
protests every Saturday from noon till night
“Herbert Hoover was a bad President, but even he didn’t lose an entire city.”
—Bill Maher
http://yellowcakewalk.net/katrina.html
CLUSTER BOMBS
Hear the report at www.democracynow.org
Mearsheimer, Walt to discuss lobby's impact on U.S. response to Lebanon war
http://www.warwithoutend.co.uk/zone0/viewtopic.php?t=58567
Subject: Fwd: CAIR-NET: 'Israel Lobby' Authors to Speak at DC Press Club Forum
[Get the paper from the following link, 80 pages PDF]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
'ISRAEL LOBBY' AUTHORS TO SPEAK AT DC PRESS CLUB FORUM
Mearsheimer, Walt to discuss lobby's impact on U.S. response to Lebanon war
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/18/06) - On Monday, August 28, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will host a panel discussion on "The Israel Lobby and the U.S. Response to the War in Lebanon" at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The panel will feature Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, authors of a recent Harvard University paper titled "The Israel Lobby."
In that paper, the authors stated: "Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and those of the other country - in this case, Israel - are essentially identical.
WHAT: The Israel Lobby and the U.S. Response to the War in Lebanon
WHEN: Monday, August 28, 2006, 1-2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C.
RSVP: Admission is free, but seating is limited. E-mail irahman@cair.com to reserve a seat. Admittance by confirmed reservation only.
"For America to be regarded as an honest broker in the Middle East, we must disengage our policies in that region from the dictates of the pro-Israel lobby," said CAIR Board Chairman Parvez Ahmed.
He noted that public attitudes about the influence of the Israel lobby are changing. He cited a commentary in today's New Jersey Star-Ledger in which that newspaper's national political correspondent stated: "Bush must abandon his policy of unconditional support for Israel in favor of an even-handed one that might gain him credibility in the region as a more or less honest broker. And the best way to move Bush in that direction is by abandoning the unofficial taboo in this country on questioning Israel or our policy toward that country."
SEE: End the Taboo on Challenging Israel (Star-Ledger)
Ahmed said recent studies also show that a majority of Americans favor neutrality in the Middle East conflict.
SEE: Zogby Poll: U.S. Should Be Neutral in Lebanon War
SEE ALSO: Poll: Americans Support Mideast Cease-Fire
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair-net.org
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: info@cair.com
URL: http://www.cair.com
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/index.html
In the first federal challenge ever argued against the president’s NSA spying program, a district court declared the program unconstitutional and called for an immediate halt to this abuse of presidential power.
“It was never the intent of the Framers to give the President such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights,” wrote Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in her decision in ACLU v. NSA.

View Printable Ad (pdf, 498KB)
...Now it is not good for the Christian’s health to hustle the [Arab]brown,
For the Christian riles and the Arab smiles and he weareth the Christian down;
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white with the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear: A Fool lies here who tried to hustle the East.”
Because we know that most Israelis and most Jews oppose Israeli/American aggression.
http://yellowcakewalk.net/israeli_peace_movement.html
Wed.Aug.30.2006@5:00PM to Wed.Aug.30.2006@7:00PMClick here for flier in PDFJoin the DC Anti-War Network on Wednesday August 30, 2006 in protest against the war profiteering of The Washington Post. Gather at 5PM outside of The Washington Post located at 1150 15th Street, NW.
