Peace and Justice Post

By ROBERT C. KOEHLER

Tribune Media Services, January 31, 2008

“Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq, because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far-reaching . . .”

There it is again, that choking lie, so smoothly administered — with just enough fear to help America gag down all that righteousness.

President Bush told it again in his final State of the Union address the other night, of course. What choice did he have? The truth, coming from him at this point, would be . . . too weird, too offensive, impossible to comprehend.

But the truth is that we’ve already failed in Iraq, and throughout the Middle East and Central Asia — failed with consequences beyond reckoning. God knows someone will have to take a swig of political courage and acknowledge it one of these days, simply to stop the lie — the lies, a governmental cluster bomb of them — from doing further harm.

Keep reading . . .

Akhbar Alkhaleej , Januaary 29, 2008

Church and State. Posted February 2, 2008.

Congress has mandated that the phrase “In God We Trust” has greater prominence on the new presidential dollar coins.

Responding to complaints from the Religious Right, Congress has passed legislation mandating that the phrase “In God We Trust” be moved from the edge to the back or front of the new presidential dollar coins.

President George W. Bush signed the measure into law Dec. 26. It was tucked into a $555 billion domestic spending bill after having been pushed by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). Brownback and other Religious Right conservatives have been complaining about the new coins since the series started last year.

The U.S. Mint has been releasing gold-colored dollars honoring each non-living U.S. president. Four coins are released per year. The first four coins, honoring George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were issued in 2007.

Continued . . .

The Independent, Saturday, 2 February 2008

By Tony Paterson in Berlin

GETTY
German soldiers secure a hill outside Kabul, as part of the Nato peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan

A bitter diplomatic row between Germany and the United States deepened yesterday after Berlin flatly rejected demands from Washington that it deploy troops in war-torn southern Afghanistan and angrily dismissed the request as “impertinent” and a “fantastic cheek”.

Germany currently has some 3,200 soldiers stationed in comparatively tranquil northern Afghanistan and the capital Kabul as part of the current Nato peacekeeping mission. It has been urged to deploy troops in the south before but has consistently refused. Yesterday however, it became clear that Washington had stepped up pressure on Berlin to commit troops to the south.

The move followed increased Taliban attacks and threats from Canada that it would withdraw its Afghanistan contingent completely unless more Nato troops were sent south. Canada has lost 77 combat troops in the region.

Two US non-governmental studies released this week warned that Afghanistan could once again become a failed state and terrorist haven.

Details of what was described as an “unusually stern” letter written by Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, to Franz Josef Jung, his German counterpart, were leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Keep reading . . .

dpa – International News Service in English, Jan 31, 2008 04:29 EST

Islamabad (dpa) – Chanting slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, thousands of Pakistani lawyers were holding rallies across the country on Thursday to protest the removal of ex-chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry by the embattled leader late last year.
“The lawyers’ community is observing complete boycott of the court proceedings and demonstrations are being held in every city and town of the country to express solidarity with the chief justice,” said Athar Minallah, a senior leader of Islamabad Bar Association.

“We are demanding the restoration of 60 unconstitutionally removed senior judges, an end to the dictatorship of Musharraf and the release of all detained justices and lawyers,” he said.

Chaudhry was sacked together with his dozens of colleagues on November 3 when Musharraf imposed state of emergency and suspended the constitution. The retired general argued the judiciary was hindering his fight against terrorism.

The opponents said the move aimed at mainly preventing the Supreme Court from ruling against Musharraf’s candidacy for the presidential vote for his second five-year term.

After dumping the high court, the president packed it with his hand-picked judges and took oath before resigning as military chief and lifting emergency.

But the senior judges and dozens of representatives of the lawyers remain under house arrest.

Continued . . .

By DAVID WILLIAMS and MATTHEW HICKLEY | Daily Mail, 1st February 2008

British troops killed a prisoner and mutilated the bodies of 20 Iraqi insurgents, it was claimed in court yesterday.

Other captives are also said to have been abused or tortured in the aftermath of a gun battle in southern Iraq in May 2004.

Details can be disclosed after the High Court lifted an order preventing reporting of the case yesterday.

On patrol: A British soldier in Iraq

The allegations are among the most serious against British soldiers who served in Iraq. Relatives of those killed and survivors are fighting for compensation and for an

The incident is already being investigated by the Military Police.

The abuses are said to have taken place following a three-hour gun battle when soldiers of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were ambushed by militiamen on the road from the hotspot town of Al Amara to Basra in May 2004.

The scene was close to Majar al-Kabir, where a year earlier an Iraqi mob overwhelmed and killed six British military policemen.

It is alleged that corpses were removed from the battlefield and showed signs of mutilation when they were left at a local hospital. It is also claimed that a prisoner died in custody and others were abused.

Lawyers say testimonies of five witnesses “combine to give a harrowing account of what took place”.

Keep reading . . .

Stephen Lendman | RINF Alternative News , January 31, 2008

Life in occupied Gaza was never easy, but conditions worsened markedly after Hamas’ surprise January 2006 electoral victory. Israel refused recognition along with the US and the West. All outside aid was cut off, an economic embargo and sanctions were imposed, and the legitimate government was isolated. Stepped up repression followed along with repeated IDF incursions, attacks and arrests. Gaza’s people have been imprisoned in their own land and traumatized for months. No one outside the Territories cares or offers enough aid. Things then got worse.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, in league with Israel and the US, declared a “state of emergency last June 14 and illegally dismissed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his national unity government. On June 15, he appointed former IMF and World Bank official Salam Fayyad prime minister even though his party got only 2% of the votes in the 2006 election. On June 17, Abbas swore in a new (illegitimate) 13 member “emergency” cabinet with plans for future elections, excluding Hamas.

Continued . . . 

· Human rights group says west ignores flawed polls
· Countries only act when it is politically convenient

Peter Walker
Friday February 1, 2008
The Guardian

The US, UK and other western nations are ignoring flawed or rigged elections in some countries for the sake of political convenience, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today in its annual round-up of rights abuses around the world.

While publicly espousing the cause of democracy, Washington, London and others were happy to deal closely with “despots masquerading as democrats”, such as Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the group said.

HRW singled out the UK government as a concern for its policy of deporting terrorism suspects to countries with repressive regimes if assurances are given the detainees will not be tortured or otherwise mistreated. This “handy device” had now been borrowed by the US to justify renditions, while Russia and other nations were also happily trying it out, the group said.

The report detailed abuses in more than 75 countries and territories, covering perennial rights pariahs such as North Korea, Burma and China as well as the US and EU. It criticised Israel for blockading Gaza in response to rocket attacks, describing this as “collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population in violation of international humanitarian law”.

Keep reading . . .