reed writes

ISRAEL’S SHAME

BACKGROUND: Israel is using weapons supplied by the United States to target Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in violation of the US Arms Export Control Act and the Geneva Conventions.
* On June 9th, Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32. At the site of the killing, Human Rights Watch found evidence of a 155mm artillery shell consistent with those fired from an Israeli M-109 Self-Propelled Artillery. Between 2000-2005, the United States licensed to Israel $69,163 worth of M-109 spare parts and 155mm artillery shells.*
* On June 13th, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in an extrajudicial assassination of two Palestinians in Gaza City. A second barrage of missiles fired shortly afterward killed nine Palestinian bystanders.
* On June 20th, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed its intended target and killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
* On June 27th, Israel launched a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. Israeli aircraft fired missiles targeting civilian infrastructure. In illegal acts of collective punishment, Israel demolished three key bridges, the Gaza Strip’s only electricity generation plant, and part of a university, thereby endangering Palestinian human rights to food, water, health, electricity, education, and freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admitted that the purpose of these measures is to “apply pressure” to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli air force fighter squadrons are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire US-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. Between 2005-2005, the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts, engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.*
Israel’s month of killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a clear reminder that Israel remains the occupying power of the Gaza Strip despite last year’s “unilateral disengagement”. Living under military occupation, the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are “protected persons” under the terms of the Geneva Conventions. Israel’s targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and constitutes war crimes.
In addition, by using US-supplied weapons to commit these atrocities, Israel is violating the terms of the US Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act restricts the use of US weapons to legitimate self-defense and internal policing; US weapons cannot be used to attack civilians in offensive operations. The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits US aid of any kind to a country with a pattern of gross human rights violations.

SENDING OUR PEOPLE TO DIE

I just read about the wounding of the six Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. One was hurt very seriously and is in critical condition. These are young men who will never again be able to live a normal life. One of them may die, adding to the already far too high casualty list of dead Canadians…murdered we should say by a half-baked foreign policy that has no roots in Canadian tradition and which simply attempts to ape the policies and propaganda of the Bush administration.

It’s sad and pathetic that we- well- that our political representatives, both Liberal and Conservative, along with the man who hopes to become the next Liberal leader, have sent our young people into a dirty war for which they were never prepared and for which they do not have the proper equipment. Several armoured vehicles have been completely or partially destroyed at a cost of millions of dollars.

This is a war, which cannot be won by a ridiculously small contingent of western soldiers and less-than-enthusiastic public support.

It makes you wonder what General Rick Hillier was thinking a few months ago, when he spoke of killing the enemy “scumbags” and “kicking ass” in Afghanistan. Now we seem to have embarked on a different strategy…even as our men and women in uniform are being cut down in cold blood. The Canadian public, it seems, has little stomach for “ass kicking” on the one hand…and on the other, Hillier has apparently acknowledged that it doesn’t work. There’s nothing like a little “on-the-job-training” to focus the military brain.

The failure of the “kick ass” strategy, combined with lukewarm public support for the mission has prompted a shift from “kick ass” to “kiss ass”. We phase out killing “murderous scumbags” and instead we do a little “scumbag-schmoozing”.This was as predictable as the appearance of daylight at dawn.

Reporters are called in to witness touchy-feely sessions between a senior Canadian officer- Lt. Colonel Hope and a tired old Taliban fighter/terrorist- Mr. Ibrahim. Public relations is now the name of the game and amnesty is replacing the old boastful threats. If Ibrahim will just co-operate, his past crimes will be forgiven…even though this terrorist may have murdered or planned the murder of a Canadian soldier.

It seems that Hillier’s “kick-ass” phase of the mission has come to an end…at least we don’t hear much about it these days, as more and more of our people are killed and maimed. Instead Hillier and his bosses are implementing a kind of Taliban Terrorist Registry…similar to the Liberal’s about-to-be-trashed, domestic gun registry. The difference is that registering Talibans promises to be even more costly and many of our own will die along the way.

The most pathetic side of this story, however, is that the Taliban Registry/Amnesty idea could have been introduced months or even years ago at a tremendous saving in terms of both dollars and Canadian lives.

The U.S. authorities (such as they are), are reportedly concerned about the massacre of Iraqi civilians by theMarines in an Iraqi town called Haditha. After sending an email to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, congratulating them on a “terrific bust”, Marine Commandant, General Hagee pointed out that there could be future pitfalls for the Canadians. “Just look at us”, General Hagee said, with that crooked smile he shows so often when he’s sharing an intimate secret…”Just hold a press conference and tell those media assholes that anyone found guilty will be held accountable. And don’t give it a second thought if you massaged the message a bit, cuz it don’t matter…you’ll find that they ‘re real respectful and pick up on it right away.”