HOLDING OUR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE: FILING A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FOR WAR CRIMES
It could have been any kind of gathering between friends as I sat with six others in Malachy Kilbride’s living room in Arlington, VA on the morning of May 21, 2013, drinking coffee and munching on pastries. Besides Malachy and me, we were joined by David Barrows, Max Obuszewski, Manijeh Saba, Ray McGovern, and Ted Majdosz. But there was a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air that morning. We have risked arrest together many times before acting in resistance to the illegal and immoral actions of our government, but today we were going to try something different.
Syria News May 24
VIDEO: Big groups of Syrian rebels heading to Qusayr for support - YouTube
Syrian army starts 2nd phase of Qusayr operation - alalam.ir
Battle for Qusayr: Syria Says Rebels’ Supply Routes Totally Cut - almanar.com
Lebanon Clashes Between Syria-Linked Alawites And Sunnis Kill At Least 6 - AFP
Young Lebanese rebel fighters leaving Syria for battle closer to home - The Washington Post
Lebanese Politics Affected By Syrian Battle for Qusair - Al-Monitor
Fighters primarily from Lebanon, Iran and Iraq, Enter Syria to Defend Shiites - Wall Street Journal
Golan Heats Up as Front Line Between Syria and Israel - Al-Monitor
SNC asks for UN humanitarian aid corridor in Syria - World Bulletin
Arab League seeks Syria ceasefire - Oman Observer
Syrian churches 'desperate', 'exhausted" - christiantoday.com
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Turkey's MİT called off police prior to Hatay blasts - todayszaman
Turkey to build wall on border with Syria - APA
Iraq launches counter-terrorism campaign along Syria border - Mawtani
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Erdogan deeply disappointed by the meeting with Obama - middleeastmonitor.com
Kerry pushes Europe to amend arms embargo on Syrian rebels- guardian.co.uk
Exclusive: U.S. State Dep To Bring Chemical Weapons Witnesses Out Of Syria - The Daily Beast
Syria opposition's Khatib proposes Assad "safe exit" AFP
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Israeli Pillar of Cloud War Crimes
Israeli Pillar of Cloud War Crimes
by Stephen Lendman
On May 8, B'Tselem published a report titled "Human Rights Violations During Operation Pillar of Defense: 14 - 21 November 2012."
Israel's Operation Pillar of Cloud (aka Cloud Column/Pillar of Defense) was naked, premeditated aggression. Previous articles discussed it.
Congress Today: Who Does it Really Represent?
With U.S. approval of Congress holding steady at a whopping 15%, one wonders just who it is the elected representatives are representing. Perhaps we can answer that question, by looking at some of their recent activities, and considering some of the things currently left undone.
Protesting War Criminal Rice's (Hypocritical) Speech "Why Democracy Matters" to Minnesota "Law Day" Participants
----------------PRESS RELEASE--------------------------------------------------------
Contact: WAMM (612-827-5364) or Coleen Rowley
Women Against Military Madness’ “Tackling Torture at the Top” Committee will lead a demonstration outside the Minneapolis Hilton, 1001 Marquette Avenue South, beginning at 4:00 p.m. (Thursday, May 23).
A number of peace activists will be wearing orange jumpsuits, to keep reminding the world of the innocent Gitmo detainees who are on hunger strike because they are so hopeless at being held indefinitely without the right to even know of the charges against them.
Afghanistan Drawdown, 20 More Years Of War
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| Source: Afghan Women's Writing Project "A Mother Expecting Still" |
Iraq Today: America's Imperial Legacy
Iraq Today: America's Imperial Legacy
by Stephen Lendman
US imperial wars reflect mass slaughter, widespread destruction, ecocide, resource theft, exploitation, unspeakable human pain, suffering and misery, as well as permanent occupation.
Washington came to Iraq to stay. US military and other security elements infest the region. It's the oil and unchallenged Middle East dominance, stupid.
Mission Creep Toward Full-Scale War on Syria
Mission Creep Toward Full-Scale War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
On May 20, Secretary of State John Kerry headed back to the Middle East. It's his fourth regional visit since January.
On May 21, he met Oman's Sultan Qaboos. An air defense system/weapons sale, Syria, and related issues were discussed.
