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Showing posts from January 13, 2009

Maan News Agency

Maan News Agency : "Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades said they captured an Israeli solider, who was taken to a safe location which was then bombed by the Israeli military. Militants took the captured soldier to a home in Gaza, which was tracked by the Israeli army and targeted by Israeli warplanes only hours after the Israeli soldier was taken to the building, Brigades members clamied. The Israeli military has made no comment on the report. The soldier was killed instantly, the statement said, and presumed that Israeli military commanders would prefer to have their soldiers killed than have to negotiate their release or admit their failure at the hands of the Palestinian brigades. Addressing the Israeli army the Brigades statement said: 'You will see the Qassam fighters in every road and in all the streets and alleys to catch your souls and detain you. See how your lives are cheap for your leaders; they prefer to kill you than try to rescue you - just like Gilad who is still with

The Raw Story | Revealed: US spends more than $52 billion a year on nukes

The Raw Story | Revealed: US spends more than $52 billion a year on nukes : "The United States spends more than $52 billion a year maintaining, upgrading and operating its nuclear weapons arsenal each year, a little-heralded study revealed Monday. Outside of the hefty price tag, equally significant is the way the money is spent. The US devoted just 1.3 percent -- or $700 million -- to preparing for the consequences of a nuclear attack. The amount of money spent on America's nuclear programs dwarfs the amount spent on diplomacy and foreign assistance (combined), effectively leaving US diplomatic efforts abroad in the long shadow of America's ballistic missiles. 'Nuclear security consumes $13 billion more than international diplomacy and foreign assistance; nearly double what the United States allots for general science, space, and technology; and 14 times what the Department of Energy (DOE) budgets for all energy-related research and development,' the Carnegie Insti

Secret Documents Show US Aware of Colombian Army Killings in 1990s - by Constanza Vieira

BOGOTA - Declassified U.S. documents show that the CIA and former U.S. ambassadors were fully aware, as far back as 1990, that the military in Colombia – the third largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel and Egypt – were committing extrajudicial killings as part of "death-squad tactics." They also knew that senior Colombian officers encouraged a "body count" mentality to demonstrate progress in the fight against left-wing guerrillas. In an undetermined number of cases, the bodies presented as casualties in the counterinsurgency war were actually civilians who had nothing to do with the country's decades-old armed conflict. Since at least 1990, U.S. diplomats were reporting a connection between the Colombian security forces and far-right drug-running paramilitary groups, according to the Washington-based National Security Archive (NSA).

Growing Calls for Israel to Face War Crimes Investigation | News From Antiwar.com

Growing Calls for Israel to Face War Crimes Investigation | News From Antiwar.com : "With still no end in sight to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, growing international concerns about the soaring civilian toll are putting an uncomfortable spotlight on the military’s behavior in a densely populated region. But while their own legal experts insist that the number of civilians killed by the Israeli military and the devastation of an entire enclave are totally irrelevant to the question of the proportionality of the attacks, human rights groups and high ranking UN officials see things a different way. Earlier today, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 33-1 to condemn Israel for gravely violating the human rights of Palestinians and called for an independent fact-finding mission to investigate potential violations of international human rights law, particularly in Israeli attacks on UN facilities. Only Canada voted against the the resolution. Rights group have also accused

Maan News Agency

Maan News Agency : "at least ten soldiers have opted for prison terms rather than going through with their deployment. The refusals would be the first of their kind since Israel launched its massive air, sea and ground assault on the Gaza Strip, On 'conscience’s grounds,' the soldiers refused orders to head to the Gaza Strip, they said."

Growing Calls for Israel to Face War Crimes Investigation | News From Antiwar.com

Growing Calls for Israel to Face War Crimes Investigation | News From Antiwar.com With still no end in sight to the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, growing international concerns about the soaring civilian toll are putting an uncomfortable spotlight on the military’s behavior in a densely populated region. But while their own legal experts insist that the number of civilians killed by the Israeli military and the devastation of an entire enclave are totally irrelevant to the question of the proportionality of the attacks, human rights groups and high ranking UN officials see things a different way. Earlier today, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 33-1 to condemn Israel for gravely violating the human rights of Palestinians and called for an independent fact-finding mission to investigate potential violations of international human rights law, particularly in Israeli attacks on UN facilities. Only Canada voted against the the resolution. Rights group have also accused Is