Category: war on terror

?Bug-Splats?

Some dead children are mourned; others are dehumanised

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 17th December 2012

?Mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts ? These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.? Every parent can connect with what Barack Obama said about the murder of 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut. There can scarcely be a person on earth with access to the media who is untouched by the grief of the people of that town.
It must follow that what applies to the children murdered there by a deranged young man also applies to the children murdered in Pakistan by a sombre American president. These children are just as important, just as real, just as deserving of the world?s concern. Yet there are no presidential speeches or presidential tears for them; no pictures on the front pages of the world?s newspapers; no interviews with grieving relatives; no minute analysis of what happened and why. Continue reading “?Bug-Splats?”

Brotherhood of bombs

Pakistan’s war?Insight?By Mohammad Shehzad

A report on the changing organization and loyalties of the Pakistani Taliban

Hakimullah Mehsud is the emir of Pakistan’s biggest terrorist group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. He is also wanted by the US for murdering seven Americans on December 30, 2009 at a CIA base in Khost, and the failed bombing of Times Square in New York City on May 1, 2010. Washington and Islamabad have announced a bounty of $5m and Rs50m on his head. But the chief of the country’s biggest religious party – Jamaat-e-Islami – says he does not exist. Continue reading “Brotherhood of bombs”

The Ugly Truth

The Bombs-Away?Election

Many Americans are rightly disgusted by the non-choice they are offered in the presidential race every four years. This year is no different despite the serious problems that the United States faces at home and abroad. Mitt Romney has no actual plan to fix the economy, and the record of President Barack Obama over the past four years speaks for itself. Romney is a big-government Republican, while Obama is an even-bigger-government Democrat. Either will increase the deficit to the bankruptcy point; Romney through more spending on arms, soldiers, and wars, Obama with a sorely needed health-care program that will break the bank because it was created in collusion with the health-care and insurance industries and makes no effort to limit costs. Continue reading “The Ugly Truth”

Would you know my name?

 

The world celebrated International Day of the Girl this week.

Many celebrated by keeping vigil for Malala Yousufzai.
Malala is the 14-year-old girl who was an outspoken advocate for girls? rights. She blogged from her home in Pakistan. She lived in the Swat Valley, an area near the border with Afghanistan that is heavily influenced by Islamic fundamentalism. Her activism focused on education and on girls? rights to learn.
She directly challenged the Taliban. She confronted their views that girls should not be educated. She defied their beliefs through her advocacy and her actions.
For this, she became the Taliban?s target. She was shot Oct. 9 by a Taliban assassin. She remains in a hospital, in critical condition after surgery to remove the bullet that struck her in the head.
I too keep vigil for this brave girl and abhor the attempt to kill her.
But where is the outrage for the thousands of Malalas who are regularly being slaughtered because a US president deems it within his right to do so?
Retreat at #stopdronenow

Unlike Afghan leaders, Obama fights for power of indefinite military detention

Obama lawyers file a breathless, angry appeal against the court ruling that invalidated the NDAA’s chilling 2011 detention law

Bagram airbase

Bagram airbase was used by the US to detain its ‘high-value’ targets during the ‘war on terror’ and is still Afghanistan’s main military prison. Photograph: Dar Yasin/AP
In May, something extremely rare happened: a federal court applied the US constitution to impose some limits on the powers of the president. That happened when federal district court judge Katherine Forrest of the southern district of New York, an Obama appointee, preliminarily barred enforcement of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the statute enacted by Congress in December 2011 with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by President Obama (after he had threatened to veto it). Continue reading “Unlike Afghan leaders, Obama fights for power of indefinite military detention”

Conservatives, Democrats and the convenience of denouncing free speech

Westerners love to decry censorship aimed at them by Muslims while ignoring the extreme censorship they impose on them

?guardian.co.uk,

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, on the recent deaths of Americans in Libya. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Nothing tests one’s intellectual honesty and ability to apply principles consistently more than free speech controversies. It is exceedingly easy to invoke free speech values in defense of political views you like. It is exceedingly difficult to invoke them in defense of views you loathe. But the true test for determining the authenticity of one’s belief in free speech is whether one does the latter, not the former. Continue reading “Conservatives, Democrats and the convenience of denouncing free speech”

?Extradite me, I?m British!?

Event | Review:  (The Rich Mix, London)

 By Samira Quraishy

On Saturday, hundreds of human rights activists, politicians, artists and concerned citizens gathered in London to highlight the plight of Talha Ahsan and other British citizens detained without trial for years and facing unjust extradition to the US. Samira Quraishy reports for Ceasefire.

