October 2009

Month

Afghans Trained by Blackwater Defect to Taliban

October 15, 2008 (republished on October 12,2009)
Remember when Sarah Palin said that “the surge principles that have worked in Iraq need to be implemented in Afghanistan.” Well…as Ms. Palin would say, many Afghans working for the Afghan security forces are now switching sides and are now defecting to the Taliban.

Guess who trained many of them? Blackwater!

An Aljazeera producer was able to interview some of those defectors who were unafraid to reveal their identities and were not bashful about their Blackwater issued IDs.

Afghanistan is not Iraq. The surge methods will not work in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai’s government is on the verge of collapse and it will be hard paying off the Taliban not to attack its forces.

This video is pretty revealing.

see video

October 12, 2009 0

Kseniya Simonova – Sand Animation (Україна має талант / Ukraine’s Got Talent)

some of the comments on YouTube :

@0:00 — Peace, Love
@1:30 — Original announcement of the German Army invading the country and bombing the cities
@4:10 — Perished
@5:00 — Most people don’t know where their loved ones were buried, hence the obelisk which signifies the remembrance of everyone who gave their lives during the World War II.
@8:20 — “You are always close. 1945”

It is about World War 2. First audio is news cast about the Nazi invasion, followed by a song “Dark Nights”. Final sand writing with mother & child, & ghostly image of the sailor, is “Your are always near by.” The Slavic people lost well over 30 million soldiers and common folk in WW2 , so even today the emotions are still strong for not only the old survivors, but also the younger generations.

The Ukraine was devastated in WWII. It suffered through a “scorched earth policy” twice, first by Stalin’s Soviet Russia and then by Hitler’s Nazi Germany. According to Alexander Werth (a Russian-born, naturalized British writer, journalist, and war correspondent), “Ukraine was, to the Germans, first and foremost a source of food; secondly, of coal, iron and other minerals; and thirdly, of slave labour.”
After 2076 days of war, V-E Day (Victory in Europe) was celebrated on May 8, 1945.

They were crying because either they or their folks lived through it. Scars like that run deep. The Ukraine was devastated in WWII. It suffered through a “scorched earth policy” twice, first by Stalin’s Soviet Russia and then by Hitler’s Nazi Germany. After 2076 days of war, V-E Day (Victory in Europe) was celebrated on May 8, 1945.

October 9, 2009 0

Falk: The PA Betrayed Its People

By The Palestinian Information Center

October 08, 2009 – GAZA, (PIC)– Richard Falk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that that the Palestinian authority (PA) in Ramallah betrayed its own people at a moment when the international community was so close to endorse Goldstone’s report accusing Israel of war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

“The Palestinians have betrayed their people, this was a moment when finally the international community indorsed the allegations of war crimes and it would have been an opportunity to vindicate the struggle of the Palestinian people for their rights under international law and for the Palestinian representatives in the UN themselves to seem to undermine this report is an astonishing development,” he told al-Jazeera.

The UN official, however, said that the report, despite being delayed, is still very important because it exposed the inadequacy of Palestinian representation at the international level and will encourage groups supporting the Palestinian struggle to continue their efforts in this regard.

For his part, member of the central committee of the popular front for the liberation of Palestine Kayed Al-Ghoul said that delaying the vote on Goldstone’s report is a sin committed by Mahmoud Abbas, demanding him to apologize for this wrongdoing before the Palestinian people.

Ghoul stressed that this apology is a necessary step to stop the negative repercussions and to hold accountable all Palestinian officials who were responsible for what happened.

In the same context, PA official Sa’eb Erekat told Al-Jazeera satellite channel on Tuesday that the PA in Ramallah is responsible for delaying taking action on Goldstone’s report, alleging that there was a misunderstanding of the PA position.

Erekat during his talk to the channel appeared to be trying to absorb the popular anger towards the PA astonishing position against Goldstone’s report.

Senior Fatah leader and former Palestinian ambassador to Egypt Nabil Amr held Abbas on Monday in remarks on the same channel fully and directly responsible for what happened in Geneva and called on him to stop fabricating excuses.

October 9, 2009 1

Richard Falk on Palestine and Goldstone report – 07 Oct 09

October 8, 2009 1

Deconstructing the Israeli Narrative

The article concludes :

Israel has revealed its nature; a nation built on actions normally termed war crimes by world institutions; a nation that does not follow international law; and a nation that does not heed United Nations Resolutions. Distracting and deceiving the world community with contrived and fallacious narratives permits Israel to continue its illegal maneuvers. Setting the record straight will straighten the road to Middle East peace.

read the full article here

October 8, 2009 0

The Israel Lobby. Portrait of a Great Taboo

For many years now the American foreign policy has been characterized by the strong tie between the United States and Israel. Does the United States in fact keep Israel on its feet? And how long will it continue to do so? In March 2006 the American political scientists John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Steve Walt (Harvard) published the controversial article ‘The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy’. In it they state that it is not, or no longer, expedient for the US to support and protect present-day Israel. The documentary sheds light on both parties involved in the discussion: those who wish to maintain the strong tie between the US and Israel, and those who were critical of it and not infrequently became ‘victims’ of the lobby. The question arises to what extend the pro-Israel lobby ultimately determines the military and political importance of Israel itself. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Colin Powell’s former chief-of-staff) explains how the lobby’s influence affects the decision-making structure in the White House.
With political scientist John Mearsheimer, neocon Richard Perle, lobby organization AIPAC, televangelist John Hagee, historian Tony Judt, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Democrat Earl Hilliard, Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy and investigative journalist Michael Massing.

Research: William de Bruijn
Director: Marije Meerman

For more information visit http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlic…

October 8, 2009 0

Connecting the Dots: The Axis of Evil Closes in on Iran’s Nuclear Sites, while the G20 stamps on our Civil Rights

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In the great global chess match, the Axis of Evil exchanges pieces with Russia towards a check-mate on Iran, while Afghanistan is set to be the proving ground of an open-ended military strategy.

The G20 crowns itself queen of the global economy, as our civil liberties are pawned off the board for the illusion of security.

If the audience is the human masses, they seem blithely disinterested in the high-stakes moves on the board and only vaguely aware that beneath the board itself Mother Nature is shaking the table, rattling the Earth and making waves.

September was yet another episode in the slow motion collision of humanity’s tragic history and reality.

read on

October 8, 2009 0

Viva Palestina

December convoy application form now online

The application form for UK volunteers wishing to join the December convoy is now available to download and complete at www.vivapalestina.org/apply2009

Deadline for applications is Friday 6th November 2009.

October 7, 2009 0

Afghan Women Speak Out: Dr. Roshnak Wardak

In September 2009, CODEPINK traveled to meet with the women of Afghanistan and hear their voices on the U.S. military engagement there. This is one of their stories … Meet Dr. Roshnak Wardak, a female member of parliament in Afghanistan and doctor.

http://www.womensaynotowar.org

October 7, 2009 0