Peace and Justice Post

War In Iraq, December 29, 2007
Winter Patriot

Whenever there’s a public death in one family or the other, the parallels between the Bhuttos in Pakistan and the Kennedys in America seem even more striking.

Start with wealth, power, public service at the national level, and violent death in the course of same. Add dashing men and gorgeous women; inspiring leadership and the most amazing cruelty; brilliance and incompetence; valor and corruption; and now, another violent public death.

But let’s not overdo it. Benazir Bhutto’s tale was her own, and it came to a sudden end on December 27 in Rawalpindi. Reports from Pakistan said she was leaving a rally in which she had appeared before thousands of people when she was shot twice from very close range, apparently by a suicide bomber who then detonated, killing himself as well as Benazir and another 20 or so.

Security had been described as very tight and multi-layered, so it’s difficult to imagine how the attacker could have come so close to his target. Due to the nature of the attack, such questions may never be answered. It’s the sort of murder that drives conspiracy theorists crazy.

The shooting-bombing has been universally ascribed to “extremists”; this scribe is too cold to argue. Nobody but an extremist would blow himself up to accomplish a political assassination. But what the press accounts universally fail to point out is that there are extremists on more than one side — indeed, in this case, there are extremists on all sides.

Continued . . .

Counterpunch, Weekend Edition, December 29 / 30, 2007

Address to the Cuban National Assembly, 12/28/2007

BY FIDEL CASTRO

Comrades of the National Assembly:

You have no easy task on your hands. On January 1st, 1959, surrounded by the accumulated and deepening grievances that our society inherited from its neo-colonial past under U.S. domination, many of us dreamed of creating a fully independent nation where justice prevailed. In the arduous and uneven struggle, there came the moment when we were left completely alone.

Nearly 50 years since the triumph of the Revolution, we can justifiably feel proud of ourselves, as we have held our ground, for almost half a century, in the struggle against the most powerful empire ever to exist in history. In the Proclamation I signed on July 31, 2006, none of you saw any signs of nepotism or an attempt to usurp parliamentary powers. That year, at once difficult and promising for the Revolution, the unity of the people, the Party and State were essential to continue moving forward and to face the declared threat of a military action by the United States.

Continued . . .

By Saeed Shah and Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers

Anjum Naveed / AP

Protesters burn tires in Rawalpindi. Benazir Bhutto’s supporters rampaged through cities Friday, ransacking banks and setting train stations ablaze. | View larger image

LARKANA, Pakistan — Violence and recriminations grew Friday over the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as Pakistan’s government changed its account of how she died while her supporters charged that the government withheld personal protection she’d requested.

As deadly protests continued to rage on Pakistan’s streets, the country’s Interior Ministry said that Bhutto — buried Friday without an autopsy — had died after she was thrown against the lever of her car’s sunroof, fracturing her skull.

Initially, the government had said that flying shrapnel killed Bhutto, 54, after a shooting and suicide bombing as she left a political rally in the city of Rawalpindi.

The new version of events fueled ever-present conspiracy theories in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation that’s on the front lines of President Bush’s war on terrorism and risks sliding further into political chaos.

Continued . . .

The Times of India, December 29, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior ministry said on Friday that opposition leader Nawaz Sharif is one of several politicians under threat of attack following the assassination of Benazir.

“There are other people who are under threat and whenever we receive information we pass it on to the concerned people,” ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said.

Asked to give examples, he named Sharif as well as Islamist leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and former ministers Sheikh Rashid and Aftab Sherpao.

The Times, UK, December 29, 2007

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

King Gyanendra of Nepal was stripped of his powers last night after the country’s provisional parliament voted to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy

He will remain in his palace until early next year, when the decision will be rubber-stamped by a newly elected assembly that will establish Nepal as a democratic federal republic.

After that the King will be forced to move to his private residence to live as a private citizen — the culmination of six years of self-destruction by the Nepalese monarchy.

“If the King creates serious hurdles in the elections he can be removed by a two-third majority of the interim parliament before the polls,” the parliamentary resolution states.

Keep reading . . .

By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet. Posted December 27, 2007.

No amount of intelligence is likely to get Bush to back off.

The unanimous conclusion of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran ceased pursuing a program of nuclear weapons in 2003, has dealt a severe blow to the Bush-Cheney agenda of forcible regime change in Iran. For several months, the rhetoric emerging from the White House escalated to the point that many observers predicted Bush would attack Iran before he leaves office.

But although the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) makes it more difficult to carry out his agenda in Iran, Bush is trying to publicly undermine its conclusions. “I have said Iran is dangerous,” he declared, “and the NIE estimate doesn’t do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world — quite the contrary.” Will Bush provoke an incident with Iran and then respond in “self-defense”?

Keep reading . . .

BBC News, December 28, 2007

Gyanendra has only months left as king

Parliament in Nepal has voted to abolish the monarchy, as part of a peace deal with former Maoist rebels. The Maoists left the government in September, vowing not to return unless the monarchy was scrapped. They ended a decade-long insurgency last year.

Nepal will be declared a republic after elections in April next year.

King Gyanendra, whose dynasty dates back to 1769, lost popular support when he sacked the government in 2005 and assumed absolute power.

Today’s vote has made sure the king will be removed immediately after elections Krishna Prasad Situala Nepal home minister

The decision to make Nepal a “federal democratic republican state” was taken by an overwhelming majority – 270 MPs out of 371 voted to abolish the monarchy, with only three against.

The main political parties had originally agreed to leave the question of whether Nepal should become a republic to the constituent assembly being elected in April.

But the Maoists wanted the decision taken at once – hence the agreement reached by the main political parties earlier this week. It will allow the Maoists to re-join the administration.

Continued . . .

White House Would Back Her as Prime Minister While Musharraf Held Presidency

By Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 28, 2007

For Benazir Bhutto, the decision to return to Pakistan was sealed during a telephone call from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just a week before Bhutto flew home in October. The call culminated more than a year of secret diplomacy — and came only when it became clear that the heir to Pakistan’s most powerful political dynasty was the only one who could bail out Washington’s key ally in the battle against terrorism.

It was a stunning turnaround for Bhutto, a former prime minister who was forced from power in 1996 amid corruption charges. She was suddenly visiting with top State Department officials, dining with U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and conferring with members of the National Security Council. As President Pervez Musharraf’s political future began to unravel this year, Bhutto became the only politician who might help keep him in power.

“The U.S. came to understand that Bhutto was not a threat to stability, but was instead the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact,” said Mark Siegel, who lobbied for Bhutto in Washington and witnessed much of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Keep reading . . .

 Press TV
December 25, 2007

Maverick Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul says the leaders of Israel are impelling the White House to wage war on Iran.

“The government of Israel encourages Americans to go into Iran,” Paul said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.

The 10-term Texas lawmaker added that neoconservatives have also been pushing the administration into ‘bombing Iran’.

When asked what he would do as the US president ‘if Iran invaded Israel’, Paul said the illusion of the Islamic Republic’s attack on Israel is like saying, “Iran is about to invade Mars.”

The 72-year-old politician made the remarks as Israeli officials are stepping up their war rhetoric against Tehran, over its nuclear program despite the recent reports confirming the peaceful nature of the country’s activities.

Ron Paul also made it clear that he would cut the ‘billions of dollars’ in annual aid Washington provides for Israel if elected President.