Peace and Justice Post

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Saturday that it would like Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers to discuss the Kashmir dispute when they meet in Islamabad later this month.

US State Department’s deputy spokesman Mark Tone also told journalists that the current situation in Indian occupied Kashmir was India’s internal issue and asked protesters to conduct agitations in a peaceful manner.

“We always support dialogue between India and Pakistan,” Mr Toner said when asked if Kashmir should be discussed between the two countries.

“We regret the loss of life in this incident. It is an internal Indian matter. We respect the efforts of the government of India to investigate and resolve the current situation in Kashmir,” he said, adding that the United States had always encouraged India and Pakistan to resolve all its differences through dialogue.

“In terms of the protest, we would just urge everyone to refrain from violence and conduct protest in a free and peaceful manner,” said the US official.

World Bulletin, July 11, 2010

Still, thousands of security forces in battle fatigues patrolled some residential areas in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, asking people to stay indoors, witnesses said.

Sunday, 11 July 2010 16:04

Indian authorities lifted a six-day curfew on Sunday most of Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, but a strike called by pro-independence leaders to protest against recent civilian killings kept shops and offices closed.

Indian security forces have been struggling to control a wave of demonstrations in the Kashmir valley after being accused of killing 15 civilians — many of them teenagers — in a month.

Still, thousands of security forces in battle fatigues patrolled some residential areas in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, asking people to stay indoors, witnesses said.

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Saeed Kamali Deghan and Ian Black,  The Guardian/UK, July 8, 2010

Despite what our leaders may profess, U.S. directed torture continues and efforts to obtain redress for victims and accountability from perpetrators are met with systematic obstruction. We know we cannot rely on government, at any level, to take the initiative for accountability.

But we must not be bystanders.

Six years have passed since the release of the gruesome photos of torture at Abu Ghraib, and it is well past the deadline President Obama set for closing the prison camps at Guantanamo. Yet this Administration has steadfastly refused to seek accountability for U.S.-sponsored torture—the murderous extent of which is still being revealed—and invokes the “state secrets” privilege to obstruct prosecution when torture victims, some released without charge, seek legal redress.

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The Pentagon has announced its selection of a replacement for General David Petraeus as Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander today, and it will be the controversial Gen. James Mattis that goes to Congress for final approval.

Gen. Mattis

Gen. Mattis, who was previously serving as Joint Forces Command chief, had been out of the headlines for a few years, but his colorful past and what Gen. Michael Hagee called his tendency to “speak with a great deal of candor” ensure that the approval process will be anything but boring.

In 2005, then Lt. Gen. Mattis spoke of his “fun” experience in Afghanistan at a forum in San Diego, describing it as “a hell of a hoot.” After laughter from soldiers in the audience Mattis went on to declare “it’s fun to shoot some people.”

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Seven Reasons Why We Can’t Stop Making War

by William J. Astore, TomDispatch.com, July 8, 2010

Socialist Worker,  July 6, 2010