be just

Across the Universes: Somali Music Stands Against War. Digg_url = "http://www. (Comment, *, Write, Somalis, Comments)-Empire Burlesque - Chris Floyd Online : "Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been killed or inflicted with grave suffering by the Bush-backed Ethiopian-led 'regime change' in their country, and we have tried to document some of that suffering here. But it would be inaccurate and demeaning to allow the very real and manifold travails of the Somalis to be the only picture ever presented of them, as if they were simply eternal victims, vague, helpless creatures worthy only of pity – instead of fully fledged, individual, complex and engaged human beings like the rest of us. "

Muslimedia.com The strict, Taliban-like code of conduct imposed by al-Qa‘ida in areas under its control has gained the group the ire of the local population. Al-Qa‘ida’s rules not only order women to don the hijab and ban the sale of goods proscribed by the Shari‘ah, such as alcoholic beverages, but also prohibit such mundane activities as playing chess, smoking, visiting internet cafes, and selling newspapers and magazines. Hairdressers have been threatened and attacked, and barber-shops and beauty-salons have been bombed for shaving the beards of their customers and giving them western-style haircuts respectively. Women in these areas have also had to give up driving.

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - A Shi'ite storm in the making : "Sadeq's power base was so deeply grounded in the plebeian Shi'ite population, especially in eastern Baghdad, that still four years after his assassination in 1999 by Saddam's regime his movement continued to expand. On entering Iraq after more than 20 years of exile in Iran in 2003, Hakim witnessed the rise of a major Shi'ite political rival, a young cleric named Muqtada al-Sadr, who would publicly question his bravery and Iraqi credentials for not only failing to stand up to Saddam, but also for being a foreign agent backed by the Iranian government. "

The New US Embassy in Baghdad : "The New US Embassy in Baghdad The pictures below were released by the architect on the construction of a massive new US embassy in war-torn Baghdad. The photos have been pulled from the original site but are available here. Click on each photo for a full-sized version."

BBC NEWS | South Asia | 'Afghan civilians' killed by Nato : "At least 15 civilians have been killed in an offensive by Nato and Afghan forces in the southern Helmand province, according to local police. The Afghan government earlier said a large number of Taleban fighters died in Thursday's raid in Sangin district. But the district police chief, Gholam Wali Jan, told the BBC that half of the 30 people killed were civilians. Local people put the death toll higher. A spokesman for Nato in Helmand said it had no evidence to support the claim. At least 15 civilians have been killed in an offensive by Nato and Afghan forces in the southern Helmand province, according to local police. The Afghan government earlier said a large number of Taleban fighters died in Thursday's raid in Sangin district. But the district police chief, Gholam Wali Jan, told the BBC that half of the 30 people killed were civilians. Local people put the death toll higher. A spokesman for Nato in He...

Marines eye antiwar activities of inactive reservists | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle : "In a case that raises questions about free speech, the Marines have launched investigations of three inactive reservists for wearing their uniforms during antiwar protests and allegedly making statements characterized as 'disrespectful' or 'disloyal.'"

War in Iraq cannot be won: former British army chief - Yahoo! News : "Fri Jun 1, 4:32 PM ET LONDON (AFP) - There is 'no way' the war in Iraq can be won by the United States and its allies, a former British Army commander said Friday as he called for the troops to be withdrawn. ADVERTISEMENT General Sir Michael Rose, who commanded the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia-Hercegovina from 1994 to 1995, said coalition forces in Iraq were facing an impossible situation. 'There is no way we are going to win the war and (we should) withdraw and accept defeat because we are going to lose on a more important level if we don't,' he said."

Voices - Bush and Hillary: "Willing Collaborators" : "'Israel has no constitution but has a Declaration of Independence which promised that Israel would abide by conditions and UN resolutions. They have not fulfilled the agreement which was the basis of their independence...One out of three Israeli children lives below the poverty line. It's probably about 80% for Palestinians. Jews are like everyone else, those who have been abused grow up to be abusers. Things here have been turned on their head: its victim mentality and denial about the occupation. Once Israelis accept the fact that they are occupiers they will have to admit their State Terrorism.' "

A soldier in Iraq asks in despair: Why are we here? : "After watching his roommate fatally wounded in a roadside bombing, an Army private wonders why the lives of good men are being lost when the Iraqis pose no threat to us and don’t want us there. BAGHDAD, May 12 — My name is Donald Hudson Jr. I have been serving our country’s military actively for the last three years. I am currently deployed to Baghdad on Forward Operating Base Loyalty, where I have been for the last four and a half months. I came here as part of the first wave of this so called “troop surge”, but so far it has effectively done nothing to quell insurgent violence. I have seen the rise in violence between the Sunni and Shiite. This country is in the middle of a civil war that has been on going since the seventh century. Why are we here when this country still to date does not want us here? Why does our president’s personal agenda consume him so much, that he can not pay attention to what is really going on here?...

The Secret Carnage : "An estimated 78,000 Iraqis were killed by U.S. and Coalition air strikes from the start of the war through June of last year, an article in 'The Nation' magazine says. The estimate is based on the supposition that 13 percent of the 601,000 Iraqis who met violent deaths reported by The Lancet study released last October 'had been killed by bomb, missile, rocket or cannon up to last June,' author Nick Turse writes in the June 11th issue of the weekly magazine. 'There are indications that the air war has taken an especially grievous toll on Iraqi children,' Turse said. 'Figures provided by the Lancet study suggest that 50 percent of all violent deaths of Iraqi children under 15 in that same period (March 2003 through June 2006) were due to coalition airstrikes.'"

Another Day in the Empire : "As noted here yesterday, Israel has long nurtured and financed groups opposed to the PLO, most notably Hamas. “The thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the others, if they gained control, would refuse to have any part of the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place,” an anonymous U.S. government official told Richard Sale of United Press International. “The PLO was secular and leftist and promoted Palestinian nationalism. Hamas wanted to set up a transnational state under the rule of Islam, much like Khomeini’s Iran,” a state not likely to make a peace deal with the Israelis, an arrangement that suited them fine, as Israel has never honestly intended to make peace with the Palestinians and instead has worked consistently to terrorize them, drive them off the land, and kill them in numbers. "

Another Day in the Empire Now the “New Al Gore” tells us “he doesn’t agree with calls for impeaching the president due to lack of ‘time’ and ‘consensus,’” according to Daily News & Analysis. “Many democrats feel that Bush should be impeached for allegedly misleading the country deliberately in the lead up to the war in Iraq.” Heck, simply impeaching Bush would be akin to a gentle slap on the hand, considering the magnitude of his crimes. If Democrats had any spine, they would demand Bush be arrested as a war criminal and would not sit down and shut up until the Commander Guy did the orange jumpsuit promenade. Of course, this will never happen, and the “New Al Gore,” same as the “Old Al Gore,” will never demand Bush be arrested and see the inside of a super-max cell for the rest of his natural life, same as he will never call for the arrest and prosecution of another war criminal, his former boss, Bill Clinton.