Hamja Ahsan, brother of Talha Ahsan and Campaign Leader for the Free Talha Ahsan Campaign (photo: Aimee Valinski) #ExtraditeNight

?Extradite me I?m British!? the t-shirt reads as we walked into the Rich Mix! arts theatre in Bethnal Green. The venue was packed out and there were near to no seats left, but my husband and I eventually found a seat near the front. Looking around me, I saw the familiar faces of fellow activists alongside those of popular personalities currently engaged in the fight for prisoners? rights; particularly the rights of individuals incarcerated without charge in British high security prisons. Many of these prisoners are Muslims being held on trumped up terror-related charges.
The aim of tonight?s event was to raise awareness about the four men facing imminent extradition to the US should the British government continue to dance to America?s tune. The four men are Talha Ahsan, Babar Ahmad, Richard O?Dwyer and Gary McKinnon. From the films showcased and the discussions that were had, it soon became apparent that the former two are facing the arbitrary and soul crushing hand of US law simply because of their faith. But this does not mean O?Dwyer and McKinnon will have it easy either.
Ahsan?s younger brother, Hamja Ahsan, has been running a campaign with the help of family, friends and a new community of people who have been affected by the arbitrary anti-terror legislation put in place by the Labour Party under Tony Blair ? most notably the notorious 2003 US-UK extradition treaty . This is not to say that the current coalition government is free from guilt. According to David Bermingham (one of the Natwest 3 and now a campaigner against US extradition), the Tories and LibDems are worse than Labour in that they pledged to change the law should they came to power, but have failed to do so.
The evening was filled with messages of support from family members and activists alike; an open letter to Samantha Cameron, written by Talha?s mother, was read out to a quiet room, as she made a heartfelt plea, mother to mother. In a video message, Robert King, the only free member of the Angola 3, stated that ?if he (Ahsan) is sent to an American prison where he faces the possibility of 70 years, he will die in prison?if Great Britain extradites Talha to the United States, he will be executed?maybe not imminently?America has many ways to kill?. Actor and fellow campaigner, Riz Ahmed, also lent his support to the cause and short message from human rights lawyer Shami Chakrabati was delivered.
Hamja informed those present that since the unforgiving verdict on their case from the European Courts of Human Rights was delivered, he has now taken the campaign on fulltime dedicating himself to his brother?s cause and subsequently to the campaigns of other prisoners in British prisons. And this is true for all other family members and friends of those waiting extradition. When asked if he could have imagined his brother being detained 6 years ago, Hamja shakes his head emphatically stating that they had both been at a rally in support of Babar Ahmad shortly before his arrest. ?It can happen to anyone!?, he said.
The evening is dotted with light-hearted moments provided by British comedians Ahir Shah  and Jeff Mirza, but by far my favourite personality of the night was the formidable Ashfaq Ahmad, Babar Ahmad?s father. Thrown into the thick of things almost overnight, Ashfaq, or ?uncle Ashfaq? as Moazzam Begg likes to call him, has been heading the campaign for his son?s release since 2003. A man of many depths, over the years Ashfaq has won the hearts of many with his sincerity and integrity in the face of great injustices and heartache as his son essentially lost a decade of his life.
Indeed the most tear jerking moments were when we watched the documentary on extradition by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in which both Ahsan and Ahmad?s fathers are interviewed and professed their desires to see their sons walk free and rejoin their families. In the documentary, human rights lawyer, Gareth Peirce, highlighted the shocking details of Babar Ahmad?s traumatizing arrest; police officers were briefed in such a way that it was deemed similar to ?activating attack dogs?.
The evening was structured in a way whereby the audience was immediately drawn in –  rather than the usual speeches, we were treated to a more relaxed and personal discussion with the key personalities sitting on stage and discussing their personal stories and perspectives, and sharing their ups and downs.
We had Victoria Brittain in conversation with Moazzam Begg;  Begg in conversation with Ashfaq and Hamja. At one point Begg mentions that ?Uncle Ashfaq is a very funny and brave man?, to which Ashfaq mumbled away from his mic, ?I?m married?I have to be brave!? ? Only the few closest to the stage could have caught his quip. While you can hear the pain etched in his voice when he talks about his son, the most notable aspect that comes through about Ahmad, and indeed Ahsan, is their ability to give strength and to inspire others.
Fellow human rights campaigner and the patron for Cage Prisoners, Victoria Brittain, talked about her conversations with the prisoners; Ahsan?s eloquence and concern for his family, and Babar?s thoughtfulness and anxiety for other prisoners are constantly eluded to by all those who have been privileged to speak to them. In fact Ahmad prioritises his replies when writing to those who have written to him ? other prisoners first, then children and then any other well-wishers.
When later asked what she thought of the event, Brittain stated it was ?an important reaffirmation for the families of the men facing extradition; that they have much support from people in the UK from many walks of life through this traumatic long waiting period. And, although the catchy title of the event focused on the British names of Babar and Talha, it was good for everyone to remember too the less well-known man in the same small deportation unit at Long Lartin prison, namely Egyptian lawyer Adel Abdul Bari, who has been fighting his extradition to the US for 13 long years.?
It seems that beyond the new development in the form of a private prosecutor who has put forward ?20,000 to try Ahmad and Ahsan here in the UK, all avenues have been exhausted in trying to get the four Brits? cases heard. However, whatever the case: whether the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) accepts this proposal or not, the families of these prisoners are not going to give up the fight.
Ashfaq Ahmad confessed that there had been several moments of helplessness in the beginning, but it was his son Babar that had made him strong enough to continue campaigning. He asserted that if his son were to eventually get extradited, that ?we are mentally prepared for it and will continue the fight [sic]?. Begg added that early on in his imprisonment, Ahmad had asked him for tips on how to survive the US prison system, and even Guantanamo if it came to that.
Throughout the evening the audience was treated to Talha Ahsan?s poetry recited by an array of speakers including Brit actress Manjinder Virk; award winning author A.L Kennedy introduced  ?The Rose Garden? by highlighting the injustice of his detention and stating five ?terrible things? he was guilty of: that he was a young active man, that he was Muslim, that he has Asperger?s, that he was actively spreading  the truth of the injustices in the world and finally, that he was a poet.
Just as the evening was drawing to a close, his brother received a note and with pride read out that Ahsan had won a Platinum award for his poem ?Grieving? in the Koestler awards (the highest Koestler award- Talha had entered into the Koestler Trust Award Writing Awards for prisoners.) Most of us left feeling a) hopeful and impassioned that we need to continue fighting this ridiculous law, and b) concerned that if they do get extradited, a precedent will be set. What?s to say we or our loved ones won?t be next?

