See Also: (HigginsBlog) – U.S. Official Warns “International Militarization” Of Syria Growing Closer – Read More Here

(HigginsBlog) – Western media has been running repeated footage of claiming to show Syria engaging in a brutal crackdown on innocent civilian protestors? These photos, videos and international observers tell a different story.

You decide. Read the rest of this entry »

(CampaignForLiberty) – The national government — specifically the executive branch — can do pretty much what it wants. It could bomb Iran tomorrow without a declaration of war from Congress. It can — and does — conduct secret wars and covert operations against countries that have done nothing to us. Of course, they are secret only to the ignorant taxpayers who must finance them and perhaps suffer when the provoked retaliation occurs. It can have men behind PlayStation consoles in Nevada fire Hellfire missiles from aerial drones on people in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere.

This tyrannical government can send any foreigner picked up anywhere in the world to third countries known for torturing prisoners. It can hold people accused of nothing indefinitely in prisons in Cuba and Afghanistan and torture them into making false confessions. It can conduct a war crimes trial in a military kangaroo court for a man, Omar Khadr, held captive for eight years after he was picked up at the age of 15 during a U.S. assault on villagers near Kabul. His torture-induced “confessions” will be admissible. All this is in violation of commitments under the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict not to treat children in war as though they were adults.

It can assassinate even American citizens abroad without a scent of due process. Read the rest of this entry »

(Infowars) – Slavery has a new name: “Mandatory Service”, introduced July 15th 2010 by Charles Rangle.

H.R. 5741 will give the president the authority “To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, and for other purposes.” Read the rest of this entry »

(KurtNimmo) – Once again, Obama has called for a civilian component to work with the Pentagon.

Speaking at a town hall event in Racine, Wisconsin, on July 31 Obama said U.S. troops are carrying too much of the burden in Iraq and Afghanistan and doing too many things that are more appropriate for civilians, such as building schools and setting up justice systems, according to the Associated Press. He called for a civilian component as large as the military.

“We just got to be smart about using all the elements of American power, not just one element of American power,” he said. “The problem is — is that we don’t have a civilian effort that has always matched up to the military effort.  So the military  goes in there, they clear out everything, they’re — they’re making  everything secure, and now the question is, all right, can we get the  civilians to come in to work with the local governments to improve the  situation?  And a lot of times that civilian side of it has been under-resourced.” Read the rest of this entry »

Wikileaks editor interview on censorship. Read the rest of this entry »

Wikileaks editor interview on censorship. Read the rest of this entry »

(FederalNewsRadio) – Cybersecurity Update – Tune in weekdays at 30 minutes past the hour for the latest cybersecurity news on The Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris (6-10 a.m.) and The DorobekInsider with Chris Dorobek (3-7 p.m.). Listen live at FederalNewsRadio.com or on the radio at 1500 and 820 AM in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Read the rest of this entry »

A primary reason Bush and Cheney succeeded in their radical erosion of core liberties is because they focused their assault on non-citizens with foreign-sounding names, casting the appearance that none of what they were doing would ever affect the average American.  There were several exceptions to that tactic — the due-process-free imprisonment of Americans Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla, the abuse of the “material witness” statute to detain American Muslims, the eavesdropping on Americans’ communications without warrants — but the vast bulk of the abuses were aimed at non-citizens.  That is now clearly changing. Read the rest of this entry »

(RussiaToday) – US Republicans, in an effort to avoid a public civilian trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, are turning up the heat on Attorney General Eric Holder. Why? Read More Here

(Uruknet) – Remember this from May of last year?

Wikileaks, the scourge of governments from China to the US, will soon release a video related to this killing of more than a hundred innocent Afghan civilians in May 2009. This comes on the backdrop of the release of helicopter footage of the slaying of Iraqis in 2007. Take note of what the US were saying when the news broke last year of the casualties: Read the rest of this entry »

(InformationClearingHouse) – Video Link Here

See Also:

(RawStory) – CIA Paper Reveals Plans to Manipulate European Opinion on Afghanistan

‘Out-of-the-box’ CIA think tank proposes concerns over women’s rights, fear of terrorism as ways to boost support for Afghan war Read More Here

An Unaccustomed Truth: American Commander Admits Afghan Atrocities

One can only assume that the regular editors of the New York Times were all out at a party, or left early for a weekend in the Hamptons, or something — but somehow, the paper published a front webpage story that stated — without the usual thousand excuses and extenuations — that American troops are routinely slaughtering Afghan civilians at checkpoints. What’s more, the story unequivocally ties the civilian killings to the “surge” ordered by the noble Nobel Peace laureate, Barack Obama. Read More Here

(ABCNews) – Working for Uncle Sam comes with some great perks, like job stability, posh benefits packages, and in many cases, average salaries that are higher than what the same job pays in the private sector. Read the rest of this entry »

