September
21
2009

White House pressured to end probe

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are coming under pressure to kill the investigation of torture and other war crimes that involve CIA officials and former White House officials.

Recently, seven CIA directors, including three who are subjects of the probe, asked the president to reign in the attorney general, telling Obama that, “public disclosure about past intelligence operations can only help Al-Qaida elude U.S. intelligence and plan future operations.”

Obama has said that no one is above the law, and it is obvious that the CIA is worried about the very real prospects that several top officials may face war crimes charges if this investigation continues.

But in order for the United States to regain the respect and cooperation of the international community and for Americans to regain a sense of self-respect, the investigation has to be carried out and if officials are charged with war crimes, they must be put on trial.

ConsortiumNews.com has all the sordid details about the CIA directors and the letter to Obama in an article by Ray McGovern. He also writes about the involvement of government officials leading all the way up to former president George W. Bush.

McGovern should know what he is talking about. He was a CIA analyst for 27 years, working under nine CIA directors and seven presidents. He now serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

September
18
2009

Climate Change Seen in Typhoon

There have been big events in Taiwan since Typhoon Morakot blew across the southern part of the island on Aug. 8, leaving at least 700 people dead or missing.

The prime minister, Liu Chao-Shiuan, resigned on Sept. 8 after the government came under fire for its handling of the response to Taiwan’s worst typhoon in 50 years. And more recently, the president, Ma Ying-jeou, has suggested an almost revolutionary approach to these massive storms.

Ma told a Taipei newspaper that it is getting more and more difficult to forecast the strength and power of natural disasters in the face of global climate change so government agencies should note which areas are not safe for people to live in, and relocate residents to safer ground.

The Dalai Lama also weighed in on climate change. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet was moved by the disaster to visit Taiwan to offer support to the victims. It was his third visit and, as usual, it was heavily criticized by China, which considers Taiwan a province of the mainland. During a tour of the stricken area, the Dalai Lama urged Taiwan citizens to pay greater attention to the threat posed by global warming and, while praising Ma’s government for building better relations with China, he urged Taiwanese to “preserve democracy.”

The statements on global warming by President Ma and the Dalai Lama echo those of many water resources experts. One, Lee Hong-yuan, told The Journalist magazine that he believes that when people settle in a place they are not supposed to be, overdevelop the land, especially on hill slopes, they will eventually face nature’s backlash. He suggested that government should roll out overall policies regarding relocation, employment, and schooling.

It seems to me that a lot of other nations (states and cities) should start considering the idea of relocating people instead of just rebuilding over and over again after a natural disaster.

typhoon

September
17
2009

United Nations War Crimes Report

The recent United Nations report, which condemned both Israel and the Palestinian authorities for war crimes during Israel’s military invasion of Gaza from December 27 to January 18, primarily blasted Israel for “actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity.” That is, perhaps, not surprising in a lopsided 22-day conflict that saw more than 1,400 Palestinians killed, the great majority civilians, and only 13 Israelis killed, the majority soldiers.

According to the U.N. press release on the report, “the Mission found that, in the lead up to the Israeli military assault on Gaza, Israel imposed a blockade amounting to collective punishment and carried out a systematic policy of progressive isolation and deprivation of the Gaza Strip. During the Israeli military operation, code-named ‘Operation Cast Lead,’ houses, factories, wells, schools, hospitals, police stations and other public buildings were destroyed. Families are still living amid the rubble of their former homes long after the attacks ended, as reconstruction has been impossible due to the continuing blockade.”

The press release goes on to say, “Significant trauma, both immediate and long-term, has been suffered by the population of Gaza…” And that, “The report concludes that the Israeli military operation was directed at the people of Gaza as a whole, in furtherance of an overall and continuing policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population, and in a deliberate policy of disproportionate force aimed at the civilian population. The destruction of food supply installations, water sanitation systems, concrete factories and residential houses was the result of a deliberate and systematic policy which has made the daily process of living, and dignified living, more difficult for the civilian population.”

That is one of the most chilling parts of the report to me – the details of deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Not only for its implications for the ongoing efforts at peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but also for its implications about international law and international justice.

During the first Gulf War and again in 2003, the United States deliberately targeted Iraq’s electrical grid and its water sanitation systems. And, in fact, for years leading up to the second Gulf War, the United States and the United Nations, itself, enforced a draconian sanctions regime against Iraq, which caused the deaths of, at a minimum, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly the young and the elderly, in a misguided effort to get the civilian population to rise up against Saddam Hussein.

To date there have been no legal repercussions for the United States or the United Nations for that particular “systematic policy… which made the daily process of living, and dignified living, more difficult for the civilian population.”

September
16
2009

International News

It seems like the more the United States gets involved around the world, the less international news we have. The news media has cut its foreign coverage to the bare minimum . Foreign news seems to be the last item, if at all, on everyone’s news budgets.

For that reason, and because the subject is dear to my heart, I have taken the plunge into blogging. If I can add a little bit of international news and opinion to the public consciousness, I will be happy.

I’ll be focusing on the countries I’ve reported on, like China and Taiwan, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. But I will also report on developments elsewhere in the world, especially from places like Afghanistan.

Hopefully, if you all start reading this blog, you will have suggestions on stories/countries to write about.

I can only hope.