On 9/11 Doubts Were Immediate

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Global Research, September 09, 2012
On September 11, 2001, a neighbor telephoned and said, ?turn on the TV.? I assumed that a hurricane, possibly a bad one from the sound of the neighbor?s voice, was headed our way, and turned on the TV to determine whether we needed to shutter the house and leave.
What I saw was black smoke from upper floors of one of the World Trade Center towers. It didn?t seem to be much of a fire, and the reports were that the fire was under control. While I was trying to figure out why every TV network had its main news anchor covering an office fire, TV cameras showed an airplane hitting the other tower. It was then that I learned that both towers had been hit by airliners.
Cameras showed people standing at the hole in the side of the tower looking out. This didn?t surprise me. The airliner was minute compared to the massive building. But what was going on? Two accidents, one on top of the other?
The towers?the three-fourths or four-fifths of the buildings beneath the plane strikes?were standing, apparently largely undamaged. There were no signs of fire except in the vicinity of where the airliners had hit. Suddenly, one of the towers blew up, disintegrated, and disappeared in fine dust. Before one could make any sense of this, the same thing happened to the second tower, and it too disappeared into fine dust.
Continue reading “On 9/11 Doubts Were Immediate”

Obama's drone wars and the normalisation of extrajudicial murder

A Pakistani protest in June 2012, after two recent US drone strikes killed 12 people. Photograph: SS Mirza/AFP/Getty
A Pakistani protest in June 2012, after two recent US drone strikes killed 12 people. Photograph: SS Mirza/AFP/Getty
In his first campaign for the presidency, Barack Obama promised to reverse the worst excesses of the Bush administration’s approach to terrorism ? such as the use of torture, the rendition of terrorist suspects to CIA-run black sites around the globe, and the denial of basic legal rights to prisoners in Guant?namo ? and to develop a counterterrorism policy that was consistent with the legal and moral tradition of the United States.?In an address at the Woodrow Wilson Center in August 2007, Obama criticized the Bush administration for putting forward a “false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand”, and swore to provide “our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our constitution and our freedom”.
As a candidate, Obama also promised to restore proper legislative and judicial oversight to counterterrorism operations. Rather than treat counterterrorism policy as an area of exception, operating without the normal safeguards that protect the rights of the accused, Obama promised that his approach “will again set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that?justice is not arbitrary.”
Four years later, it is clear that President Obama has delivered a very different counterterrorism policy from that which he promised on the campaign trail. (Full disclosure: I was an adviser on the Obama campaign’s counterterrorism expert group from July 2007-November 2008.) In fairness, he?has?delivered on a few of his promises, including closing the CIA-run “black site” prisons abroad and ordering that interrogations of all suspects be conducted according to the US army field manual, which proscribes?many of the tactics widely considered torture. And some failures were not wholly his own: Obama’s inability to close Guant?namo Bay was due more to congressional opposition and to an array of legal obstacles than to his own lack of initiative. Continue reading “Obama's drone wars and the normalisation of extrajudicial murder”

SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY: London Bombings & Tony Blair's 'Ludicrous Diversion'

by rahnuma ahmed

It was seven years ago this July 7th, but deep suspicions still remain.  That, the public have not been told as to what really occurred on that day when 56 people were killed and several hundred injured in four bombings, three on London underground trains before 9 am, and the fourth, an hour later, on a bus.
Initial media reports, as Tom Secker — British writer, researcher and filmmaker who specialises in terrorism, the security services and declassified history — points out, were “extremely confused.” Eight explosions had occurred on the underground, these were blamed on electrical power surges. Another three explosions were reported to have occurred, on buses. These initial reports later evolved “somehow” into a story of four explosions caused by suicide bombers (see Secker’s seven minute documentary released this July, “7/7 in 7 Minutes: Unanswered Questions“, available on YouTube).
Other skeptics point fingers at the government’s reluctance to conduct a public inquiry into the events. Strange, they say, given that disasters such as train accidents are investigated (as they should be), while the bombings, despite having been one of the “worst terrorist attacks” in Britain’s history, was not considered to be worthy of a public inquiry. Continue reading “SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY: London Bombings & Tony Blair's 'Ludicrous Diversion'”