(KurtNimmo) – The alternative media in the United States and corporate media outlets in Europe and Israel are now reporting on a story that surfaced earlier in the week revealing a weapons build-up in preparation for an attack on Iran. Read the rest of this entry »

(RethinkAfhanistan) – Matthew Hoh, the former senior U.S. civilian representative in Zabul province, Afghanistan, says that civilian deaths in Marjah caused by Operation Moshtarak were unnecessary and that the operation isn’t accomplishing anything. Hoh points to the installation of an outsider ex-con as the head official in Marjah as evidence that despite U.S. rhetoric to the contrary, Operation Moshtarak is not empowering local people. Hoh says the local Afghans view the U.S. forces as occupiers, and their presence in large numbers following President Obama’s decision to send more troops will cause more people to take up arms against the foreign forces. Video Link Here

See Also:

(CSPAN) – Rep. Kennedy Rips Media in Afghan Speech – Video Link Here

The February 12 night raid against a house party in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province remains shrouded in mystery, but NATO’s official story appears to be crumbling as even NATO officials concede that the claims made were not strictly true.

NATO’s official statement claimed at the time that the raid on the home led to a “fire fight” against “several insurgents” who were killed, before NATO made a “gruesome discovery” of bound and gagged bodies in a nearby room.

NATO is conceding now that all of the slain people were civilians killed in the raid. NATO communications direct Rear Admiral Greg Smith also admitted that they had no real evidence that the men slain at the home had ever fired a shot against the NATO forces.

Witnesses at the site reported that one of the people in the compound, a local policeman, shouted “don’t fire, we work for the government” before being gunned down by the invading forces.

Rear Admiral Smith defended the killing of the policeman, however, saying “if you have got an individual stepping out of a compound, and if your assault force is there, that is often the trigger to neutralise (read: kill) the individual. You don’t have to be fired upon to fire back.

Since the incident, all those detained by NATO have been released without charges. In addition, the US has reportedly paid $2,000 to the family for each of the civilians killed in the attack.

Source: Aletho News

(ConsortiumNews) – Former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo argued that President George W. Bush’s commander-in-chief powers were so sweeping that he could willfully order the massacre of civilians, yet Yoo’s culpability in Bush administration abuses was deemed “poor judgment,” not a violation of “professional standards.” Read the rest of this entry »

(KurtNimmo) – John Bolton wants you to think a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities will be surgical and few civilians will die. On the other hand, in the video below, he states that things could, well you know, go wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

Fueled by an unfortunately worded letter by the IAEA about a “technical violation” allegedly made by Iran last week in its civilian nuclear program, CNN’s Rick Sanchez is now speculating about the possibility of Iran “building some kind of nuclear weapon,” even though one of his guests from MIT made it clear this threat was totally illusory. Read the rest of this entry »

(TimesUnion) – President Barack Obama does have a foreign policy. It’s called war.
The President has not defined any real difference between his hawkish approach to international issues and that of his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.
Where’s the change we can believe in? Read the rest of this entry »

The “Convention for the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide” stresses the prevention of genocide more than prescribing its exact manner of punishment. Genocide does not have to be committed for the Convention to have effect. By defining “genocide” it seeks to avert agendas which will confirm the crime. Read the rest of this entry »

The “Convention for the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide” stresses the prevention of genocide more than prescribing its exact manner of punishment. Genocide does not have to be committed for the Convention to have effect. By defining “genocide” it seeks to avert agendas which will confirm the crime. Read the rest of this entry »

(HuffingtonPost) – Civilian deaths in Afghanistan climbed in 2009 to their highest number since the fall of the Taliban, the United Nations says in a recent report. Read the rest of this entry »

During a visit to Ramallah a year ago while the Israeli bombardment of Gaza was underway, I shared my fears with a close Palestinian friend. “It may sound insane, but I think the Israelis’ real objective is to see them all dead.” Read the rest of this entry »

According to a think-piece in a recent edition of Newsweek, President Barack H. Obama is a “post-imperial” leader, who seeks to bring ‘balance’ to foreign affairs, and a kind of disciplined realism to interactions with other nations. Read the rest of this entry »

(PakAlert) – Americans Must Ask; Who is Breeding Terrorism?
The above-captioned article was written by John Pilger in the daily The Yumiuri Shimbun, of Japan, dated 30th August, 1998. He says “In recent years Muslims have been the greatest sufferers from state terrorism.” The excerpts of his above-mentioned article are as below. Read the rest of this entry »

A missile test-fired by Iran last week was reported on the BBC World Service as being “capable of striking Israel”.
The choice of words was not unusual. On previous occasions when Iran has test-fired a long-range rocket, the BBC and other western news media dutifully inform us that the said device is “capable of striking Israel”. The well-worn phrase is so reliably heard in these news bulletins that its use betrays a coded script. The not-too subliminal implications are that Iran is: a) a hostile state; b) doing something illegal in test-firing a long-range missile; and c) gearing up to deliver on its alleged threat to wipe out the state of Israel. Read the rest of this entry »