Protest at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at 10 a.m. This Friday
You know how the government is owned by the lobbyists? Well, on Friday, we're marching on the lobbyists.
A group of unemployed workers and their families have spent the last week marching all the way from Philadelphia to DC, with the intent of marching on the US Chamber of Commerce's headquarters this Friday, May 24th. Their march is called "Operation Green Jobs," and they'll be holding the US Chamber accountable for buying off congress and using their millions to stop action on jobs, climate change, and a more equitable tax code.
WHO: Operation Green Jobs
WHAT: March on the US Chamber of Commerce
WHEN: Friday, May 24 at 10 AM
WHERE: 1615 H St NW, Washington DC 20062
If you can't make it in person, you can still join the virtual march at http://shutthechamber.org/virtualmarch. All you need to do is click the link, tell your story of how corporate greed has affected you, and your story will be seen by the world with your permission.
Whether it's any of the imperial wars for resources, catastrophic climate change, crippling poverty and unemployment or austerity, all roads lead to the US Chamber of Commerce and their lobbying efforts. Join the march in DC on Friday, or join the virtual march at http://shutthechamber.org/virtualmarch.
In solidarity,
Carl Gibson
Lead Organizer, Shut The Chamber
Obama Promises His Speech Will End Some Day
President Obama is expected to announce that the eternal war on the world will have an end.
When?
He won't say.
I too have an announcement. I promise my drinking problem will end some day.
When?
I'm not saying. But the celebrations of the armistice in 1918 began when plans for it were announced, and the partying continued until it actually happened. Perhaps that is the best approach here. As an aid to your festivities, let me present the . . .
Afternoon Obama Murder Rap Drinking Game
(which I promise to stop playing soon)
1. The President is going to admit that he has a murder problem and propose to correct it by murdering less in certain countries. If examples occur to you of crimes you might commit that you could not continue committing by promising to limit your criminal activities in some countries but not in others, DRINK!
2. The President is going to claim to have targeted, or to have allowed an unnamed John Brennan to have targeted, only one U.S. citizen for murder but to have killed three by mistake, on top of three killed by President Bush by mistake. If you can think of outrages you might commit that you could not go on committing by claiming that 86% of them were accidental side effects, DRINK!
3. The President is going to claim that the one U.S. citizen he or his subordinate chose to murder was an imminent (meaning eventual theoretical) threat to violently attack the United States, that capture was infeasible (meaning the target was hiding following lots of death threats, but his location was known anyway), and that said citizen was a senior operational leader of al Qaeda (or an associated group or was an adherent or a backstage groupie who had once met a guy whose cousin knew where an al Qaeda meeting was held one time). If you understand what that means, DRINK!
4. The President is going to hope that nobody notices that laws against war and murder don't include exceptions for people who invent lists of arcane criteria that they require themselves to meet before murdering. If you think you could invent and meet at least three qualifications before engaging in some immoral behavior, DRINK!
5. The President is going to hope nobody notices that he did not actually meet his own criteria before murdering Awlaki. Attorney General Eric Holder now says Awlaki was killed for actions, not words. Prior to the deed, Holder said it was the "hatred spewed" on Awlaki's blog that put him "on the same list with bin Laden." Asked if he wanted Awlaki captured or killed, Holder did not say "captured if feasible," but evaded the question. Awlaki, as far as we know, was never a member of al Qaeda. Obama's and Holder's claims about Awlaki's role in terrorist attacks are undocumented claims. No evidence has been presented and no charges were ever brought in court. If you think shouting "Whoever he is, and whatever he's charged with, he did it!" would be a nifty way to get out of jury duty, DRINK!
6. The President is going to speed past the fact that over 99% of the people he's murdered have not been U.S. citizens, and that the pretense of justification so lazily applied to U.S. citizens has not been bothered with at all in these cases. He's not going to discuss "signature strikes" targeting unknown people and whoever's near them, or the targeting of the rescuers of victims. He's not going to discuss children, women, seniors. He's not going to discuss the posthumous identification of males as "enemy combatants" -- a non-legal term that adds insult to murder. He's not going to discuss the many known cases in which the victims could quite feasibly have been captured, were clearly not involved with al Qaeda in any way, and lacked any capacity whatsoever to threaten the United States. He's going to propose applying the fraudulent, meaningless, and illegal standards he applies to murdering U.S. citizens to murdering non-U.S. citizens in the future ... in some countries. If you can think of some people who might not be satisfied with this reform, DRINK!
