Clipmarks | Civilian-killings Clips

Palestinian youth killed, settlers accused

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:21:21 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, which includes eye-witness statements, during the afternoon of 27 September, Yahia Ateya Fahmi Bani Maneya, age 18, from Aqraba village southeast of Nablus city, went to graze his sheep on land east of his village. When the teenager had not returned home by 18:00, dozens of locals gathered and went in search of him. They searched the area between Aqraba village and the Israeli settlement of Jetit, which lies approximately 10 kilometers east of Aqraba village. At about midnight, locals found Yahia Maneya's dead body covered in blood in al-Fajen area, one kilometer west of Jetit settlement.

...

According to eyewitnesses, his body had been hit by about 20 bullets to the neck, chest and legs.

Clip Source: electronicintifada.net

On Saturday, 27 September 2008, a Palestinian teenager from Aqra village southeast of Nablus City was shot dead by Israeli settlers. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) utterly condemns this heinous crime, and reiterates that the neglect of complaints submitted by Palestinian civilians against Israeli settlers, plus the protection provided by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to the settlers, have encouraged the settlers to continue launching attacks against unarmed Palestinian civilians.

Tags: israel, palestine, civilian-killings, settlements, west bank

Where is the Hope?

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:22:26 GMT

clipped by: Imnclady
clipper's remarks: Comment on this...
Not a particularly palatable topic, but well written, and a sad indictment upon the good people that may still be living in the US for delusional hope, that all can be justified. The whole darn business seems to be one friggin' mess and pack of contradictions from topic to topic, scenario to scenario ... what kind of nightmarish society is being created in the name of freedom and so-called democracy? More like "demonocracy" ... it would seem!

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

When Refusing to Kill Has a Higher Sentence Than Murder

From the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States military has come under intense criticism and scrutiny for the deaths of civilians. This week, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan to "acknowledge" the deaths of innocent civilians in attacks in those countries.

An American soldier pauses before heading out to patrol near Tikrit, Iraq. According to Ann Wright, soldiers may be more severely punished for refusing to kill than for killing the wrong person. (Photo: AFP / Getty Images)

Longer Sentences for Resisting War Than for Murdering Civilians

Light Sentences for the Murders of Iraqis

Higher Punishment for Killing Fellow Servicemen Than Iraqis

Tags: military, war, civilian-killings

An American Bomb

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:55:25 GMT

clipped by: broner
clipper's remarks: Powerful video from the maker of Pale blue Dot

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: nuclear weapons, atomic bombs, civilian-killings, hiroshima, war on terror

Czech resistance to Communism cast as heroes and as murderers

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:47:00 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

The current Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, a liberal, decided in March to honor the three survivors as heroes, no doubt expecting some controversy in a nation still grappling with its Communist past. But the government was not prepared for a searing debate that encapsulated all the ambivalence associated with the country’s recent history.

A minority of Czechs lauded the award as a fitting tribute to freedom fighters who had dared to stand up to a repressive government, but nearly half of the population viewed the men as criminals, according to a poll conducted for Czech Television.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In October of that year, the five men battled their way across the Iron Curtain heading for the American sector of a divided Berlin. They wanted to join American troops in what they thought would be a global conflagration between Western democracies and Soviet Communism.

To get there, the five — the brothers Josef and Ctirad Masin and their childhood friends Milan Paumer, Zbynek Janata and Vaclav Sveda — hijacked cars, stole submachine guns, drugged adversaries with chloroform, broke into police stations and killed six people, including a police officer whose throat was slit with a Boy Scout knife.

Three of the men eventually reached West Berlin, where they were debriefed by the Central Intelligence Agency

The other two — Mr. Janata and Mr. Sveda — were captured by the East German police and executed.

Tags: civilian-killings, democrats, political-violence, political violence, czech, czechoslovakia, communism, cold war, history

U.S. Death Squads and Terrorism in Afghanistan

Thu, 22 May 2008 04:17:47 GMT

clipped by: blueridge
clipper's remarks: U.S. State-sponsored terrorism and rogue operations are being reported by a UN investigator. Nothing new, which is precisely the problem.

Clip Source: www.wsws.org

CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan

A United Nations investigator released a preliminary report last week citing widespread civilian deaths in Afghanistan, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA or other foreign intelligence agencies.

report provides a partial glimpse into the illegal actions of intelligence agencies, occupying forces, and Afghan police, as they seek to repress opposition to the US-led occupation and US-backed government.

Alston focused on civilian killings by US and other international military forces, citing 200 reported deaths in the first four months of 2008

a special correspondent for news agency Knight Ridder who was investigating the death squads, was killed with a bullet to the head

intelligence agencies in question include the CIA or US Special Operations Forces

extra-judicial killings.

victims “are widely acknowledged, even by well-informed Government officials, to have had no connection to the Taliban

Tags: afghanistan, war, terrorism, special operations, cia, death squads

In defense of William Ayers

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:30:57 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Wonderment said:

But to call Ayers a "terrorist" and throw him in the Osama bin Laden pile is a reach for the moral high ground by the very people and political establishment that secretly carpet bombed Cambodia, murdering hundreds of thousands of civilians.