US drone missile attacks have claimed the lives of over 700 Pakistani civilians since Barack Obama took office a year ago, according to figures released this week by officials in Islamabad. The escalation of Washington’s AfPak war, now in full swing, will mean the slaughter of thousands more men, women and children in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

So much has appeared in the international press and on the Internet that it would seem to be an exercise in redundancy to offer a perspective on the tragedy that befell the people of Gaza last year, especially the Gazan children. A devastating and colossal tragedy it certainly was; the Israeli attacks by sea, air and land were more brutal than anything the inhabitants of Gaza had ever endured previously. Read the rest of this entry »

So much has appeared in the international press and on the Internet that it would seem to be an exercise in redundancy to offer a perspective on the tragedy that befell the people of Gaza last year, especially the Gazan children. A devastating and colossal tragedy it certainly was; the Israeli attacks by sea, air and land were more brutal than anything the inhabitants of Gaza had ever endured previously. Read the rest of this entry »

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Facts and Figures

Gaza

• Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including some 300 children, and hundreds of other unarmed civilians, including more than 115 women and some 85 men aged over 50 during the 22-day Operation “Cast Lead”.
• Many Palestinian civilians were killed in attacks by high-precision weapons which are capable of pinpoint strikes and can hit within a meter of their targets and which have exceptionally good optics allowing those carrying out or directing the strikes to see the targets in detail.
• Many other Palestinian civilians were killed in indiscriminate and reckless attacks using imprecise weapons which should never be used in densely populated civilian areas.
• More Palestinians were killed and more properties were destroyed in the 22-day military campaign than in any previous Israeli offensive.
• The Israeli army has put the death toll at 1200 and maintains that most of those killed were not civilians but it has failed to provide any lists or any information indicating on what they base their figures.
• Thousands of Palestinian were left homeless. Hundreds of businesses and public buildings were destroyed. In most of the cases they investigated in Gaza Amnesty International delegates found evidence that the destruction was wanton and deliberate and could not be justified on grounds of “military necessity”.
• Amnesty International delegates investigated dozens of cases comprising more than 300 victims, more than half of them women and children.
• Israeli forces repeatedly targeted ambulances and medical crews, killing several medical workers while they were attempting to rescue the wounded and recover the dead.
• Injured civilians who could have been saved died needlessly as Israeli forces frequently denied access to ambulances and others to trying rescue the wounded, recover the dead and bring aid to those in need.
• The borders of Gaza were kept sealed throughout Operation “Cast Lead” and civilians could not flee, and there was nowhere in Gaza where their safety could be guaranteed.
• Israeli forces forced Palestinian civilians on several occasions to serve as “human shields”.
• Amnesty International found no evidence that rockets were launched from residential houses or buildings while civilians were in these buildings, but Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups at times launched rockets and located military equipment and positions near civilian homes.

Southern Israel

• Palestinian rocket attacks killed three Israeli civilians and caused severe injuries to 4 people, moderate injuries to 11, and light injuries to 167 others.
• Six Israeli soldiers were killed in the attacks by Palestinian armed groups (and 4 other were killed by Israeli forces in “friendly fire” incidents).
• Several hundred rockets in all were fired by Palestinian armed groups on Southern Israel during operation “Cast Lead” (571 rockets and 205 mortar shells landed in Israel according to the Israeli authorities).
• Rockets launched from Gaza reached towns up to 40km away.
• Thousands of families fled to other parts of the country.
• Several civilian homes and other structures were damaged.
• The ‘Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, claimed responsibility for most of the rockets launched into Israel.
• Other armed groups which claimed rockets and mortar attacks against Israel include the armed wings of Fatah, of Islamic Jihad and of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine).