7. The President is going to claim to be moving some but not all drone kill operations from a secret agency technically lacking in Congressional oversight to a department Congress simply chooses not to oversee. If this falls short of what you can imagine when you hear "most transparent administration ever," DRINK!
8. The President will not be speaking about how some 75 other nations with drones should begin applying his standards to their own behavior. If you think such matters are worth discussing, DRINK!
9. The President is going to brush over the question of where and how he will be ordering the murder of people by means other than missiles. If you can think of ways this might become seen as a problem down the road, DRINK!
10. The President is going to speed past the existence of a massive ongoing U.S. war on Afghanistan, larger now than when Obama moved into the White House, and expected to continue for many years after it "ends" in another year and a half. If his ability to get away with this strikes you as perhaps what he must love most about drones and how they change the conversation, DRINK!
11. If you have concerns that go unanswered about the global expansion of U.S. bases, threats to Syria, weapons provided to Israel, threats to Iran, or the gargantuan military budget, DRINK!
12. The President will leak a great deal of information about his kill list program in this speech, as he has done on some previous "I killed bin Laden!" occasions, and yet will fail to prosecute himself for espionage at the end of the speech. If you believe laws should be applied equally to all, DRINK!
Syria News May 23
FSA Tawhid Brigade in Aleppo sends 300 support units to al-Qusayr - Anadolu Agency
Hizbullah-Backed Syrian Troops Advance in Northern Qusayr Town - Naharnet
Syrian Army detains Saudi, Qatari officers caught aiding rebel forces in Qusair - World Tribune
Qusayr Battle Far From Over - Al Akhbar English
Friends of Syria demands Hezbollah, Iran fighters withdraw - Yahoo! News
German Intelligence Believes Assad Regime Regaining Lost Power - SPIEGEL ONLINE
This Russian Mobile SAM Site Could Be a Serious Ace Up Syria's Sleeve - gizmodo.com
Sectarian violence over Syria war rages in Lebanon's Tripoli - Yahoo! News
Attacks against Lebanese Alawites deepen fears - wwlp.com
The Jihadist Threat to Lebanon - Al-Monitor
UN: Fighting displaces 70-80% of Palestinians in Syria - AFP
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Syria's Reaction to Proposed Peace Talks 'Constructive', Says Lavrov — Naharnet
Syrian Opposition’s Stance On Peace Talks ‘Not Reassuring’ - Lavrov - RIA Novosti
Kerry Mideast Talks on Syria to Include Russian Call for Involving Iran - VOA
UK sees no Syria peace deal with Assad in place - AFP
UK: EU Should Be Ready To Change Syria Arms Embargo To Pressure Assad - WSJ.com
France says Syria's Assad must give up power to end war - Reuters
Qatar PM says Assad departure a must for Syria peace - AFP
US Syria Arms Bill Real Bad For Russia - Business Insider
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PHOTOS: Photos of the gendarmerie’s Reyhanlı attack document - CyberGuerrilla soApboX
Turkey shuts Syria border crossing after deadly bombs - Yahoo! News
Syria: 10,000 people at the gates of Turkey - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International
Iraqi forces dismantle cell linked to Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria - Mawtani
Al Nusra leader in hiding after disputed merger - Worldnews.com
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
The Government's List of "Anti-Government" People
Should the U.S. government be building a list of people whom a stranger has concluded based on as little as a moment's interaction are "anti-government"? Look at this photo of a U.S. Census laptop. There's a box to check if a respondent is reluctant to participate in the census.
The next screen wants the census interviewer to explain the potential interviewee's reluctance:
Notice that there is a box for hostile or threatening. That seems important. There are boxes for just not interested or too busy. There is a box for those who object that too many personal questions are asked. The basics all seem to be covered. But the Census employee is to check multiple boxes, "all that apply," and one is "Anti-government concerns." What does that mean? What do Census workers think it means? It clearly means something other than reluctant to give the government this information. To be "anti-" the government sounds like someone is in favor of overthrowing the government. And a government that thinks purely in terms of violence would inevitably interpret such a desire as one in favor of violently overthrowing the government. But surely nobody tells a representative of the government that they favor its violent overthrow unless they don't really take themselves seriously and are not actually a threat. So maybe this "Anti-government concerns" box is equivalent to "Seems nuts," but what sort of training does the survey taker have in mental health? The serious question is what lists your name goes on if somebody marks you down as Anti-government.
