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Week of August 07 2006
by Ryan Millar
Who's Writing The UN Resolutions? An American-French draft of a UN resolution for a ceasefire in the Middle East shows that Israel is running American foreign policy. So says Robert Fisk in the Independent. He scathingly details the lopsidedness of the draft. "The Security Council said it was 'mindful of the sensitivity of the issue of prisoners and encouraging the efforts aimed at settling the issue [sic] of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel'. I bet Hizbollah were impressed by the 'mindful' bit, not to mention the 'sensitivity' and the soft, slippery word 'settle' - an issue which can be 'settled' in maybe 20 years' time." The lack of strong clear leadership in the UN Security Council ensures the war will continue. Also includes a bulletpoint list of UN demands.
A Too Convenient Spoof A spoof of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" on youtube.com and credited to some guy in California turns out to have originated from a Washington DC PR Company who counts ExxonMobil as one of their clients. Surprised? Me neither.
US Troops As War Criminals "They cut them loose and murdered them in cold blood. For this, they are not war heroes, they are war criminals. And justice states that they face trial." So says the prosecutor in just one of the cases involving US Troops in Iraq. The charges range from assault to rape and murder. This particularly heinous murder of three Iraqis is expected to come to a court martial hearing this week. Read about it on the BBC web site.
Military Strikes, Civilian Targets Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch speaks about the targeting of Lebanese civilians by the Israeli military. A humanitarian disaster.
"As a researcher for Human Rights Watch, I've documented civilian deaths from bombing campaigns in Kosovo and Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq. But these usually occur when there is some indication of military targeting...In Lebanon it's a different scene...Israel has hit civilian homes and cars with no evidence of any military objective."
Read the full article on the International Herald Tribune.
40,000 Troops Have Deserted Since 2000 Military underplays the number of deserters. But the numbers are substantial, as courts try deserters criminally or for court-martial. A 2002 Army report says desertion is fairly constant but tends to worsen during wartime, when there's an increased need for troops and enlistment standards are more lax. They also say deserters tend to be less educated and more likely to have engaged in delinquent behavior than other troops. However, many of the deserters say they object to the unjust war in Iraq and refuse deployment, which doesn't really suggest a lack of education or delinquency, just sound judgment.
See the web site Courage to Resist for more information as well as ways to support soldiers who refuse to fight.
Take Action: Ceasefire Now! Emergency Week of Action, August 7-11
Qana victims killed by Israel with US weapons. Petition Congress to support ceasefire resolutions and demand the end of weapons delivery to Israel. In three weeks the Israeli government's bombing campaign has killed at least 750 Lebanese, the vast majority civilians; made 700,000-800,000 Lebanese homeless; and methodically destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure. Hezbollah fire has killed 52 Israelis, 19 of them civilians. War dos not solve conflict. Check this page for action items.