SPEAK OUT! PROTEST WASHINGTON POST
Wednesday August 30 5-7 pm1150 15th Street NW at L StreetBring signs, banners, noise-makersSTOP TAKING MONEY FROM WAR PROFITEERS! IS THE TRUTH FOR SALE?Washington Post editorials have supported U.S. attacks on Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq as well as U.S.-backed attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Its news reporting emphasizes government excuses for war and only belatedly and reluctantly exposes the lies and propaganda leading to those wars. It supports the Bush administrations war on terrorism and does little to expose the anti-Arab and Muslim agenda of government and private organizations that is inflaming bigotry in this country.Washington Post reporters who truthfully report on controversial stories may be silenced. The NY Sun recently reported the Post rebuked Thomas Ricks for televised comments about U.S. military allegations about deceptive Israeli strategies in Lebanon. That is just one of many allegations by media watch dog groups like Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and Palestine Media Watch.Even as two-thirds of Americans now think the Iraq war was a mistake, based in part on lies, the Post supports the U.S. staying in Iraq. As we approach the August 31 U.S.-coerced deadline for the cessation of Iranian nuclear enrichment, Post editorials and Op Eds overwhelmingly support the possibility of a U.S. military attack on Iran. The free press is supposed to help guard the public against unjust and unnecessary wars, not provide propaganda cover for those wars!Why does the Post support pro-war policies? Could it be that its top management has forgone objectivity and acquiesced to the economic and political agendas of corporate advertiser? Do the full page ads placed by military contractors and other private businesses supporting an aggressive foreign policy influence the Posts editorial outlook?WE DEMAND:* The Washington Post stop running display advertisements from military contractors.* The Washington Post run more articles about the anti-Iraq war sentiment shared by the great majority of Americans.* The Washington Post discover and emphasize the administrations false charges and lies excusing their drive for a military attack on Iran.* The Washington Post widen the range of debate with more Op Eds by the broad spectrum of anti-war Americans.* The Washington Post Board of Directors set aside one seat for a spokesperson for peace and non-interventionism.Sponsored by DC Antiwar Network.Location: 1150 15th Street, NW, Washington,, DC
Metro: McPherson Square
Cut-and-Run American-Hating Defeatists
Newt Gingrich
“Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, told students and faculty at the University of South Dakota Monday that the United States should pull out of Iraq and leave a small force there, just as it did post-war in Korea and Germany.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/04/12/BL2006041200530_2.html
Cheney Tried to Warn You Not To Invade Iraq
But you liberals just wouldn’t listen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-_oHxbZl9E“For the U.S. to get involved militarily in determining the outcome of the struggle over who’s going to govern in Iraq strikes me as a classic definition of a quagmire.”
-Dick Cheney, 1991
From Ramsey Clark:
Join me in the Campaign for Accountability for U.S./Israeli War CrimesDear Friends,
On August 30, 2006 the International Action Center will launch a major campaign to require accountability by the United States and Israel for their wars of aggression and assaults on the equal sovereignty of nations, which are crimes against peace, and their war crimes which include excessive force, indiscriminate bombing, targeting civilians and civilian facilities and collective punishments of entire populations.
Reparations are required for more than a thousands deaths, many thousands of injures and an estimated $10 billion for destruction of civilian facilities in Lebanon in one month alone; and thousands of deaths and injuries in Palestine since the Oslo Accords, the systematic destruction of the government of Palestine, the kidnapping of half the cabinet and the speaker of the Palestinian Parliament, the assassination of leaders and indiscriminate killing of others, and the destruction of the offices of President Arafat, the Foreign Ministry and civilian facilities throughout Gaza and the West Bank.
If the present ceasefire does not hold, bolder action must be taken. There must be absolute assurance from the U.S. and Israel that they will honor the equal sovereignty of Lebanon, Syria, and Iran and recognize and honor the sovereignty of the State of Palestine, cruelly delayed for 58 years.
AUGUST 30
Wednesday 6 – 9 pm
United Nations Church Center
777 UN Plaza -
44th St. & 1st Ave, NYChttp://www.peoplejudgebush.org/acctabilityendorse.shtml
Meetings With Remarkable Men
summaries of conversations this webmaster had with BushTards recently
BushTard #1 was a World War II veteran. In the first wave on Normandy Beach. Received FOUR purple hearts. Thank you for your service. F uck you for your opinion.
Tard: “These Muslims kill innocent people. We need to win the war against them. We are not using the right strategy”
yellowcakewalk: “What should we do?”
Tard: “During World War II we weren’t afraid to attack civilian centers. We should nuke all of their cities.”
BushTard #2 fled to Canada during VietNam war, but now insists we send our young men off to die in war:
Tard: “These Muslims want to invade and conquer us! They have no regard for human life!”
yellowcakewalk: “What should we do?”
Tard: “We should invade and conquer them! We should kill all of them.”
Chimp Has Cracked Under the Pressure
His speech about America’s “psyche” history will record a notch below Carter’s “malaise” speech.
Write a letter to Congress!