Talk Nation Radio: Carl Gibson on Shutting Down the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
https://soundcloud.com/davidcnswanson/talk-nation-radio-carl-gibson
Carl Gibson is currently engaged in a Green Jobs March from Philadelphia to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., as part of a campaign called ShutTheChamber.org. You can join the march virtually by uploading a photo on their website, or you can join in reality at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce across from the White House at 10 a.m. Friday, May 24th. Gibson is lead organizer of ShutTheChamber and cofounder of USUncut. He discusses the damage the U.S. Chamber does to our political system pushing environmental destruction, wars, and the plutocratic concentration of wealth. Gibson says that small businesses paying dues to local chambers that themselves have little in common with the U.S. Chamber end up funding assaults on small businesses, as the local chambers fund the state chambers which fund the U.S. Chamber -- an institution that also serves to funnel vast quantities of unaccountable corporate money into politics.
Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.
Download or get embed code from Archive or AudioPort or LetsTryDemocracy.
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Armed Forces Day, Graterford State Prison: Veterans and Pennsylvania's Criminal Justice System
By John Grant
PREFACE
CITIZEN ACTIVISTS CONFER WITH US ATTORNEY URGING AN INDICTMENT AGAINST U.S. PRESIDENT, CIA DIRECTOR, AND OTHERS FOR WAR CRIMES
Austria warns against arms shipments to Syrian rebels
By EUBusiness
(VIENNA) - Austria has warned its 26 European Union partners in a letter against providing weapons for rebel movements in the Syrian conflict, said a press report to be published Tuesday.
The foreign ministry in Vienna confirmed late Monday that a document had been handed over to the European Union in Brussels, but did not give details.
Die Presse newspaper said that Austria believes arms shipments to the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would be "a violation of international law, the basic laws of the European Union" and "of the principles of the United Nations charter concerning non-intervention and the use of force".
They would also violate UN Security Council resolutions concerning Al-Qaeda, it said.
In the letter Austria warned that groups like the Al-Nusra Front, which is "close to the terror network", were acting among the rebels, Die Presse said.
Following a move by France and Britain, the Islamist group, which has become one of the most feared fighting forces in Syria's two-year-old conflict, will be subject to a global asset freeze from Tuesday.
European Union sanctions against Syria are up for renewal at the end of the month, with France and Britain pushing for a lifting of the arms embargo so the rebels can receive weapons.
Die Presse said the letter warned that a lifting of the arms embargo would also lead to an end of all sanctions which can only be extended unanimously by all 27 EU members.
Those who lift the embargo would then also be responsible for unfreezing Assad's foreign bank accounts, it said.
Finland, Sweden and Baltic nations Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are also opposed to lifting the embargo, while most other EU nations, including Germany and Spain, have so far failed to clarify their positions.
Connecticut Advances Conversion from War to Peace Economy
The Connecticut legislature has sent to the governor to sign a bill that would create a commission to develop a plan for, among other things:
"the diversification or conversion of defense-related industries with an emphasis on encouraging environmentally-sustainable and civilian product manufacturing. On or before December 1, 2014, the commission shall submit such report to the Governor and, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce."
The commission "shall Advise the General Assembly and the Department of Economic and Community Development on issues relating to the diversification or conversion of defense-related industries" among other things.
Obama's War on Free Expression
Obama's War on Free Expression
by Stephen Lendman
It's the most fundamental right. Without it all others are endangered. Obama's waging war to destroy it. He's done so throughout his tenure.
He targeted AP. He did so unjustifiably. A previous article discussed it.
Israel Heads Closer to War on Syria
Israel Heads Closer to War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
Syria is Washington's war. It was planned years ago. It began in early 2011. No end of conflict looks near. Escalating it appears likely.
Israel's very much involved. It abhors peace and stability. Its history reflects belligerence. It’s a direct threat. It borders Syria.
