be just

Al Jazeera English - Europe - UN inquiry finds Gaza war crimes : "A United Nations investigation into Israel's war on Gaza has found evidence that both sides committed war crimes during the three-week conflict. Judge Richard Goldstone, who led the inquiry, said he found evidence of Israeli war crimes in the assault, which started on December 27, 2008, and killed more than 1,400 Palestinians."

Home / Headlines / More and more Jewish Voices opposing Israel-Promoted pre-emptive Attack on Iran - Media Monitors Network (MMN) : "Martin van Creveld, a professor of military history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is critical of those who urge a pre-emptive attack on Iran and who, in his view, overestimate its potential danger. “Though rich in oil,” he notes, “Iran is a Third World country with a population of 80 million and a per capita income of $2,440...Its annual defense budget stands at about $6.3 billion—a little more than half of Israel’s and a little less than 2 percent of America’s. Iran, in fact, spends a smaller percentage of its resources on defense than any of its neighbors except the United Arab Emirates.” Columnist Leonard Fein of The Forward observed that “Podhoretz wants to use force now. Others, including a disturbing number of major Jewish organizations, endorse ‘merely’ the threat of force, loudly proclaiming that ‘all options’ must be on the table. I...

Today's Iraq: The Police State That America Built : "The Economist -- the veritable Bible of the Anglo-American Establishment -- paints a grim portrait of the Iraqi regime installed at the point of American guns: a sinkhole of torture, execution, increasing repression and brazen power-grabs."

Over 100,000 Displaced in Pakistan’s Khyber Offensive -- News from Antiwar.com : "Though the Pakistani government has made it clear that they won’t actually keep track of how many civilians are displaced in their offensive in the Khyber Agency, a regional official says that at least 100,000 from Khyber have arrived in Peshawar since the beginning of the month."

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush released from prison | Antiwar Newswire : "The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush says he was tortured with beatings, whippings and electric shocks during his first few days in custody."

Half of Gaza war dead 'were civilians' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) : "The figures issued by the B'Tselem organisation were broadly in line with those in reports published by groups such as Amnesty International and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights after the 22-day Israeli offensive ended in January. In a new report, B'Tselem said 1,387 Palestinians were killed in the war - 773 civilians, 330 combatants, 248 Hamas policemen and 36 people whom the group was unable to classify as combatants or non-combatants. B'Tselem said among the civilian dead were 320 minors under the age of 18. The Israeli military has said 1,166 Palestinians were killed during the offensive it dubbed Operation Cast Lead - 709 combatants, 295 civilians and 162 people whose status it was unable to clarify. In a statement, B'Tselem said its researchers had visited Gaza homes to take witness testimony and collect documents to arrive at its casualty figures. It cal...

The Raw Story » US actually increasing personnel in Iraq: More contractors, fewer troops : "Well, its soldiers are. But not civilian contractors. Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to withdraw US troops from the war-torn country, the US is planning to award contracts to protect US installations at a cost to taxpayers that could near $1 billion. In fact, the Multi-National Force-Iraq just awarded $485 million in contracts just last week, while Congress enjoyed its summer recess. Five firms will handle private security deals to provide security for US bases. It's a neat rhetorical loophole that will allow US officials to say that the country has withdrawn from Iraq, while its contractors remain."