Peace and Justice Post

Protesters rally in Cairo demanding end to military rule, despite promise by Egypt’s interim leader to transfer power by mid-2012.

Middle East Online, Nov 23, 2011

Egyptian revolution, to be continued…

Thousands of protesters rallied Wednesday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square demanding an end to military rule, despite a promise by Egypt’s interim leader to transfer power to an elected president by mid-2012.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who served as minister under Hosni Mubarak but took power when the ex-president was ousted in February, pledged in a rare televised address Tuesday to hold a presidential election by the end of June.

He was speaking after deadly protests swept the country, in scenes reminiscent of the popular uprisings that toppled Mubarak.

According to the health ministry, 31 people have been killed since Saturday — 28 of them in Tahrir Square — when the security forces first resorted to tear gas, rubber bullets and birdshot in an bid to scatter protesters.

Demonstrators have responded with stones and petrol bombs.

Continues >>

John Feffer, Co-director, Foreign Policy In Focus, Huggington Post, Nov 22, 2011

Someday soon, you’ll be checking your new Clear Skies app as a routine part of your preparations to go out for the evening. First, you’ll look at your smart gizmo to read your latest email to make sure there hasn’t been any change in plans. A quick glance at Facebook lets you see who’ll be joining your group of friends at the bar. Weather and traffic apps inform you of what to wear and what route to take. Twitter will tell you about any major news developments you should be retweeting to your tweeps to prime the conversational pump over drinks.

And your new Clear Skies app will let you know if any unmanned drones are hovering 12 miles up in the stratosphere with your head in their sights.

Continues >>

 Glen Ford, uruknet.info, Nov 22, 2011

Remember 2004, when the cash-poor Democratic candidates were evicted from the campaign like vagabonds by ABC News? One measure of the impact of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that candidates will be compelled to explain to voters why they are so popular with Wall Street. This poses a special quandary for President Obama, who got the lion’s share of finance industry dollars in 2008 and is determined to raise $1 billion for next year’s campaign. “How can Obama claim to be ready to stand up to the 1 percent, when he’s weighted down with a billion dollars of their money?” Continues >>

Yahoo! News,  Nov 22, 2011 at 00:15

Saudi special forces perform on November 1. Saudi security forces opened fire on protesters in the Eastern Province Shiite region of Al-Qatif on Monday, wounding several people, witnesses said.(AFP/File/Fayez Nureldine)

RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi security forces opened fire on protesters in the Eastern Province Shiite region of Al-Qatif on Monday, wounding several people, witnesses said.

The demonstrators had taken to the streets in the town of Shwika to protest against the death overnight Sunday of a 19-year-old Shiite man, Nasser al-Mheishi, accusing police of killing him, the witnesses said.

Mheishi had been wounded near a police checkpoint in unclear circumstances.

“The police told us that gunmen had opened fire on the police checkpoint… and that my son was caught in the crossfire between the police and the armed men, and was struck by four bullets,” the man’s father, Ali al-Mheishi told AFP.

Continues >>

Rev. Richard Skaff, Information Clearing House, Nov 21, 2011

“To attack or not to attack Iran?” That is the question!

What does president Obama have to do to get re-elected in 2012, and delay the total collapse of the global economic system that has been based on fiat money, black gold (oil), and an elite ponzi scheme that sucked the wealth out of every individual and nation?

Every American president sets the stage for the next one, in order to continue the work in progress that has been set for him by the global corporate elite.  Mr. Obama has been a faithful serf to his money masters, and he played his cards carefully and correctly, therefore, he will deserve a second term.

However, living beyond our means by financing an empire that we can’t afford through borrowing massive amounts of money from the global financial elite embodied in the private Federal Reserve, and accruing more and more debt can go so far before the empire of cards collapses on itself.

