#war2014

[earthpledge]

"The 41st president suggests that the 43rd president’s 2002 speech describing Iraq, Iran and North Korea as part of an “Axis of Evil” included comments “that might be historically proved to be not benefiting anything.” He says Cheney had “his iron-ass view of everything” and that Rumsfeld displayed a “lack of humility” and “was an arrogant fellow.”"

[earthpledge]

"The U.S. bombing attack on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was grotesque, lasting more than half an hour and burning people alive — medical staff and patients alike — in the kind of facility that international rules of war recognize as a safe haven. There should have been no question about the nature of the work done in the building. Doctors Without Borders has operated the hospital for four years. It had reminded the U.S. and Afghan forces just days earlier of the hospital's location, and it reportedly told U.S. military officials mid-attack that it was under fire from a helicopter gunship. Yet the attack continued, destroying the facility, killing 12 staff members and 10 patients, including three children, and wounding 37 more. The Pentagon, after some initial confusion about what had occurred, acknowledged that the hospital was mistakenly struck and promised to investigate, which is the appropriate response. Gen. John F. Campbell, who leads the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, reportedly suspects that U.S. troops failed to follow established protocol in approving and conducting the attack. That's troubling, if true, and the Pentagon should ensure that its investigation proceeds quickly and transparently, with an eye not only toward understanding what happened but also toward drafting procedures to reduce the chances of a repeat episode. War, it is said, is conducted in a fog, and while civilian deaths are to be avoided and lamented, they are also inevitable. But the incident at the Kunduz hospital was more than a misdirected bomb. It was a sustained attack and, according to Campbell, seems not to have been justified under rules that limit U.S. military engagement to defending American and allied troops, supporting missions targeting Al Qaeda and assisting Afghan forces if they are under attack and at risk of mass casualties. Although Campbell said the Afghan forces requested the air support, the decision to provide it and the approval of the target came from within the U.S. command. He told a Senate committee this week that he has ordered the "entire force to undergo in-depth training in order to review all of our operational authorities and rules of engagement." Doctors Without Borders is understandably outraged by the attack, which led it to close its operations in Kunduz, a regrettable loss of medical support in that war-torn city. President Obama on Wednesday offered his apology to Joanne Liu, the head of Doctors Without Borders, but the organization is pressing its allegation that the attack constitutes a war crime and has called for a non-prosecutorial investigation by the International Humanitarian Fact-finding Commission under the Geneva Convention. The medical relief organization is within its rights to seek that independent assessment, and the U.S. government should cooperate."

[earthpledge]

"The CIA and US special operations forces have launched a secret campaign to hunt terrorism suspects in Syria as part of a targeted killing programme that is run separately from the broader US military offensive against Isis (Islamic State). The CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command are both flying armed drones over Syria in a collaboration responsible for several recent strikes against senior Isis operatives, according to US officials. Among those killed was a British militant believed to be an architect of the group's effort to use social media to incite attacks in the US. The clandestine programme represents a significant escalation of the CIA's involvement in the war in Syria, enlisting the agency's powerful Counterterrorism Centre. But while the centre has been given an expanded role in identifying and locating senior Isis figures, US officials said the strikes were carried out exclusively by the special operations command. They said the programme was aimed at terrorism suspects deemed "high value targets"." "Syria is a new front in a spreading campaign of secret operations and drone strikes that already encompasses Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and parts of North Africa." "The programme has accounted for only a handful of strikes so far, a tiny fraction of the more than 2450 conducted in Iraq and Syria in the past year. That broader US-led assault has relied on conventional bombs to dislodge Isis from territory it has seized."

[earthpledge]

After 13 years of a failed war, this is the state of affairs in this country. "A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday as lawmakers met to consider a new defence minister, and another district in the volatile north fell to the militants as they intensified a summer offensive. The brazen assault on the symbolic centre of power, along with territorial gains elsewhere, highlight how NATO-trained Afghan security forces are struggling to cope with worsening militant violence. Fighting has spiralled since the departure of most foreign forces from Afghanistan at the end of last year. The insurgents are pushing to take territory more than 13 years after U.S.-led military intervention toppled them from power. Monday's attack began as lawmakers met with the new acting defence minister, Masoom Stanikzai. He is the third candidate so far for the key security post, and his appointment must be confirmed by parliament. A Taliban fighter detonated a car loaded with explosives outside parliament gates, said Ebadullah Karimi, spokesman for Kabul police, raising questions about how the driver got through several security checkpoints. Six gunmen took up positions in a building near parliament, he said, but never breached the compound's gates. Essa Khan, a soldier inside the parliamentary compound when the attack took place, said he shot dead three militants as they tried to storm inside before killing the rest in a prolonged gunbattle that also involved other troops. "Everywhere there was smoke and dust," Khan told Reuters. "I knew that it was the Taliban from the first moment. I grabbed this gun and shot three of them dead," added the 28-year-old, whose actions have played prominently on Afghan media in a rare PR success for the beleaguered armed forces. Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said all lawmakers were safe. TV pictures showed the speaker sitting calmly and legislators leaving the building, engulfed in dust and smoke, without panicking. A woman was killed and around 30 civilians were wounded in the attack, according to Rahimi. He said the assailants were armed with assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades. Some lawmakers' bodyguards fired sporadically during the attack, hampering the response by Afghan forces, he added."

