Category: World News & Politics

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the US Defense Department confirmed the contents of a report by the Defense Science Board that is highly critical of the administration’s efforts in the war on terror and in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Muslims do not hate our freedom, but rather they hate our policies [the report says]. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the long-standing, even increasing, support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan and the Gulf states. Thus, when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy.”

[Via: Yenayer]

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From the “Only Democracy” in the Middle East!

A group of Israeli soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip have reportedly admitted killing a 15-year-old Palestinian in Khan Yunus for sport.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth, the incident took place in March when an undisclosed number of Givati brigade soldiers shot and killed Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi while he was working with his father on their farm.

The boy’s father, Sulaiman Mahdi, told the paper the killing was “just for the sake of it”.

“Seven bullets pierced my son’s head, so you can’t talk here about a mistake or random gunfire. This was an act of direct and clear sharp shooting,” he said.

According to soldiers interviewed by Yediot Ahronoth, there were no operational purposes for the shooting and no justification, since the boy and his family posed no threat to the soldiers.

An Israeli army spokesman said the army had investigated the incident, but admitted that no arrests were made.

This is so disgusting!
Where is the world when things like this happen?!
Or is the blood of the Palestinian people and children too cheap to care about?!

[Source: Al Jazeera]
[Via: Je Blog]

“It is time we admitted that we are not at war with “terrorism.” We are at war with Islam. This is not to say that we are at war with all Muslims, but we are absolutely at war with the vision of life that is prescribed to all Muslims in the Koran. The only reason Muslim fundamentalism is a threat to us is because the fundamentals of Islam are a threat to us. Every American should read the Koran and discover the relentlessness with which non-Muslims are vilified in its pages. The idea that Islam is a “peaceful religion hijacked by extremists” is a dangerous fantasy

Juan Cole reflects on the US reaction to the bombing in Madrid by ETA, a Basque separatist group:

I was struck at how little coverage US news organizations were giving this terrorist strike. If the Bush administration were serious about fighting terrorism, surely the FBI and CIA would be flying off to Madrid and trying to catch the perpetrators? There would be extensive consultations between Bush and Prime Minister Zapatero about cooperation in fighting these groups.

If these bombings had been carried out by al-Qaeda, it would be front-page news and something of concern to Washington.

That it isn’t raises the question of anti-Muslimism. Is the difference in the way that the American press responds to ETA from the way it responds to al-Qaeda a form of racism?

It seems like not all terrorism is terrorism, and not all terrorism is considered a threat!

“… More than 100,000 Iraqis have died – most of them women and children – and where is our shame and rage?… US and British forces were dispatched to liberate the Iraqi people, not impose their own tyranny of violence…”

— Scott Ritter, a senior UN weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998.

[Source: The Guardian]
[Via: Je Blog]

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan al-Barghouthi has decided to run for Palestinian president, reversing his earlier decision to stay out of the race.

Barghouthi’s candidacy was submitted shortly before a deadline on Wednesday night. Barghouthi, the most popular choice among Palestinians to succeed Arafat, told his wife during a prison visit that he wanted to run in the election as an independent candidate.

“I am running in this democratic battle … to achieve peace on the basis of justice, freedom, the return of Palestinian refugees, and freedom for our prisoners,” al-Barghuthi said in a statement read by his wife.
He called for a fair election campaign.

Palestinian officials originally said last Thursday that al-Barghuthi had decided not to run. After he came under pressure from Fatah officials worried about a split in their movement, he opted on Friday to drop his candidacy.

I remember in the last days of the leader Yasser Arafat, I was thinking about what would happen after his death and how there is no one to be that unifying figure, no one who is that popular, no one to step into Arafat’s shoes.
No one but Marwan Barghouthi, I thought.

He’s the only person who could unite Palestinians, the only one who could make them listen, the only one they all love and respect.

Ten candidates will be running in this presidential race. I think the right choice for Palestinian president would certainly be Marwan Barghouthi.

[Sources: ABC News, Al Jazeera]

Vancouver legal experts join movement to rule the U.S. president a violator of Geneva and U.N. conventions.

When George W. Bush visits Canada this week, he’s sure to get an earful from demonstrators who see him more as a “war crimes president” than a “war president.”
Gail Davidson, a Vancouver lawyer, says the prime minister should rescind his invitation to Bush, because the president is a “major war criminal.”

Prominent jurists have echoed Davidson’s claims. Most recently, Louise Arbour, the former war crimes prosecutor and current United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for an investigation into crimes against the Geneva Conventions during the recent American assault on Fallujah…

[Via: The Tyee, Je Blog]

Before, the US army PR department used to distribute nice pictures showing how culturally sensitive they are. The US administration said, at that time, that they were very careful in dealing with mosques. But now, things are different. The smiley face mask fell off.

New pictures are either showing mosques under attack, or US soldiers using a mosque like a lounge. Entering with their shoes on, and sleeping on the floors, etc… This does outrage Muslims…

[Via: Raed In The Middle, Je Blog, Jalan-Jalan]

NBC television network will broadcast a never-before-seen video tape of Diana, Princess of Wales, next week in which she says she suspects a member of her staff with whom she fell in love was “bumped off.”

Earlier this year NBC aired audio tapes Diana secretly recorded for a 1992 book that exposed the turmoil of her marriage to Prince Charles, whom she divorced in 1996. The princess was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The two-hour special is to be broadcast in two parts, on November 29 and December 6.

“This unusual tape, recorded in Diana’s living room, hidden for years after her death, and fought over for months in the British courts, offers a view of the princess quite different from the formal public face she usually put forth,” NBC said.

It seems that even years after her death, the press just isn’t willing to let the poor Princess Di rest in peace.

In her life and after her death, it seems all the press can seem of thinking about is how to make more noise and profit off her back.
It’s about time everyone quit and let her soul enjoy some peace at last.

[Via: CNN]