| Al Jazeera, Nov. 12, 2009 | ||||
The leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah has accused Barack Obama, the US president, of “absolute bias” in favour of Israel and of disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims. In a televised speech on Wednesday, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Obama has gone further than his predecessor, George Bush, in supporting the Jewish state adding that the high expectations that followed Obama’s election had been “shattered”. He said Obama’s initial statements calling on Israel to freeze settlement building and then backtracking was a “tactic” agreed on by both Israel and the US, and that the initial settlement demand had been exposed as “an American ploy to pass the time and gain Arab sympathy”. Wednesday’s remarks are the Hezbollah leader’s strongest criticism yet of Obama since he took office almost a year ago. |
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TRUE HERO: British soldier faces 10 years for decision to speak out against war
November 12, 2009
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DISASTER ZONE: Joe Glenton has been arrested after speaking out against injustice and illegality of the war in Afghanistan
Anti-war Lance Corporal Joe Glenton has been arrested and faces 10 years in jail for bravely honouring his moral responsibility to speak out against the illegal occupation of Afghanistan.
The serving soldier faces up to seven charges after he defied orders to address 10,000 demonstrators last month in Trafalgar Square and told the media that he did not believe the war was legitimate or in the nation’s interest.
U.S. Envoy in Afghanistan Said to Advise Against More Troops
November 12, 2009By Viola Gienger and Roger Runningen, Bloomberg Press
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and a former top military commander there, has recommended that President Barack Obama not send more troops to the country for the time being, a U.S. official said.
The advice, which counters a troop-increase request from the current American commander in Afghanistan, was sent by cable to Washington, the official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Norway pays £150m to save rainforests
November 11, 2009
Norway will provide financial support to Guyana to protect its rainforests
Norway has agreed to pay Guyana up to $250 million (£150m) by 2015 to preserve rainforests as part of a scheme to slow climate change.
Norway, which has led donor nations in slowing tropical deforestation with a budget of 3 billion Norwegian crowns (£320m) a year, said on Monday it wanted to help Guyana maintain forests that cover 75 per cent of its land.
Israeli Jews and the one-state solution
November 11, 2009By Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada, November 11, 2009
“Anyone who rejects the two-state solution, won’t bring a one-state solution. They will instead bring one war, not one state. A bloody war with no end.” — Israeli President Shimon Peres, 7 November 2009.
One of the most commonly voiced objections to a one-state solution for Palestine/Israel stems from the accurate observation that the vast majority of Israeli Jews reject it, and fear being “swamped” by a Palestinian majority. Across the political spectrum, Israeli Jews insist on maintaining a separate Jewish-majority state.
Terrible toll of senseless wars
November 11, 2009This statement was issued by the Fort Hood chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Under the Hood Café, a meeting place organized near Fort Hood by antiwar activists for soldiers to meet and unwind.
Socialist Worker, November 9, 2009
OUR COMMUNITY is distraught by the tragic shooting at Fort Hood yesterday. We extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
As upset as we are about this incident, this shooting does not come as a shock. Eight years of senseless wars have taken a huge toll on our troops and their families. It’s time to admit that the wars in southwest Asia are in no one’s best interests. Bring the troops home now!
Pakistan, the only country in the world with a blasphemy law
November 11, 2009AsiaNews.it, Nov. 11, 2009
Peter Jacob, NCJP executive secretary, slams the creation of an “Islamic State” based on a law that strikes minorities as well as Muslims. Groups in government, parliament and the military back fundamentalism. The activist hopes that a “common front” can emerge to “bring democracy to the country”.
Rome (AsiaNews) – In Pakistan, an attempt is underway to create an “Islamic State” that would deny the principle of “equality of its citizens” as intended by the country’s father, Ali Jinnah, in a speech he delivered to the constituent assembly in 1947, said Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) during a press conference organised by AsiaNews on blasphemy. Pakistan is the only country in the world with a “blasphemy law”.
Joya: End the occupation of my country Afghanistan
November 12, 2009By Malalai Joya, CommonDreams.org, Nov 1 2, 2009
As an Afghan woman who was elected to Parliament, I am in the United States to ask President Barack Obama to immediately end the occupation of my country.
Eight years ago, women’s rights were used as one of the excuses to start this war. But today, Afghanistan is still facing a women’s rights catastrophe. Life for most Afghan women resembles a type of hell that is never reflected in the Western mainstream media.
In 2001, the U.S. helped return to power the worst misogynist criminals, such as the Northern Alliance warlords and druglords. These men ought to be considered a photocopy of the Taliban. The only difference is that the Northern Alliance warlords wear suits and ties and cover their faces with the mask of democracy while they occupy government positions. But they are responsible for much of the disaster today in Afghanistan, thanks to the U.S. support they enjoy.
The U.S. and its allies are getting ready to offer power to the medieval Taliban by creating an imaginary category called the “moderate Taliban” and inviting them to join the government. A man who was near the top of the list of most-wanted terrorists eight years ago, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has been invited to join the government.
Over the past eight years the U.S. has helped turn my country into the drug capital of the world through its support of drug lords. Today, 93 percent of all opium in the world is produced in Afghanistan. Many members of Parliament and high ranking officials openly benefit from the drug trade. President Karzai’s own brother is a well known drug trafficker.
Meanwhile, ordinary Afghans are living in destitution. The latest United Nations Human Development Index ranked Afghanistan 181 out of 182 countries. Eighteen million Afghans live on less than $2 a day. Mothers in many parts of Afghanistan are ready to sell their children because they cannot feed them.
Afghanistan has received $36 billion of aid in the past eight years, and the U.S. alone spends $165 million a day on its war. Yet my country remains in the grip of terrorists and criminals. My people have no interest in the current drama of the presidential election since it will change nothing in Afghanistan. Both Karzai and Dr. Abdullah are hated by Afghans for being U.S. puppets.
The worst casualty of this war is truth. Those who stand up and raise their voice against injustice, insecurity and occupation have their lives threatened and are forced to leave Afghanistan, or simply get killed.
We are sandwiched between three powerful enemies: the occupation forces of the U.S. and NATO, the Taliban and the corrupt government of Hamid Karzai.
Now President Obama is considering increasing troops to Afghanistan and simply extending former President Bush’s wrong policies. In fact, the worst massacres since 9/11 were during Obama’s tenure. My native province of Farah was bombed by the U.S. this past May. A hundred and fifty people were killed, most of them women and children. On Sept. 9, the U.S. bombed Kunduz Province, killing 200 civilians.
My people are fed up. That is why we want an immediate end to the U.S. occupation.
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Tags:Afghanistan, drug-lords, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Karzai government, Malalai Joya, Northern Alliance Warlords, occupation of Afghanistan, President Barack Obama, Taliban, women's rights
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