Syria News May 22
Syrian and Hezbollah Fighters Push Qusayr Assault - NYTimes.com
Hezbollah sends new fighters to bloody Syria battle - Yahoo!7
Syria: Turning Point in the Battle of Qusayr - Al Akhbar English
VIDEO (Arabic): FSA Colonel: Shiite/ Alawite Villages Will be Wiped Out if Qusair Falls - YouTube
Syria: Main al-Nusra Front commander killed in Qusayr clashes - PressTV
Footage from rebels shows Iranian munitions in Syria - The Times of Israel
U.K. Pushes EU Blacklisting of Hezbollah Military Wing - WSJ.com
Tripoli braces for the worst as fighting enters fourth day - THE DAILY STAR
Baalbek residents back Hezbollah in Qusair fight - THE DAILY STAR
Israeli military chief issues stark warning after Syria, Israel trade fire across border - Fox News
Syrian army says captured Israeli Jeep is proof of aid to rebels - FRANCE 24
VIDEO: Israeli Jeep Used by FSA Terrorists Found in Qusayr by the Syrian Army - YouTube
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UN mediator: Syria government, rebels preparing for peace talks - NBC World News
Syria submits five names for possible peace talks - AFP
Syria Opposition Signals Tough Line on Peace Talks - ABC News
Syrian National Coalition to partake in 'Friends of Syria' talks - Ammon News
Iran wants in on Syria peace conference - AFP
Turkey's green light to Iran role in Syria talks a welcome step - todayszaman
Lavrov warns of hidden obstacles in upcoming conference on Syria - Russia Beyond The Headlines
Russia's Lavrov on Solving Syria through Diplomacy (Text of Interview) - Informed Comment
Armed, Bearded Syrians Flourish In Southern Turkey - al-monitor.com
Three Chemical Weapon Specialist Answer Questions About Chemical Weapons In Syria - Brown Moses Blog
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Tensions Rise as Barzani Closes Syrian-Iraqi Kurdistan Border - Al-Monitor
Barzani warns PYD over its Syria policy in deepening row - todayszaman
Border Arrests Reveal Disunity, Conflict Among Syrian Kurds - Al-Monitor
To contact Bartolo email peaceloversingle@gmail.com
Final Push for Signers & Donors for NY Times Full Page Ad
by Debra Sweet The timing could not be better for our message to appear in The New York Times. We are making a major push today for $9,703 to place the ad immediately for publication on stand-by this week. President Obama will give a major speech Thursday at the National Defense University in Washington, reportedly about drones and Guantanamo.
President Obama loves leaks, despises whistleblowers
With the revelation that the Department of Justice secretly obtained two months of The Associated Press’ telephone records and used security badge access records to track James Rosen’s visits to the State Department, along with a warrant to search Rosen’s personal emails, there has been a rush in the mainstream media to declare the DOJ’s actions to be part of what they claim to be President Obama’s aggressive pursuit of those who would leak secret information to the press.
For example, The Washington Post describes the DOJ’s investigation of AP as “part of a pattern in which the Obama administration has pursued current and former government officials suspected of releasing secret material. Six officials have been prosecuted, more than under all previous administrations combined.”
Meanwhile, The New York Times states that the investigation “comes against a backdrop of an aggressive policy by the Obama administration to rein in leaks. Under President Obama, six current and former government officials have been indicted in leak-related cases so far, twice the number brought under all previous administrations combined.”
The New York Times and The Washington Post are propagating a false narrative, one that depicts Obama as some sort of crusader hell bent on plugging all leaks. The reality is the Obama administration has either authorized or acquiesced to the leak of information that is deemed politically beneficial, while relentlessly investigating and prosecuting those who reveal information that reflects poorly on his administration and the U.S. government.
It is ironic that The Washington Post and The New York Times claim that the Obama administration has aggressively pursued leakers seeing that both media sources have happily provided Obama administration officials with anonymity so they can leak classified information favorable to the President without consequence.
Somehow, The Washington Posts’ June 1, 2012, report on the Obama administration’s use of cyber warfare must have slipped through the cracks at the White House and the DOJ. The Washington Post reported that the U.S. and Israel were behind Stuxnet, the cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Prior to this report, there had been speculation that the U.S. and Israel were behind the attack, but no official confirmation. Confirmation was provided to The Washington Post by an official “speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the classified effort code-named Olympic Games.”