Source: Amnesty USA

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Facts and Figures

Gaza

• Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including some 300 children, and hundreds of other unarmed civilians, including more than 115 women and some 85 men aged over 50 during the 22-day Operation “Cast Lead”.
• Many Palestinian civilians were killed in attacks by high-precision weapons which are capable of pinpoint strikes and can hit within a meter of their targets and which have exceptionally good optics allowing those carrying out or directing the strikes to see the targets in detail.
• Many other Palestinian civilians were killed in indiscriminate and reckless attacks using imprecise weapons which should never be used in densely populated civilian areas.
• More Palestinians were killed and more properties were destroyed in the 22-day military campaign than in any previous Israeli offensive.
• The Israeli army has put the death toll at 1200 and maintains that most of those killed were not civilians but it has failed to provide any lists or any information indicating on what they base their figures.
• Thousands of Palestinian were left homeless. Hundreds of businesses and public buildings were destroyed. In most of the cases they investigated in Gaza Amnesty International delegates found evidence that the destruction was wanton and deliberate and could not be justified on grounds of “military necessity”.
• Amnesty International delegates investigated dozens of cases comprising more than 300 victims, more than half of them women and children.
• Israeli forces repeatedly targeted ambulances and medical crews, killing several medical workers while they were attempting to rescue the wounded and recover the dead.
• Injured civilians who could have been saved died needlessly as Israeli forces frequently denied access to ambulances and others to trying rescue the wounded, recover the dead and bring aid to those in need.
• The borders of Gaza were kept sealed throughout Operation “Cast Lead” and civilians could not flee, and there was nowhere in Gaza where their safety could be guaranteed.
• Israeli forces forced Palestinian civilians on several occasions to serve as “human shields”.
• Amnesty International found no evidence that rockets were launched from residential houses or buildings while civilians were in these buildings, but Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups at times launched rockets and located military equipment and positions near civilian homes.

Southern Israel

• Palestinian rocket attacks killed three Israeli civilians and caused severe injuries to 4 people, moderate injuries to 11, and light injuries to 167 others.
• Six Israeli soldiers were killed in the attacks by Palestinian armed groups (and 4 other were killed by Israeli forces in “friendly fire” incidents).
• Several hundred rockets in all were fired by Palestinian armed groups on Southern Israel during operation “Cast Lead” (571 rockets and 205 mortar shells landed in Israel according to the Israeli authorities).
• Rockets launched from Gaza reached towns up to 40km away.
• Thousands of families fled to other parts of the country.
• Several civilian homes and other structures were damaged.
• The ‘Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, claimed responsibility for most of the rockets launched into Israel.
• Other armed groups which claimed rockets and mortar attacks against Israel include the armed wings of Fatah, of Islamic Jihad and of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine).

Source: Amnesty USA

Civilian youth Police caught roaming the streets during a Christmas parade in St. Petersburg, Florida. We are Change Tampa confront them with questions. When we ask them they are extremely secretive about their association with the local police department and try to hide their badges and jackets that clearly say POLICE on them. Read the rest of this entry »

(PressTV) – Human Rights Watch is calling on those fighting against Yemeni Houthis to take all necessary measures to spare civilian lives and ensure they receive humanitarian assistance. Read the rest of this entry »

Speaking today at the National Press Club, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen declared that “it’s very clear to me that a nuclear weapon in Iran is an existential threat to Israel.” Read the rest of this entry »

Since taking office, President Obama has sanctioned at least 41 Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) drone strikes in Pakistan that have killed between 326 and 538 people, many of them, critics say, “innocent bystanders, including children,” according to reliable reports. The drone is a remotely controlled, unmanned aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »

MADRID: Today the Spanish Senate, acting to confirm a decision already taken under pressure from powerful governments accused of grave crimes, will limit Spain’s laws of universal jurisdiction. Yesterday, ahead of the change of law, a legal case was filed at the Audiencia Nacional against four United States presidents and four United Kingdom prime ministers for commissioning, condoning and/or perpetuating multiple war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Iraq. Read the rest of this entry »

Super 8 Police State & The Draft of Future’s Past is a commercial for the Civilian National Security Force. The Department of Homeland Security encourages everyone ages 18-25 to suit up in their future faceless uniforms and get involved with their community. Read the rest of this entry »

This report on Israeli human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) coincides with the 9th anniversary of the al-Aqsa Intifada, which erupted following the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque (the Holy Sanctuary) in occupied Jerusalem. Read the rest of this entry »

In the latest indication yet that the US is entering this week’s Iran talks very grudgingly, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly announced today that she doesn’t believe there is any piece of evidence the Iranian government could possibly present which would convince US officials that their civilian nuclear program is “only for peaceful purposes.” Read the rest of this entry »

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan recorded about 1,500 civilian deaths in the first six months of 2009, a 24 percent increase over the previous year and a record in the eight-year-old war. Read the rest of this entry »

(RawStory) – Israel’s prime minister told the United Nations Thursday that Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons is the greatest danger the world faces. Read the rest of this entry »

We all remember the brutal Israeli attacks against Gaza last year. Many of us were outraged by the killings of some 1,300 Gazan Palestinian, men, women, the disabled, the children, the sick and the maimed.Hospitals and schools were destroyed. Read the rest of this entry »

Soldiers teamed up with police at Fort Lee, Virginia this week for a three day long “anti-terrorism drill” that involved defending themselves from actors playing the part of “agitated” protesters. Read the rest of this entry »

Vaccination against the pandemic H1N1 influenza will be required for all uniformed US military personnel, with the immunizations starting in early October, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »

(RichmondTimes) – Motorists along state Route 36 just outside Fort Lee slowed down yesterday morning to take a peek at the soldiers in full gear guarding the main gate. Read the rest of this entry »