Demand that Articles of Impeachment be introduced!
click on the above title to send the following message to Congress:
SUBJECT:
The Bush administration lied to the people and Congress about the justifications for going to war in Iraq. It has now been revealed that Bush, like Nixon three decades ago, has carried out an illegal wiretapping program against the people of this country. These are serious offenses which constitute High Crimes and Misdemeanors. I urge you to support impeachment immediately, in order to save the Constitution.
Order an “Impeach Bush”
lawn sign!
A Call for Nonviolent Resistance Actions to End the Occupation of Iraq
URL: http://www.iraqpledge.org/
Summary: On Tuesday, September 26, 2006 mass civil disobedience is being o rganized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance to the War in Iraq (NCNR) in support of the Declaration of Peace Week of Action . The action will be directed at Congress.
The majority of Americans believe the war in Iraq was a mistake, and want it ended. Yet Congress is not heeding the voice or the will of the American people. Now is the time to act, creatively and nonviolently, to end the occupation.
Despite the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and more than 2600 U.S. soldiers, despite untold numbers of wounded and widespread destruction, despite more than $300 billion spent and no end in sight, Congress continues to ignore the American – and Iraqi – people by refusing to chart an end to the occupation of Iraq. As a result the violence in Iraq grows daily, and war is spreading through the Middle East.
The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, with the Declaration of Peace, calls on peace-loving people to come to Washington, DC, and make your voices heard on September 26th.
Those willing to engage in nonviolent acts of civil resistance against the war and occupation are encouraged to join us. We also enthusiastically call upon those who cannot risk arrest, but who are willing to support those who do. The voice for peace will be heard in Congress through our nonviolent actions. Join us!
Specific plans are under development, and will be shaped by participant input; nonviolence training is required, and will be provided to those needing it before the action.
For more information: Steve Cleghorn jsc1949@msn.com
To register and more information: http://www.iraqpledge.org/
BushTards Say August 22 is the Apocalypse
so WEAR A TIE!
[this piece plucked from yahoo msg board]
August 22, 2006
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/21/iran-apocalypse/
Here’s a look at the rhetoric being pushed by neocons to scare the American people into supporting military action:
- “What is the significance of Aug. 22? […] This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.” [Bernard Lewis op-ed, Wall Street Journal, 8/8/06]
- “We all hope and pray that August 22 is not the day Ahmadinejad has chosen to launch the apocalypse, but there is little doubt in the White House and at the CIA that the Iranian leader is feverishly trying to build, buy, or steal nuclear weapons, and that he will quite likely use them once he has them.” [Joel Rosenberg, National Review, 8/10/06]
- “Will [Ahmadinejad] attempt to make good on these threats this year on the anniversary of the Miraj [August 22], illuminating the night sky over Jerusalem? Will Western powers heed Farid Ghadry’s words and move to stop Iran before it is too late?” [Front Page Magazine, 7/27/06]
- “It’s an important symbolic day for jihadists. And I’m curious to see what happens on Tuesday. [Ahmadinejad] may just say no or he may do something a little more dramatic, launch a missile or something, to show that – Iranian defiance of what looks like an impotent West.” [Bill Kristol, Fox News Sunday, 8/20/06]
- “‘The only thing we can know is that the date was not chosen by accident,’ said Robert Spencer, Director of Jihadwatch.org and an adjunct fellow at the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative think tank. ‘It does seem very likely, very probable, that he has something major in mind, whether only a major announcement or a major attack, we will soon see.’” [The Blotter, ABC News, 8/21/06]
It’s worth noting that a bipartisan group military experts believe there are no good military options against Iran.
President Ahmedinejad of Iran
Pimpslapped Mike Wallace
On 60 Minutes sunday a week ago, anybody see that?
Mike Wallace squirmed and fidgeted, was truculent and rude, like a little boy having a temper tantrum.
The Iranian prez came across as cool, educated, mature, even wise, and with a subdued sarcastic sense of humor, with poor Mike not even knowing he was the butt of the humor.
I’ll bet everyone in Iran laughed their asses off when they saw the interview.
The big mistake Mike Wallace made, that all westerners make, is to think that these people are stupid and uneducated.
Which is exactly what THEY think of Americans. And THEY are right. Just look at Bush. Imagine a debate between flightsuit Chimpy and PhD President Ahmedinejad. lmao…
Iranians remember well Operation Ajax, when the British and Americans overthrew the Iranian democracy and installed the puppet government of the Shah. They remember the thousands of deaths and torture chambers that followed, that inevitably follow the installation of an American puppet government.