These cracks must be enormous to have let the three dozen current and former Obama administration officials who contributed to The New York Time’s expose on drones slip through them. On May 29, 2012, The New York Times revealed that Obama maintains a ‘Kill List’ and that he counts all military-age males killed in drone strikes as combatants unless proven innocent posthumously. Regarding the president’s indiscriminate counting method, one official “requested anonymity to speak about what is still a classified program.”
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has charged six whistle-blowers, a term apparently not in The New York Times’s or The Washington Post’s editorial vocabulary, under the Espionage Act. These six individuals have revealed government waste, fraud, and abuse, acts of aggression, torture and war crimes. Yet, it is those who have revealed the criminal activity that have suffered prosecution by the Obama administration while those who actually committed the crimes have gone unpunished.
On Feb. 22, 2012, in response to Obama’s deserved glowing praise of journalists in Syria, Jake Tapper asked White House press secretary Jay Carney, “How does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the United States by using the Espionage Act to take whistle-blowers to court?”
The Obama administration has sent a clear message. Government officials and journalists who wish to work together to create news stories through the leak of classified information that portray the president and his administration in a positive light should have no fear. And to the journalists and whistle-blowers thinking about publishing that other kind of classified information, be prepared to have your emails read, your phones tapped without your knowledge and your life and career turned upside down.
Bachman is a professorial lecturer in Human Rights at the School of International Service at American University.
Antiwar.com Sues FBI After Secret Surveillance
Antiwar.com is taking the FBI to court.
The website’s founder and managing editor Eric Garris, along with longtime editorial director Justin Raimondo, filed a lawsuit in federal court today, demanding the release of records they believe the FBI is keeping on them and the 17-year-old online magazine.
Antiwar.com says this is one more example of post-9/11 government overreach, and a stark reminder that the First Amendment has been treated as little more than a speed bump on the road to a government surveillance state. The lawsuit is particularly timely, considering recent scandals in which the Department of Justice secretly seized months of journalists’ phone records at the Associated Press, and did the same and more to a FOX News reporter, while the IRS is acknowledging it singled out conservative groups that criticize the government for extra scrutiny.
Suddenly, the press is more aware than ever that the state has the ability to secretly monitor its activities, heretofore thought of as constitutionally protected from government interference and intimidation.
“Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy, whether it’s AP or Antiwar.com,” said Julia Harumi Mass, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which is representing Antiwar.com in the case. “FBI surveillance of news organizations interferes with journalists’ ability to do their jobs as watchdogs that hold the government accountable.”
The suit was filed on Tuesday at the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. Both Garris and Raimondo live and work in the San Francisco Bay area.
Are Japanese Bonds Signaling Trouble?
Are Japanese Bonds Signaling Trouble?
by Stephen Lendman
A previous article discussed the disconnect between soaring markets and troubled economies. Liquidity driven markets only skyrocket so long.
What can't go on forever, won't. No one's sure when. Eventually the music stops. When that happens, watch out. Signals provide clues.
The Reason for Hunger Strikes-from Northern Ireland to Guantanamo
By Ann Wright
I'm in Northern Ireland and yesterday on May 20, 2013, I spoke with several members of the Northern Ireland Parliament. With over 100 prisoners in Guantanamo on a 100 day hunger strike, the Obama administration would be wise to talk to some of them too--about the importance and legacy of hungerstrikes.
In 1981, Pat Sheehan was one of the Maze Prison hunger strikers-a hunger strike that brought huge international attention to the Northern Ireland "Troubles," with the goal of forcing the British government to treat those imprisoned as political prisoners, not criminals. Hunger strikers demanded the right to wear civilian clothes, the right to education and recreational opportunities, freedom from work obligations, and a set of other benefits not afforded to other inmates.Pat was on the hunger strike for 55 days and still alive when the hunger strike was called off by the prisoners.
Bobby Sands became the most famous of the 10 who died during the hunger strikes when he was elected to Parliament while on the hunger strike-Francis Hughes, Raymond McLeish, Patsy O'Hara, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Thomas McElwee, Michael Devine also died.