Continues >>

Egypt’s interim military rulers have been accused of continuing Mubarak-era abuses

© Mohamed Ali Eddin/Demotix

Egypt’s military rulers have completely failed to live up to their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights and have instead been responsible for a catalogue of abuses which in some cases exceeds the record of Hosni Mubarak, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

In Broken Promises: Egypt’s Military Rulers Erode Human Rights, the organization documents a woeful performance on human rights by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) which assumed power after the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The report’s release follows a bloody few days in Egypt that has left many dead and hundreds injured after army and security forces violently attempted to disperse anti-SCAF protesters from Cairo’s Tahrir square.

Continues >>

by Richard Falk, Foreign Policy Journal, November 22, 2011

“The language marches in step with the executioners. Therefore we must get a new language.” —Tomas Tranströmer, Night Duty

Marjorie Cohn, a respected progressive commentator on the use and abuse of international law during the past decade, notes with justifiable horror the willingness of Republican candidates for president to endorse torture as an acceptable instrument of counterterrorism. [Cohn, “US Presidential Elections: GOP Candidates Advocate Torture,” Nov. 19, 2011] Rick Perry, one leading Republican presidential contender who is now governor of Texas, put his support for torture in typically crude language: “This is war. That’s what happens in war.” The most direct endorsement was made by Herman Cain, a businessman who repeatedly demonstrates his scant knowledge of foreign policy issues, said with sprightly ignorance of waterboarding during a recent TV debate among the Republican candidates, “I don’t see it as torture. I see it as enhanced interrogation technique.”. . .

Continues >>

Well, the situation is as horrible as the time of the revolution against Mubarak. There is a blood shed in Tahrir square and other squares across the whole country. Here is the whole story:

As you might have been following, the SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces), who got in charge after Mubarak stepped down, have been doing their best to restore the old regime, and to do some simple reforms instead of a real revolution. So, they were doing all kinds of military trials for protesters, they didn’t change the security forces leaders and mentality, they didn’t do cleansing of the judgemental system,..etc. Rage inside protesters kept rising. And above all that, they promised to give the authority to an elected government (parliament and president) in six months (starting in March). 8 months have passed, and then, lately they announced that the presidential elections would be after drafting the constitution, which would be after the parliament elections (that should start in 10 days, and last till March!!!!). So, according to that new plan, the presidential elections would take place in March, 2013 at least, and they will be in authority till then. They also changed the current temporary constitution to have all the authority (so for instance the coming elected parliament will not be able to form a government, or change the current one,..etc). Also, they drafted some “above constitutional rules” that included some articles allowing them to not share the army’s budget with the parliament or anyone, and prevent anyone whosoever to question/interrogate any SCAF member,…etc, and many other similar articles.

Continues >>

A  War Crimes Tribunal in the Malaysian capital has begun its hearing against George W. Bush and Tony Blair, charging the former officials for the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Press TV reports.

The tribunal will determine whether the former US president and British prime minister committed war crimes and violated international law during the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal is an initiative by Malaysia’s former Premier Mahathir Mohamad, who staunchly opposes US-led military adventures in various troubled regions.

The hearing comes after two years of in-depth investigation, including testimonials from Iraqi war victims by the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission.

According to the Kuala Lumpur War Commission, both Bush and Blair had participated in the formulation of executive orders and directives to exclude the applicability of all international conventions and laws.

Continues >>

The first question in last Saturday night’s Republican debate on foreign policy dealt with Iran, and a newly published report by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The report, which raised renewed concern about the “possible existence of undeclared nuclear facilities and material in Iran,” struck a darker tone than previous assessments. But it was carefully hedged. On the debate platform, however, any ambiguity was lost. One of the moderators said that the I.A.E.A. report had provided “additional credible evidence that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon” and asked what various candidates, upon winning the Presidency, would do to stop Iran. Herman Cain said he would assist those who are trying to overthrow the government. Newt Gingrich said he would coördinate with the Israeli government and maximize covert operations to block the Iranian weapons program. Mitt Romney called the state of Iran’s nuclear program Obama’s “greatest failing, from a foreign-policy standpoint” and added, “Look, one thing you can know … and that is if we reëlect Barack Obama Iran will have a nuclear weapon.” The Iranian bomb was a sure thing Saturday night.

Continues >>