Too bad that Americans, even those in the upper echelons of the government, cannot understand foreign affairs in their appropriate historical context. You can be sure the Iranian president does.
Jewish Voice For Peace
Health and Human Rights Project delegation to Israel/PalestineJewish Voice for Peace Health and Human Rights Project (HaHRP – formerly Jewish American Medical Project – JAMP) invites applications to join our Fall 2006 delegation to Israel/Palestine.
We seek volunteers in a variety of disciplines, including medicine, public health, and related fields, as well as volunteers to assist in Palestine’s olive harvest.
For the past three years, we have sent delegations to work with our partner organizations, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel), as well as other Palestinian civil society organizations and Israeli peace and human rights groups. While we began primarily as a medical-aid effort, we have broadened our scope. Accounts of our three previous delegations may be reviewed at www.vopj.org/jamp.htm .
For further information, and to apply, to contact us at hahrp@jewishvoiceforpeace.org
HaHRP reserves the right to review all applications and decide upon acceptance to the delegation.
Click for info about
Jewish Voice for Peace
Who Won the War in Iraq?
1. Al Queda: Formerly a marginal force, Al Queda has achieved legitimacy among formerly apolitical Muslims and recruiting has SKYROCKETED since the Iraq War. Iraq battle-hardened Al Queda cells are now on there way to a neighborhood near you!
2. Iran: Using a ‘mole’, Ahmed Chalabi, Iran achieved through the Bush administration what they couldn’t achieve during their eight-year war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq: an overthrow of Iraq paid for with American tax dollars and lives. Chalabi, Bush’s “special invited guest” at his 2004 State of the Union speech, and his choice to become leader of Iraq after the war (until his exposure as an Iranian agent) was the Bush administration’s sole source of maps and documents “proving” the existence of WMDs in Iraq. These documents were proven to be forgeries created by Iranian intelligence, leading to the sudden “dropping” of Chalabi, still unexplained and avoided by the Bush administration.
3. Halliburton: After receiving no-bid contracts in Iraq (engineered by former Halliburton CEO/major shareholder Dick Cheney and the GOP) Halliburton has received over $16 billion in revenue from the Pentagon for its work in Iraq that began after the March 2003 invasion. Pentagon auditors found over $1 billion in questionable costs under the contract. Current and former employees described instances where Halliburton overcharged U.S. taxpayers by paying $45 per case of soda, $100 for a standard cleaning of laundry, and $80,000 for brand new Mercedes trucks that were torched because of minor equipment problems.
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/hal.html
“As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”
~Justice William O. Douglas
Thursday, July 13th, 2006
Haitian Death Squad Leader Arrested in US - For Mortgage Fraudwhy does the U.S. harbor war criminals?
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/13/1421206
Former Haitian death squad leader, Emmanuel “Toto” Constant, who now lives in New York, was arrested last week for taking part in mortgage fraud. During the early 1990s, Constant led the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, or FRAPH. Human rights groups estimate FRAPH killed thousands of supporters of Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. [includes rush transcript]
Chomsky weighs in on Mr. Constant:
"the main architect of the [Haitian] terror, who bears the major responsibility for thousands of deaths, lives peacefully in New York ( Emmanual Constant, who headed the terrorist force FRAPH). Repeated requests by the elected government of Haiti for his extradition were rejected by Washington, or simply ignored - in one striking case, right in the middle of the furor over the unwillingness of the Taliban to follow Washington's orders to turn over 9/11 suspects without evidence. The reason, it is widely assumed, is concern that, if tried, Constant might reveal CIA connections during the terror."Failed State: America", Noam Chomsky, pp154-5
53 MINUTE VIDEO
- HIGHLY RECCOMMEND….
PALESTINE IS STILL THE ISSUE…
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=746557429802139093&hl=en
Communications from the Israeli Anti-war Movement
TOI-Billboard, August 20, 2006
The Other Israel’s email updates
—Introduction
—TOI’s selection of this week’s Occupation Magazine’s daily picksN.B. today’s Occ. Magazine update was edited by Adam Keller)
http://www.kibush.co.ilUpon the ceasefire, in Israel war euphoria turned into a pandemonium of recriminations – in the media, but also in many overheard discussions of “men in the street.” The Army Chief-of-Staff was found out to have sold his stocks just before giving orders to the grand attack against Lebanon. But not only his career is at stake, also those of Defence Minister Peretz, and PM Olmert. The threatened trio decided yesterday upon another gamble to cover their losses: a provocative commando raid deep in Lebanon, not really gaining them much “glory.”
