Peace and Justice Post

By Tom Carter, wsws.org, July 5, 2011

As part of its cover-up of Bush administration war crimes, the Obama administration announced June 30 that it would shut down 99 investigations into deaths of prisoners in US custody during the so-called “war on terror,” leaving only two investigations with the potential to develop into criminal prosecutions.

The announcement underscores the fact that the anti-democratic policies developed during the presidency of George W. Bush continue unchallenged under President Barack Obama, who is doing everything in his power to keep the lid on the crimes of his predecessor.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, the Bush administration quickly and quietly erected a network of secret prisons and “black sites,” where opponents of US imperialism in the Middle East—as well as, in many cases, their friends, relatives and acquaintances—were jailed, tortured and murdered.

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Stephen Lendman, MWC News, July 3, 2011

Daily, Israel keeps proving its lawless rogue credentials, notably by blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza. As a result, it finds new ways to show contempt for human rights, rule of law standards, civility, fundamental Judaic tenets, and its very legitimacy as a nation state, established by mass slaughter and displacement of indigenous Palestinians from their homeland.

Today, its war against humanity dirty tricks/state terrorism arsenal includes propaganda, intimidating lawsuits, pressure on other governments, sabotage, subversion, cold-blodded murder, and whatever else it takes to ruthlessly commit slow-motion genocide against nearly 1.7 million Gazans, besides daily crimes against others in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

No wonder growing numbers of fed up Jews are leaving,  voting with their feet, including studies showing half or more there actively consider it, and why not.

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By Dr Gideon Polya, Countercurrents.org, July 4, 2011

We all  know the great words of the 4 July 1776 American Declaration of Independence: “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. However these words did not apply to American Indians or to African slaves then any more than they apply today to Indigenous People in Palestine , Iraq , Afghanistan , Somalia or indeed in any part of the World under violent US hegemony. The World must make 4 July Independence From America Day.

These great words beloved of all decent folk today were an immense lie in 1776 and hid a major strategic objection of Independence for the Thirteen American Colonies: the invasion and ethnic cleansing of Indian lands to the West. . .

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All signs indicate that the government of Israel has taken steps to receive the present Gaza flotilla in a manner much more systematic than last year’s actions. Instead of relying entirely on the use of force, diplomatic measures were taken this time, and friendly states, first and foremost Greece, mobilized to help Israel and hampered the flotilla’s departure. This diplomatic action proved that there are alternatives less violent than Israel’s predilection for discharging armed soldiers to suppress civilian protests.

Yet the industriousness and creativity which Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have displayed merely underscore the folly that serves as the foundation of their policy. Israel removed its settlements and soldiers from the Gaza Strip six years ago, and withdrew to the Green Line in order to end its occupation of a strip of land densely populated by Palestinians. . . .

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By Rami G. Khouri, Al Arabiya News, July 2, 2011

This has been a bad week for killers in the Arab world. The indictments now being handed down by the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the case of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, represent two important steps on the road to corralling criminals who have plagued the modern Middle East for decades.

The case for moving these cases into trials is compelling on moral and political grounds.

Fair trials for the accused might achieve three things: hold accountable those who now stand accused of grievous crimes, so that justice can be achieved at last for those who have died or suffered; send a message to others in the region and abroad that they cannot kill and terrorize with impunity; and, send the important message to the ordinary people of the Arab world that perhaps they can look forward to a future of more normalcy and security.

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Why has the United States government supported counterinsurgency in Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, and many other places around the world, at such a loss of human life to the populations of those nations? Why did it invade tiny Grenada and then Panama? Why did it support mercenary wars against progressive governments in Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, East Timor, Western Sahara, South Yemen, and elsewhere?

Is it because our leaders want to save democracy? Are they concerned about the well-being of these defenseless peoples? Is our national security threatened? I shall try to show that the arguments given to justify U.S. policies are false ones.

But this does not mean the policies themselves are senseless. American intervention may seem “wrongheaded” but, in fact, it is fairly consistent and horribly successful.

The history of the United States has been one of territorial and economic expansionism, with the benefits going mostly to the U.S. business class in the form of growing investments and markets, access to rich natural resources and cheap labor, and the accumulation of enormous profits.

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Truthdig.com, July 3, 2011

Flickr / Defence Images

An armed unmanned aerial vehicle prepares for takeoff in Afghanistan early this year.

Pakistani lawyer and human rights champion Mirza Shahzad Akbar, who has aided the U.S. government in legal counterterrorism efforts, was banned from traveling to the States to speak at Columbia Law School after suing the CIA about drone strikes that have killed civilians in his country.

In an open letter, Akbar describes the plight of nonmilitant Pakistanis who have lost family and friends and suffered severe injuries in such attacks, and suggests the U.S. government—which purports to value justice and the rule of law—should honor those who have sought to redress their losses through legal rather than violent means. It is difficult to know exactly how many civilians have been killed by drones, but the Brookings Institution has put the number at more than 600, with 10 civilian deaths for every militant killed. —ARK

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By Jamal Elshayyal, MWC News, July 2, 2011

When you’re all but down and out you usually try and make as many fiends as possible, in the hope that one of them will rescue you.

Greece has been brought to its knees because of the global economic recession which arguably hit it harder than any other country in Europe, but its new found friends will do little to help it stand back on its feet.

Since last year’s Freedom Flotilla, and the outcry cause by Israel’s murder of nine innocent civilians in international waters, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been doing his best to prevent a similar expedition of humanitarians exposing Israel’s true nature.

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By Senator Mike Gravel, Countercurrents.org, July 4, 2011

As each anniversary of 9/11 rolls by, the import of this tragedy looms ever larger in our history. Especially looming like storm clouds on the horizon of American politics are the unanswered questions about these events. And as new evidence and new whistleblowers come forward seemingly every week, the import of the 9/11 truth movement multiplies in historic significance. All of this points to the urgent need for a new, independent investigation with subpoena and other grand jury powers—a citizen’s commission that is truly free of partisan political interference.

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Yahoo News, July 3, 2011

Souce: AFP

ATHENS (AFP) – The captain of a US vessel intercepted after it tried to defy a ban and sail for Gaza from Greece was being held in “shocking conditions” Sunday and has not received consular assistance, a lawyer said.

Captain John Klusmer was arrested when the US boat Audacity of Hope — the flagship in a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists — attempted to leave Greek waters on Friday after Athens banned all Gaza-bound ships from setting sail.

Klusmer was charged with felony and ordered to appear in court on Tuesday. The US Boat to Gaza organisation said he was being held in jail in “shocking conditions” and as far as it was aware, had not yet received consular assistance.

New York lawyer Richard Levy — a passenger on the boat who has visited Klusmer in jail in a port town near Athens — told enraged US activists that “he had no bed or toilet in his cell, and is receiving no food or water”.

“We’ve offered to pay his bail,” said passenger Robert Naiman, from the Washington-based Just Foreign Policy organisation. “But we have had no indication at all that he will be allowed out of jail before Tuesday.”

The US embassy in Athens was not available for comment.

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