...Ayers is no martyr, and he's no role model. But he doesn't deserve to be the punching bag of the moral cretins who still celebrate lying wars of aggression and the pointless slaughter of untold thousands.

Clip Source: bloggingheads.tv

Ayers makes the claim that the use of violence, particularly with the aim of zero loss of life, was justified as a form of protest and pressure to end the Vietnam and Cambodian War. If you look at the crimes of the Johnson and Nixon administrations in their historical context (napalming civilians, Agent Orange, torture, starvation, mass murder, carpet bombings, persecution of dissidents in the US, including the murder of college students by the National Guard, pro-war police riots, disproportionately race-based conscription of 18-year-olds, etc. etc.), there is a case to be made that taking up arms against such a regime is justified.

Now you may argue that the prospects of achieving success in ending the war through "revolutionary" violence were slim to none. I agree.

Tags: william ayers, vietnam, cambodia, hypocrisy, war, civilian-killings

3rd marine cleared of Haditha charges

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:37:10 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks:

Officials close to the Haditha case said they think prosecutors dismissed the charges in order to pursue Wuterich aggressively at trial. The cases against three of the Marines accused of shooting civilians have fallen apart, and Wuterich remains the only one left for prosecutors to target for accountability. Wuterich led the Marine squad and allegedly told his troops, as they approached a group of civilian homes that day, to shoot first and ask questions later.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

The Marine Corps yesterday dismissed all charges against one of the Marines accused of killing women and children in the Iraqi town of Haditha in late 2005, the third time a Marine linked to the slayings has been exonerated

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, who has admitted shooting civilians inside their homes as part of a pursuit of insurgents, was cleared and granted immunity to testify in further hearings related to the investigation. The move leaves only Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich to face charges in connection with the shootings on Nov. 19, 2005.

Although the Marines were at first accused of going on a rampage, the case has evolved into a far more complex examination of the Corps' rules of engagement and the general conduct of wartime operations in hostile residential areas.

Tags: haditha, marines, iraq, war, civilian-killings, stephen tatum, frank wuterich

Thoughts on Nangarhar from an ex-Marine

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:37:32 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: An interesting and nuanced perspective, combining an appreciation for the culture of the Marines (and its flaws), an awareness of the high strategic stakes involved in any civilian killings by U.S. troops, and a much-needed reminder that U.S. forces have generally respected the law much more rigorously than any previous occupying or counterinsurgency force in history.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

America's dangerous trigger finger

Why the killing of civilians by U.S. Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq could have profound strategic consequences.

According to an investigation by an Afghan human rights group released on April 14, the Marines, who said they came under small-arms fire after the bombing, went on a rampage, shooting at vehicles and pedestrians along 10 miles of road.

A few hours after the shootings, the Marines returned to the primary site of the carnage, cordoned it off, and allegedly began removing evidence that it had occurred.

Clip Source: www.salon.com

I also feel compelled to remind them that our troops are among the most disciplined and restrained that the world has ever seen.

It is also worth remembering that nearly 700 civilians were killed by the Taliban last year.

Our troops in the field have to be held to a standard of conduct, even if the enemy is not, and even if the military justice system has historically been stacked against them.

Tags: military, opinion, commentary, war, violence, iraq, civilian-killings, gwot

My Lai marks massacre's 40th anniversary

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:52:39 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Lawrence Colburn returned to My Lai on Saturday and found hope at the site of one of the most notorious chapters of the Vietnam War.

On the 40th anniversary of the massacre of up to 500 unarmed Vietnamese villagers, the former helicopter gunner was reunited with a young man he rescued from rampaging U.S. soldiers.

On March 16, 1968, Colburn found 8-year-old Do Ba clinging to his mother's corpse in a ditch full of blood and the bodies of more than 100 people who had been mowed down. Nearly all the victims were unarmed women, children and elderly.

Seymour Hersh, the journalist who exposed the massacre, said he sees parallels between My Lai and a more recent story that he has he reported on, the 2005 images of torture from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. But he says the public furor unleashed by My Lai was far greater.

The company's soldiers began shooting in My Lai that day even though they hadn't come under attack. It quickly escalated into an orgy of killing.

Tags: war, vietnam, civilian-killings

33 Civilian Deaths Per Day

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:30:17 GMT

clipped by: ColoradoRight
clipper's remarks: Welcome to.....Venezuela. The socialist/communist paradise.

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

Quick, which nation shows average civilian deaths at 33 a day in the last third of 2007? Now name the one where civilian deaths average 19 a day? If you guessed Iraq and Venezuela, you'd have it backward.