Meanwhile, the anti-war coalition is trying to get the attention back to that underreported bloodletting in Gaza – and also quite some in the West Bank – which continued and continues day after day.
Doves of prey
B. Michael – YNET - “Israel`s belligerent doves should pause to ponder one small question: If they – famous peace lovers – have turned into doves of prey after deaths of 100 Israelis, then what do they suppose is going through the minds of doves, hawks alike who have suffered 1,000 casualties, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, and scores of pounded villages?”
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=15763
CIA Official: Israel Lost War
http://hotzone.yahoo.com/b/hotzone/blogs8692
With a cease-fire taking hold after over a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, parties loyal to both sides are claiming victory. For former senior CIA official Milt Bearden, the winners and losers are clear.
“Where it counts, Hezbollah is clearly the winner,” Bearden says. “For Israel … not winning is losing. And for an irregular force like Hezbollah, not losing is winning.”
.....Hezbollah, Bearden says, now is in prime position for further political gain in Lebanon. The group already has a strong presence in the Lebanese parliament through an alliance with another Shiite group, the Amal Party.
“[Hezbollah] executed their side of the war to the extent that they are national heroes right now,” Bearden says. “I think you’re going to see that Hezbollah will be a big winner politically.”
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah is already taking steps to seize the momentum, announcing that Hezbollah will immediately begin repairing homes in southern Lebanon and even pay a year’s rent to owners of damaged homes. The move underscores the extent to which Hezbollah is ingrained religiously and culturally in Lebanon, especially in the Shiite-dominated south, where the group runs an array of social services, including hospitals and schools.
Bearden says it’s also possible that Hezbollah, even after sustaining a fierce Israeli barrage, actually could emerge with an expanded military presence in Lebanon — albeit in a different form.
“It seems to me that what we’d better be on the lookout for is the absorption by the Lebanese army of the military wing of Hezbollah,” he says.
......“The very concept of destroying Hezbollah or dismantling it is based on a faulty belief that it is somehow external to the fiber of Lebanon. It is not,” he says. “There’s nobody tough enough to disarm Hezbollah, or willing to do it if they are tough enough.”
The scenario of a politically empowered Hezbollah, with militia remnants integrated in the Lebanese army, would present a dangerous new reality for Israel, which Bearden says is not in a position to restart hostilities against a foe that proved able to withstand its superior military might.
Hezbollah’s stand against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), long regarded as a military superpower in the region, amounts to what Bearden calls the “demystification of the IDF.” The implications for Israel are serious, in that Hezbollah’s success could embolden other groups in the region, particularly the Palestinians, to overcome internal differences and unite against Israel.
“Israeli rule has just taken a huge hit,” Bearden says. “I would imagine right now we’re going to see serious discussions among Palestinians who say, ‘Why not us?’.”
Israel, it seems, has few options at the moment. However, there are reports in the Israeli press that Defense Minister Amir Peretz this week hinted at one of them: renewed dialogue with Lebanon, the Palestinians, and even Syria.
Bearden, a staunch advocate for dialogue, even sees the possibility for Israeli dialogue with Iran — although the country is a prime backer of Hezbollah and its leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel.
Still, those on the more “realist side” in Israeli politics, Bearden says, “are going to start saying, ‘We need to talk with Iran; we need to talk with Syria.’ But also, I can guarantee you, sooner or later they’re going to want to talk with Hezbollah and Hamas.” Hamas has already proven its political prowess, winning the Palestinian Authority general election in January.
The extent to which the landscape in the Middle East has been shaken is just beginning to emerge. But Israel’s fight against Hezbollah, the intent of which was greater security, may have left the country even more on the defensive.
Apologists for Immorality
Huffington Post
There appears to be a direct relationship between the increasing ugliness and immorality of this war and the extreme lengths to which Israel’s supporters will go to justify it.
This was brought home to me this week in three separate debates, one in print, two on television. What I clearly saw at work in these exchanges was how Israel’s apologists use verbal overkill paralleling Israel’s use of overwhelming military force.