After one prisoner died from his lung punctured from a feeding tube through the throat, the British ended force feeding those on hunger strikes. The British government eventually granted most of the hunger strikers’ demands. Public opinion changed dramatically in favor of those imprisoned and on the hunger strike.
Now Pat Sheehan is a member of the Northern Ireland Parliament. The Good Friday Peace Accord brokered by the Clinton administration brought to a close, a violent chapter in British and Northern Ireland relationships. The Peace Accord allowed former political prisoners to become part of the political process.
One never knows the future of those who have been imprisoned for political crimes--after peace talks, many may become political leaders, like Gerry Adams and Pat Sheehan. No one can predict the future paths of those in Guantanamo, but one can be assured that the continued imprisonment of those cleared for release from Guantanamo is disastrous for the individual and for the United States.
President Obama would be wise to call former hunger striker and now Northern Ireland Parliamentarian Pat Sheehan!
About the Author: Ann Wright served 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. She also worked as a US diplomat for 16 years and served in US Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the US government in 2003 in opposition to President Bush’s war on Iraq. In 2006, she was on a delegation to Guantanamo, Cuba to challenge the US prison at Guantanamo.
Tales in a Kabul Restaurant
By Kathy Kelly
Kabul--Since 2009, Voices for Creative Nonviolence has maintained a grim record we call the “The Afghan AtrocitiesUpdate” which gives the dates, locations, numbers and names of Afghan civilians killed by NATO forces. Even with details culled from news reports, these data can't help but merge into one large statistic, something about terrible pain that's worth caring about but that is happening very far away.
It’s one thing to chronicle sparse details about these U.S. led NATO attacks. It’s quite another to sit across from Afghan men as they try, having broken down in tears, to regain sufficient composure to finish telling us their stories. Last night, at a restaurant in Kabul, I and two friends from the Afghan Peace Volunteers met with five Pashtun men from Afghanistan’s northern and eastern provinces. The men had agreed to tell us about their experiences living in areas affected by regular drone attacks, aerial bombings and night raids. Each of them noted that they also fear Taliban threats and attacks. “What can we do,” they asked, “when both sides are targeting us?”
THE FIRST RESPONDER’S TALE
Jamaludeen, an emergency medical responder from Jalalabad, is a large man, with a serious yet kindly demeanor. He began our conversation by saying that he simply doesn’t understand how one human being can inflict so much harm on another. Last winter, NATO forces fired on his cousin, Rafiqullah, age 30, who was studying to be a pediatrics specialist.
"A suicide bomber had apparently blown himself up near the airport. My cousin and two other men were riding in a car on a road leading to the airport. It was 6:15 AM. When they'd realized that NATO helicopters and tanks were firing missiles, they had left their car and huddled on the roadside, but they were easily seen. A missile exploded near them, seriously wounding Rafiqullah and another passenger, while killing their driver, Hayatullah."
Hayatullah, our friend told us, was an older man, about 45 years old, who left behind a wife, two boys and one daughter.
Although badly wounded, Rafiqullah and his fellow passenger could still speak. A U.S. tank arrived and they began pleading with the NATO soldiers to take them to the hospital. “I am a doctor,” said Rafiqullah's fellow passenger, a medical student named Siraj Ahmad. “Please save me!” But the soldiers handcuffed the two wounded young men and awaited a decision about what to do next. Rafiqullah died there, by the side of the road. Still handcuffed, Siraj Ahmad was taken, not to a hospital, but to the airport, perhaps to await evacuation. That was where he died. He was aged 35 and had four daughters. Rafiqullah, aged 30, leaves three small girls behind.
And Jamaludeen knows that those girls, in one sense are lucky. Four years ago, he tried to bring first aid as an early responder to a wedding party attacked by NATO forces. Only he couldn’t, because there were no survivors. 54 people were killed, all of them (except for the bridegroom) women and children. “It was like hell,” said Dr. Jamaludeen. “I saw little shoes, covered with blood, along with pieces of clothing and musical instruments. It was very, very terrible to me. The NATO soldiers knew these people were not a threat.”