Shocking? Of course. But true. With even Venezuelan officials admitting their country clocked 12,249 murders in 2007, Hugo Chavez's socialist "sea of happiness" resembles a war zone. In December alone, Venezuela had 670 murders while Iraq had 476 — and that number is falling fast.

Meanwhile, night travel is strongly discouraged and no one wears jewelry openly. Security guards pack big firepower to guard tiny businesses like bakeries, and bulletproof cars are common.

Cuban doctors sent for propaganda purposes to help the poor often flee for their safety, leaving boarded up "free" health care kiosks in Caracas slums like Petare and Catia.

willingness to fight and to win is the difference between the brave Iraqi and American war effort and the festering mess in Chavez's chaotic Venezuela.

Tags: venezuela, iraq, murder, civilian-killings, war, death, crime, drugs

Validity of Charges on Haditha Marine Questioned

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:37:59 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: "Our position is that if this had not been Haditha and everything around it, he never would have been charged." - Attorney for defendant, Joseph Casas

Clip Source: nctimes.com

A military hearing officer said Saturday he has serious doubts over the validity of criminal charges filed against a Marine lieutenant

The hearing officer, Col. Robert Stahlman, said that if 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was guilty of dereliction of duty for not ordering an investigation into the slayings, numerous other members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment command staff should have been similarly charged.

Testimony during the hearing showed that Grayson had ordered the destruction of 70 photographs taken by a member of the intelligence team he led at Haditha. The order, however, was in keeping with a military policy that photographs deemed not to have any intelligence value be destroyed.

The man in charge of intelligence gathering for the 3rd Battalion at Haditha, Maj. Jeffrey Dinsmore, testified Saturday that he considered the photos "extraneous" and that Grayson and his team were responsible for developing intelligence leads and not probing civilian killings.

Tags: haditha, iraq, marines

Obama: Jena 6 Deserve Mantle of Rosa Parks

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:27:07 GMT

clipped by: ColoradoRight

Clip Source: www.scrappleface.com

(2007-09-21) — Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL, today said the “Jena 6” — a half dozen black teenagers arrested last year in the beating of a white teenager — “have earned the mantle of Rosa Parks, and Americans should not turn a blind eye to the injustice of their cause.”

“If Rosa Parks were alive today,” Sen. Obama said, “and if Rosa Parks gathered her posse and beat the stuffing out of a white boy and got charged with attempted murder, we would take to the streets just as we have for the Jena 6. The historical parallels are stunningly obvious. This is the most horrifying civil rights violation of our day.”

The Rev. Jackson added that, “Somewhere in heaven, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is looking down on us and smiling to see the legacy of his non-violent protest movement as we stand up for the rights of these persecuted boys.”

Tags: humor, sarcasm, civil rights, civilian-killings, justice

Bush says intelligence will lead to al-Qaida

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:45:53 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn
clipper's remarks:

With real actionable intelligence, we will get the job done," Mr. Bush said.

I can't stop laughing! The man hasn't had intelligence in 6 years. Where will he get it now?

Clip Source: www.nysun.com

Bush Says Intelligence will Lead to Al Qaeda

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) - President Bush said Monday that with the right intelligence American and Pakistan governments can take out al-Qaida leaders, and wouldn't say whether he would consult first with Pakistan before ordering American forces to act on their own.

With real actionable intelligence, we will get the job done," Mr. Bush said.

e was asked whether he would wait on permission from Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf before committing the American military to move on "actionable intelligence" on the whereabouts of terrorist leaders in Pakistan. He did not answer directly.

Bush was at the presidential retreat at Camp David for two days of meetings with Afghan President Karzai.

The two held talks on a rash of crises confronting Afghanistan: civilian killings, a booming drug trade and the brazen resurgence of the Taliban.

Tags: bush, politics, war, al-qaida

The American Ruling Class, 2007

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:27:02 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Unfortunately, this really does sum it up.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

ED-209

[Video]

Tags: film, bush administration, iraq, war, incompetence, civilian-killings, unfair-prosecution

Iraq - counting the casualties of war

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:34:32 GMT

clipped by: sunbeam

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Counting the casualties of war is an important task. Several organisations are keeping track of civilians who have died since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but with no agreed estimate it is difficult for journalists to steer around ideological obstacles when they report the numbers.

according to the Iraq Body Count website (IBC) around 70,000 civilians have died in Iraq.

the Lancet research which estimated that by July 2006 more than 650,000 civilians had died

The UN estimate of civilians who died violent deaths is based on numbers compiled by the Iraq ministry of health and the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad

researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Mustansiriya University in Baghdad

produced a death rate of 5.5 per 1,000 people per year before the invasion and 13.3 per 1,000 after it

it attributed over 600,000 deaths to violence

What is the right estimate to use for the civilian death toll?

Tags: iraq, iraq war, death, war, us, uk, media, civilian-killings, occupation