong connection to Israel, and many return to Israel to continue the connection that was created in the framework of the Marva course.”

There are, of course, gushing testimonials about the program.
“I spent the first few days of Marva doubting my decision, wondering why I had come, wondering if there was any way out. With all of the running, yelling orders, discipline and Hebrew, I felt horribly out of place,” writes Canadian David Roth of his summer. “It was a completely different world from the one I was used to. All that changed, though, by the end of the first week. We had our first 'Masa' (Hike). It was very hard, but at the end, we all knew, our M16s were waiting for us at the 'tekes' (Ceremony). We got through the 8 kilometers and had our 'tekes' and got our guns. It felt amazing, and from that point on Marva was incredible.”

How have we reacted when we discovered that American Muslims were being taught in a foreign country to fire machine guns at paper figures and simulate military maneuvers? And what about the summer schools in Gaza organized by Islamic Jihad designed to train young Palestinians in the basics of military life? These Gaza camps, uncovered in 2001, were widely denounced by Israel as proof that the Palestinians were teaching their children to hate and kill.

The argument in favor of camps in Israel, as opposed to camps in Pakistan, is that these young men and women are not going to come back and use what they have learned to harm Americans. They are not terrorists. Muslims, however, have not cornered the market on terrorism and violence. Radical Jews have also been involved in terrorist attacks in Israel and the United States.

I discovered an American in Israel in 1989 named Robert Manning. A huge, burly man, Manning was living in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kiyrat Arba. When I found him he was carrying a pistol, a large knife strapped to his leg and an M-16 assault rifle. He was part of a Jewish terrorist group called Committee for Protection and Safety of the Highways that set up ad hoc roadblocks and pulled Palestinians from cars to beat and often shoot them. He was a follower of Meir Kahane, the leader of the Jewish Defense League, who was implicated in terrorist attacks in the United States and Israel. Manning served as a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank.

Manning was wanted in California for murder. He had been charged in a 1980 mail-bomb killing as part of his involvement in the Jewish Defense League. The bomb was intended for the owner of a local computer firm, but the package holding the device was opened by the firm's secretary, Patricia Wilkerson, who was killed instantly by the blast.

Manning, full of bluster and a bitter racism toward Arabs, used as his pseudonym the name of the FBI agent in charge of his case, a bit of humor that backfired on him by confirming my suspicion of his identify. I obtained the picture from his California driver's license and showed it to his neighbors at Kiyrat Arba. They identified him from the photo. I wrote an article affirming that Manning, heavily armed and an active member of the Israeli army, was living in a Jewish settlement. The Israeli government, until that moment, said it had no information about his location. He was extradited in 1993 and sentenced the next year to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 30 years. He is in a maximum-security prison in Florence, Colo.

Those who go through the Marva summer program are indoctrinated as thoroughly
as Muslims who go overseas and are told they are part of a greater jihad for Islam. The results, given Israel's close alliance with the United States, may not be negative for those in power in the United States, but it may be very negative for those Americans defined as the enemy, especially Muslims, should we suffer another 9/11. The program inculcates hatred and a belief in the efficacy of violence to solve the problems in the Middle East. It identifies Israel with militarism. It feeds the idea that a Jew born in Brooklyn has a birthright to settle in Israel that is denied to an American of Palestinian descent.

Jerusalem [al-Quds], aside from being one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is one of the most literate, creative and intellectual. Do these young men and women really know the best of Israel by spending eight weeks playing soldier and glorifying the military? Is the cause of Israel advanced by mirroring the twisted militarism of Islamic fundamentalists [(extremists)]?

Terrorists arise in all cultures, all nations and all religions. We have produced more than our share. Ask the people of Vietnam or Iraq. The danger of a military program such as these is that it solidifies a mind-set of us and them. It romanticizes violence. It widens the divide that leads to conflict. It makes dialogue impossible.

There are great Israeli institutions, from the newspaper Haaretz to the courageous Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem to Peace Now. A summer working for them, rather than wearing an army uniform, unleashing bursts of automatic fire in the desert and singing Israeli patriotic songs, might actually help.

Chris Hedges, who graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, is the author of American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.