[earthpledge]

"The number of gun deaths in the United States in 2015 is projected to reach, by one estimate, 33,000. That’s more than 11 September 11s in a single year. Even the number of incidents in the New America report involving gunfire—68 of the 74 deaths—shrinks in comparison to the annual toll of gun violence. Yet there’s far more political will to address terrorism than guns. Gun violence also offers a more concrete target than “terrorism”—a conflicted term, loaded with meanings and disagreements, but abstract by any definition. (If guns don’t kill people, as the old slogan has it, it must be true that terrorism doesn’t either.) That hasn’t stopped anti-terrorism legislation, but gun-control legislation is frequently criticized as overly broad or too diffuse." "...the figures in this report make a compelling case for Americans to reconsider what constitutes the largest terrorist threat—and to place that threat in perspective against the much larger threat of gun violence writ large."

[earthpledge]

As well-publicized bouts of violence, from civil war to suicide bombings, plague the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, concern about Islamic extremism is high

“Majorities in most of the nations polled are concerned about extremism. And in most Middle Eastern countries, concern about extremism has increased in the past year.In Lebanon, which shares a long border with conflict-ridden Syria, 92% of the public is worried about Islamic extremism, up 11 points from the already high figure of 81% in 2013. Lebanese Christians (95%), Shia Muslims (95%) and Sunni Muslims (86%) all share high levels of concern.

Eight-in-ten in Tunisia express anxiety about extremism in their country, up from 71% in 2013 and 65% in 2012. Three-quarters in Egypt are also concerned, slightly increased from the 69% measured in 2013.In the Palestinian territories, 65% worry about extremism, with much greater concern in the Gaza Strip (79%) than in the West Bank (57%).

Concerns have increased significantly over the last two years in Jordan and Turkey, both of which share a border with Syria. Roughly six-in-ten Jordanians (62%) are concerned about extremism in their country, up 13 percentage points since 2012. Just half of Turks hold this view, but this is up 18 percentage points from two years ago.

More than eight-in-ten Israelis (84%) express worries about Islamic extremism, although this view is more common among Israeli Jews (87%) than among Israeli Arabs (66%).

In Asia, strong majorities in Bangladesh (69%), Pakistan (66%) and Malaysia (63%) are concerned about Islamic extremism. However, in Indonesia, only about four-in-ten (39%) share this view, down from 48% in 2013.In Nigeria, 72% of the public is concerned about Islamic extremism, similar to the seven-in-ten who said this in last year’s survey, before the most recent spate of terrorist attacks and kidnappings in its northern provinces. Both Nigerian Muslims (76%) and Nigerian Christians (69%) express high levels of concern.Only 46% Senegalese are worried about extremism, down from the three-quarters registered in 2013 when unrest in neighboring Mali led to fears about extremists crossing the border. (In fact, 91% of Senegalese approved of France’s intervention against anti-government rebels in Mali, the highest support for the military action among the African and Middle Eastern nations surveyed).”

[earthpledge]

"Should 55% of the federal government's discretionary spending go to the military and only 3% to transportation when the toll in American lives is far greater from failing infrastructure than from terrorism?"

[earthpledge]

"A new study says that Israelis and Palestinians would gain billions of dollars from peace. The RAND Corp. study published Monday indicates over the next decade Israelis would gain $120 billion from a peace deal. The Palestinians would gain $50 billion, marking a 36-percent rise in their average per-capita income. In contrast, a return to violence would see the Israeli economy lose some $250 billion in foregone economic opportunities, while the Palestinians could see their per-capita gross domestic product fall by as much as 46 percent. The findings are in line with long-time arguments that peace is in the economic interest of both sides."