THE MANUAL LABORER'S TALE
Kocji, who makes a living doing manual laborer, is from a village of 400 families. His story took place three weeks ago. It started with a telephoned warning that Taliban forces had entered the Surkh Rod district of Jalalabad, which is where his village is located. That day, at about 10:00 p.m., NATO forces entered his village en masse. Some soldiers landed on rooftops and slid expertly to the ground on rope ladders. When they entered homes, they would lock women and children in one room while they beat the men, shouting questions as the women and children screamed to be released. On this raid, no one was killed, and no one was taken away. It turned out that NATO troops had acted on a false report and discovered their error quickly. False reports are a constant risk. - In any village some families will feud with each other, and NATO troops can be brought into those feuds, unwittingly and very easily, and sometimes with deadly consequences. Kocji objects to NATO forces ordering attacks without first asking more questions and trying to find out whether or not the report is valid. He’d been warned of a threat from one direction, but the threats actually come from all sides.
THE STUDENT’S TALE
Rizwad, a student from the Pech district of the Kunar province, spoke next.
Twenty-five days ago, between 3 and 4 a.m., twelve children were collecting firewood in the mountains not far from his village. The children were between 7 and 8 years old. Rizwad actually saw the fighter plane flying overhead towards the mountains. When it reached them, it fired on the twelve children, leaving no survivors. Rizwad’s 8 year old cousin, Nasrullah, a schoolboy in the third grade, was among the dead that morning.
The twelve children belonged to eight families from the same village. When the villagers found the bloodied and dismembered bodies of their children, they gathered together to demand from the provincial government some reason as to why NATO forces had killed them. “It was a mistake,” they were told.
"It is impossible for the people to talk with the U.S. military,” says Rizwad. “Our own government tries to calm us down by saying they will look into the matter."
THE FARMER’S TALE
Riazullah from Chapria Marnu spoke next. Fifteen days previously, three famers in Riazullah's area had been working to irrigate their wheat field. It was early afternoon, about 3:30 p.m. One of the men was only eighteen - he had been married for five months. The other two farmers were in their mid-forties. Their names were Shams Ulrahman, Khadeem and Miragah, and Miragah’s two little daughters were with them.
Eleven NATO tanks arrived. One tank fired missiles which killed the three men and the two little girls. “What can we do?” asked Riazullah. “We are caught between the Taliban and the internationals. Our local government does not help us.”
THE STORY OF U.S./NATO OCCUPATION
The world doesn't seem to ask many questions about Afghan civilians whose lives are cut short by NATO or Taliban forces. Genuinely concerned U.S. friends say they can't really make sense of our list - news stories merge into one large abstraction, into statistics, into "collateral damage," in a way that comparable (if much smaller and less frequent) attacks on U.S. civilians do not. People here in Afghanistan naturally don’t see themselves as a statistic; they wonder why the NATO soldiers treat civilians as battlefield foes at the slightest hint of opposition or danger; why the U.S. soldiers and drones kill unarmed suspects on anonymous tips when people around the world know suspects deserve safety and a trial, innocent until proven guilty.
“All of us keep asking why the internationals kill us,” said Jamaludeen. “One reason seems to be that they don’t differentiate between people. The soldiers fear any bearded Afghan who wears a turban and traditional clothes. But why would they kill children? It seems they have a mission. They are told to go and get the Taliban. When they go out in their planes and their tanks and their helicopters, they need to be killing, and then they can report that they have completed their mission.”
These are the stories being told here. NATO and its constituent nations may have other accounts to give of themselves, but they aren’t telling them very convincingly, or well. The stories told by bomb blasts or by shouting home-invading soldiers drown out other competing sentiments and seem to represent all that the U.S./NATO occupiers ever came here to say. We who live in countries that support NATO, that tolerate this occupation, bear responsibility to hear the tales told by Afghans who are trapped by our war of choice. These tales are part of our history now, and this history isn’t popular in Afghanistan. It doesn’t play well when the U.S. and NATO forces state that we came here because of terrorism, because of a toll in lost civilian lives already exceeded in Afghanistan during just the first three months of a decade-long war – that we came in pious concern over precious stories that should not be cut short.
Kathy Kelly, (kathy@vcnv.org), co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence www.vcnv.org She is living in Kabul for the month of May as a guest of the Afghan Peace Volunteers (http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/)
Photo caption: Twelve children killed in the Kunar province, April 2013
Photo credit: Namatullah Karyab for The New York Times
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