contributions

The Crime of Lebanon and Palestine - Are Iran and Syria Next? - by Stephen Lendman
By any interpretation of international law, Israel today is committing massive and egregious war crimes and crimes against humanity against the defenseless people of Palestine and Lebanon. It’s doing it with the full support and encouragement of the US and willful compliance of the West, most of the Arab world, the UN and the dominant corporate media worldwide acting as cheerleaders for the mass killing, (…)

So, Republicans have nothing to hide, do they? In that case, and I’m not joking, I think we should have the UN monitor the November 06 US elections. It’s a neutral party, and the chances of a fair fight would vastly improve. Foreign nations know the score. Now it’s up to them to let Americans in on the truth!
johnnybgood

By WARREN HOGE
The United Nations’ top human rights official said Wednesday that the killing and maiming of civilians under attack in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza and the West Bank could constitute war crimes.
“The scale of killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control,” said Louise Arbour, the high commissioner for human rights.
Ms. Arbour is a former justice of (…)

Israeli troops have withdrawn from the Maghazi refugee camp after a three-day assault that killed 15.
Israel launched the offensive after Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers and abducted a third in a cross-border raid last month.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said: "Yes, our forces are out, but it is important to emphasise that operations in Gaza continue."
Israeli troops remain in southern Gaza, apparently in an attempt to stop the abducted soldier being transferred to neighbouring (…)

By Michael A. Fletcher
Poverty forced its way to the top of President Bush’s agenda in the confusing days after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans. Confronted with one of the most pressing political crises of his presidency, Bush, who in the past had faced withering criticism for speaking little about the poor, said the nation has a solemn duty to help them.
"All of us saw on television, there’s . . . some deep, persistent poverty in this region," he said (…)

Scientists have reacted with anger to US President George W Bush’s decision to veto a bill allowing federal funding for new embryonic stem cell research.
They argue it will damage a promising field of medical research.
Leading researchers labelled Mr Bush "hypocritical", "out of touch" and "selfish" over his decision not to sign into law a bill approved by Congress.
Mr Bush argued that the law "crossed a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect".
Polls suggest most (…)

Bush ’gave green light’ for limited attack, say Israeli and UK sources
Ewen MacAskill, Simon Tisdall and Patrick Wintour
The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources.
The Bush administration, backed by Britain, has blocked efforts for an immediate halt to the fighting initiated at the UN security council, the G8 summit in St (…)

By Matthew Rothschild
Terri Jones lost her son Jason Cooper just over a year ago.
He was an Army Reservist in the Iraq War.
On July 14, 2005, four months after returning home to Iowa, he hanged himself.
He was 23.
Since then, Jones has been flying her American flag upside down, though someone came on her property once and turned it right side up, and another person stole it.
“We had a flag out the whole time Jason was in Iraq,” she says. “Once he died, my boyfriend Vince turned (…)

by Robert Jensen
One way to measure the fears of people in power is by the intensity of their quest for certainty and control over knowledge.
By that standard, the members of the Florida Legislature marked themselves as the folks most terrified of history in the United States when last month they took bold action to become the first state to outlaw historical interpretation in public schools. In other words, Florida has officially replaced the study of history with the imposition of (…)

Zena el-Khalil writing from Beirut, Live from Lebanon
Today I drove through downtown on my way to visit my parents. I was driving alone and was a bit nervous. First time in a car alone since this whole thing started ... But I had to see my parents.
I came across a red light and stopped. The streets were empty, and I caught myself wondering why I stopped and didn’t just go through. Streets were totally empty - no other cars, no traffic police. Then I remembered my latest policy that is (…)