Pen Thoughts

By Patrick Seale With growing insistence, some influential Israelis are beginning to press the Netanyahu government to seek to make peace with Syria -- even if the price-tag is the return of the entire Golan to Syrian sovereignty. The latest example of this campaign is an interview which Major-General (res.) Uri Saguy, 66, gave on 11 June to the Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot, in which he declared that “I believe that a political agreement between Syria and Israel is a military national interest of the highest order.” Of all Israelis, whether soldiers or civilians, Saguy can probably claim to have the greatest first-hand knowledge of the Syrian file. He fought on the Golan Heights in both the 1967 and 1973 wars, and was wounded twice. He commanded the elite Golani brigade, was head of the General Staff’s operations department in the 1982 Lebanon war, served as head of Southern Command, and then as chief of military intelligence from 1991 to 1995. He has advised several Israeli prime m...

Refugees International Statement: Washington, D.C. -- Refugees International today expressed disappointment that President Barack Obama failed to recognize the plight of Iraqi refugees during his speech marking the end of combat operations in Iraq. In his address to the nation last night, on August 31, President Barack Obama failed to take the opportunity to highlight the humanitarian plight of the Iraqi people. For the half a million refugees unable to return home, and the one and a half million Iraqis displaced inside the country, the end of U.S. operations in Iraq does not mean that peace has returned. Their original homes and communities are either destroyed or insecure, and they remain in a dangerous and unsettled limbo. "The Obama administration has provided funding and resettlement opportunities for Iraqis. But resolving the displacement issue is a long-term project, requiring U.S. funding and engagement and commitments from the Iraqi government to give them the help they ...

Friday 27 August 2010 Amnesty International calls for the eight men, all detained after taking part in a protest against poor safety conditions, to be tried by a civilian court for recognizable criminal offences. Amnesty international has condemned the trial before an Egyptian military court of eight factory workers, all civilians, detained after taking part in a protest against poor safety conditions at the factory, following an explosion which killed one of their fellow workers. The trial of the eight workers from Helwan Factory for Engineering Industries (Military Factory No. 99) resumes at the military court in Nasr City, in the east of Cairo on Saturday. It is the first such trial since the authorities amended the Military Justice Code in June to allow workers in a military factory to be tried before a military court for “stopping work in utilities of public interest" and "assault on freedom to work”, preventing others from working. "Trials of civilians before milit...

Friday 27 August 2010 Amnesty International has criticized the Kenyan government for its failure to arrest Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country to join celebrations ushering in Kenya’s new constitution. Amnesty International has criticized the Kenyan government for its failure to arrest Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country to join celebrations ushering in Kenya’s new constitution, viewing the refusal to arrest President al-Bashir as an obstruction of justice for victims in Darfur. The President of Sudan is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. “Kenya has regrettably followed the example of Chad, which violated its obligations under international law by providing safe haven to President Bashir during his visit to the country last month,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director in Amnesty’s Africa programme. As Kenya has ratified the Rome St...

Friday 27 August 2010 Abdallah Abu Rahma, head of the "Popular Committee Against the Wall" in the West Bank village of Bil'in, now faces imprisonment for exercising his right to freedom of expression. Amnesty International has condemned the conviction by an Israeli military court of a Palestinian non-violent political activist who has been detained since last December because of his involvement in protesting against the fence/wall which the Israeli authorities have been building largely on Palestinian land. Abdallah Abu Rahma, head of the "Popular Committee Against the Wall" in the West Bank village of Bil'in, was found guilty of "organizing and participating in an illegal demonstration" and "incitement" by an Israeli military court on Tuesday. He was acquitted of two other charges of "stone-throwing", and "possession of arms". He is expected to be sentenced within the next few weeks and could face up to 10 years in pr...

Hutu rebels deny DR Congo rapes - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Kofi Annan’s Bombshell

ei: Israel's multi-front war on Lebanese resistance : "The 3 August border clash itself that left two Lebanese soldiers, one Israeli officer and a Lebanese journalist dead underscored several realities of the current political and military climate. Despite the incessant war-mongering by Israel over the past few months, the killing of one of its high-ranking officers -- a colonel -- did not translate into a massive offensive the same way Hizballah's capturing of two Israeli soldiers did in July 2006. This clearly undermines arguments blaming Hizballah for starting the July 2006 war. Wars are rarely improvisational affairs. Specific incidents are almost always pretexts rather than triggers of war. Israel was ready and eager to go to war in 2006. In spite of its rhetoric, this time Israel was not."

http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/17/the-withdrawal-that-isnt Interview: Michael Schwartz The withdrawal that isn't August 17, 2010 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Michael Schwartz , the author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context [1] and a commentator on U.S. wars and occupations for Web sites such as Huffington Post and TomDispatch, talked with Ashley Smith about the Obama administration's announcement that the withdrawal of "combat troops" is on schedule--and what its plans for Iraq really are. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PRESIDENT OBAMA recently announced that he was fulfilling his promise to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq. Is the U.S. really bringing the occupation to an end? ON THE surface, that appears to be case, but it's not in fact true. Obama plans to retain 50,000 soldiers in Iraq after the supposed withdrawal of combat troops. He is merely re-branding these remaining combat troops as advisers and trainers. These remai...

In Baghdad there are still 56 thousand soldiers, to be reduced to 50 thousand at the end of the month. U.S ensure it is not a complete withdrawal, but the beginning of a new phase. Iraqi Lieutenant General: "The U.S. must remain until 2020. Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The last U.S. combat brigade, the 4th Stryker, left Iraq yesterday, crossing the border with Kuwait. In Iraq there are still 56 thousand American troops, but the number should decrease to 50 thousand by the end of August. The remaining soldiers will be converted into assistance forces. Philip Crowley, spokesman for the State Department, spoke of a "historic moment" and assured that it is not the end of the American presence in Iraq, but the beginning of a new phase: "The last thing that we want to see is an occasion where we have to send troops back into Iraq yet again. This is not the end of something. It's a transition to something different. We have a long-term commitment to Iraq". Th...