They will admit no wrong. They attempt to bully opponents into submission. They deny history and morality. And, maybe most disturbing of all, they seek to present this war (as they have sought to present many of Israel’s previous wars) in exaggerated and near apocalyptical terms.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/apologists-for-immorality_b_27073.html
Unilateral action by Israel spawns violence in Gaza
By George Bisharat
Originally published August 17, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO // With the spotlight on Lebanon, another Middle East milestone is passing largely unnoticed. However, its lessons are just as important. A year ago this week, Israel began implementing its unilateral Gaza disengagement plan—yet the region is beset by violence. Why did withdrawal of 8,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza lead to more conflict? Can Israel withdraw from Arab territories without inviting attack?
Last August, Gaza Palestinians greeted disengagement with both cautious hope and cynicism. They relished freedom from the daily humiliations of military occupation. Students longed to study, children to frolic on the beach, and entrepreneurs to build businesses. Yet many also saw disengagement as an expression of racial preference for Jews. Israel could not annex the Gaza Strip without absorbing 1.4 million Palestinians, thus jeopardizing its status as a Jewish state.
Israel marketed disengagement to Americans as a step toward peace, but Palestinians remembered the October 2004 comment of Dov Weisglass, adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: “The disengagement is actually formaldehyde. It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that’s necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians.”
Why would Israeli politicians subvert negotiations with Palestinians? Perhaps because no Palestinian leader could agree to Israel’s planned takeover of Jerusalem and much of the West Bank.
Thus, the Gaza “disengagement” plan is also the Jerusalem and West Bank “expansion” plan. The number of Israelis settling in the West Bank this year exceeds the number withdrawn from Gaza.
Further conflict, therefore, was inevitable.
Moreover, while Israel decolonized Gaza, its military occupation continues. Israel still controls the entry and exit of people and goods into the region, patrols its coast and airspace, oversees its water, fuel, electric utilities, and sewage, and enters it with military forces at will. Under international law, “effective control” determines whether a territory is occupied.
Since the January Palestinian elections, hailed as the fairest in the Arab world, Israel has strived to undermine the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, withholding $50 million to $60 million monthly in tax revenues owed to the authority. The U.S. and European Union have followed, halting aid to the Palestinians until the Hamas government renounces violence, recognizes Israel and pledges to honor prior agreements of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has not yet bowed but has repeatedly signaled willingness to negotiate.
Of course Hamas should not just halt violence—it had suspended military operations for 17 months, until June—it should also renounce it. But shouldn’t the same standard apply to both parties? Shouldn’t recognition and respect for prior agreements be reciprocally required of Israel, which denies Palestinian national rights and regularly violates the Oslo accords?
Palestinian civil servants have gone without salaries since January. Gazans have suffered serious deterioration in nutrition and health. The special U.N. rapporteur on conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories warned in June of an impending humanitarian crisis, saying, “In effect, the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions—the first time that an occupied people have been so treated.”
On June 24, Israeli troops entered Gaza and abducted Dr. Osama Muantar and his brother, Mustafa, alleging they were members of Hamas. The two joined some 9,000 Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails. Many have not been charged with a crime and more than 100 are minors.
The following day, Palestinian groups attacked an Israeli army post, killing two soldiers and capturing a third.
Since then, Israel has laid siege to the Gaza Strip, closing it to travel and trade and abducting 64 Hamas officials, including Cabinet ministers and parliamentary representatives. Its jets have bombed roads, bridges, government buildings, Gaza’s main electrical generating plant, homes, fields, orchards, workshops, and offices. To date, 184 Palestinians have been killed, including 42 children, while another 650 have been wounded.
In 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula as part of a comprehensive peace agreement with Egypt. Twenty-four years of peace on that border followed. But unilateral redeployments that only shift the character of Israeli control over Palestinian lives will never yield such results. Unilateralism—wherein the legitimate interests of the other party are ignored—is the flaw, not withdrawal.
Would Americans remain quiescent if a neighboring power sealed our borders and airspace, suffocated our economy, expanded into our most desirable lands and attempted to throttle our democratically elected government?
We should counsel Israel to abandon unilateralism and unremitting violence against civilians. Negotiations based on respect for international law and equal rights offer the only way to lasting peace.
George Bisharat, a professor of law at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, writes frequently on the Middle East. His e-mail is bisharat@uchastings.edu.
More Repuke Waste, Fraud, and Damaged National Security
The FBI’s Upgrade That Wasn’t
$170 Million Bought an Unusable Computer System
By Dan Eggen and Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 18, 2006; Page A01As far as Zalmai Azmi was concerned, the FBI’s technological revolution was only weeks away.
It was late 2003, and a contractor, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), had spent months writing 730,000 lines of computer code for the Virtual Case File (VCF), a networked system for tracking criminal cases that was designed to replace the bureau’s antiquated paper files and, finally, shove J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI into the 21st century.
Zalmai Azmi, the FBI’s top technology officer, discovered widespread flaws in promised software.
TRANSCRIPT
Five Years Later: FBI Computer Security
Five years after 9/11, the FBI has spent millions of dollars on computer software that never worked properly and is still burdened with one of the government’s most outdated computer systems.It appeared to work beautifully. Until Azmi, now the FBI’s technology chief, asked about the error rate.
Software problem reports, or SPRs, numbered in the hundreds, Azmi recalled in an interview. The problems were multiplying as engineers continued to run tests. Scores of basic functions had yet to be analyzed.
“A month before delivery, you don’t have SPRs,” Azmi said. “You’re making things pretty. . . . You’re changing colors.”
Within a few days, Azmi said, he warned FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III that the $170 million system was in serious trouble. A year later, it was dead. The nation’s premier law enforcement and counterterrorism agency, burdened with one of the government’s most archaic computer systems, would have to start from scratch.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/17/AR2006081701485.html
Chickenhawks and the Wars they Flee
See our authorotative Chickenhawks page
George W. Bush – Vietnam
Dick Cheney – Vietnam
Richard Perle – Vietnam
Paul Wolfowitz- Vietnam
John Ashcroft – Vietnam
Ted Olson – Vietnam
Antonin Scalia – Vietnam
Ken Starr – Vietnam
Lamar Alexander – Vietnam
Brit Hume – Vietnam
Alan Keyes – Vietnam
Michael Reagan – Vietnam
Ken Adelman – Vietnam
Andrew Card – Vietnam
Asa Hutchinson – Vietnam
Tommy Thompson – Vietnam
Bob Barr – Vietnam
Gary Bauer – Vietnam
Jeb Bush – Vietnam
John Engler – Vietnam
Rudy Giuliani -Vietnam
Dennis Hastert – Vietnam
Mitch McConnell – Vietnam
Don Nickles – Vietnam
Ronald Reagan – WWII
Richard Shelby – Vietnam
Vin Weber – Vietnam
Roger Ailes – Vietnam
Neal Boortz – Vietnam
Ann Coulter – Desert Storm
Steve Forbes – Vietnam
Sean Hannity – Desert Storm
Bill O’ Reilly – Vietnam
Elliott Abrams – Vietnam
Richard Armey – Vietnam
Wayne LaPierre – Vietnam
Ted Nugent – Vietnam
Karl Rove – Vietnam
Jerry Falwell – Korea
Roy Cohn – Korea
Bill Bennett – Vietnam
Pat Buchanan – Vietnam
Tom DeLay – Vietnam
Newt Gingrich – Vietnam
Phil Gramm – Vietnam
Jack Kemp – Vietnam
Trent Lott – Vietnam
William Kristol – Vietnam
Michael Medved – Vietnam
Gerald McRaney – Vietnam
Marvin Olasky – Vietnam
Michael Savage – Vietnam
Tony Snow – Vietnam
Sylvester Stallone – Vietnam
Ben Stein – Vietnam
EmmettTyrrell – Vietnam
John Wayne – WWII
P.J. O’Rourke – Vietnam
Dan Quayle – Vietnam
Pat Robertson – Korea
Vin Weber – Vietnam
George Will – Vietnam
Rush Limbaugh – Vietnam
“The numbers continue to reflect erosion in the President’s political base – just 62% of Republicans give him positive marks for his job performance, while 38% give him negative marks. Even among weekly WalMart shoppers – a demographic group identified by Pollster John Zogby as a critical support group for Bush – just 45% now give him positive job marks, though his numbers among those shoppers have improved 10 points since early June.”