NYCLAW: NYC Labor Against the War
Fri Jul 4, 2008 2:17 pm (PDT)
New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) Digest
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End the Occupation of Iraq — Bring the Troops Home Now
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AFGHANISTAN
U.S.-LED AIR RAID KILLS 22 AFGHAN CIVILIANS
“The civilians were evacuating the district as they were told by the U.S.-led troops to do so because they wanted to launch an operation against the Taliban,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-afghan-violence.html
2,200 MARINES’ AFGHAN TOUR EXTENDED
The Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after insisting for months the unit would come home on time. . . . In the last two months, the violence in Afghanistan has led to more U.S. and coalition casualties there than in Iraq, and June was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began in late 2001.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan4-2008jul04,0,4406004.story
US VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFGHANISTAN
The war on terror has led to widespread civilian deaths, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA and other foreign intelligence agencies. These foreign intelligence units “operate” with “impunity” in Afghanistan.
www.mainstreamweekly.net/article779.html
ANTIWAR LABOR
SHIPPING COMPANIES FILE CHARGES OVER MAY DAY ANTI-WAR STRIKE
The longshore action on International Workers Day was the first ever US strike against war, closed all 29 West Coast ports and inspired a solidarity stoppage in the Iraqi Port of Basra. The PMA claims it constituted an “unlawful secondary boycott”.
http://libcom.org/news/shipping-companies-file-charges-over-may-day-anti-war-strike-02072008
IRAQ
OBAMA MAY CONSIDER SLOWING IRAQ WITHDRAWAL
Sen. Barack Obama raised the possibility of slowing a promised gradual, 16-month withdrawal from Iraq if he is elected president, saying that Thursday he will consult with military commanders on an upcoming trip to the region and “continue to refine” his proposals. . . . Obama’s comments on Thursday capped a shift in tone that has been occurring since June, and it fit with his broader efforts to appeal to moderate and independent voters. Throughout the past week, Obama has been stressing values as he journeyed through conservative regions of swing states: patriotism in Independence, Mo.; faith-based social services in rural Ohio; and service in Colorado Springs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/03/AR2008070303919.html
THE REAL STATE OF IRAQ
By now, summer of 2008, excess deaths from violence in Iraq since March of 2003 must be at least a million. . . . Only, the US is 11 times more populous than Iraq, so 310,000 Iraqi corpses would equal 3.4 million dead Americans. So proportionally it would be like firebombing to death everyone in Chicago.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20157.htm
NYT IRAQ WAR ‘DEBATE’ EXCLUDES CRITICS
The New York Times’ “Week in Review” has now offered two panels of opinion on the Iraq War—one on March 16 pondering the fifth anniversary of the invasion, the other on May 4 commemorating George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech—that completely excluded the views of those who opposed the war in 2003.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3567
THE ERA OF OIL WARS
The US maintains 737 military bases in 130 countries under cover of the “war on terror” to defend American economic interests, particularly access to oil. The principal objective for the continued existence and expansion of Nato post-cold war is the encirclement of Russia and the pre-emption of China dominating access to oil and gas in the Caspian Sea and Middle East regions. It is only the beginning of the unannounced titanic global resource struggle between the US and China, the world’s largest importers of oil (China overtook Japan in 2003).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/29/oil.oilandgascompanies
IRAN
AUGUST 2: DEMOS IN NYC AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO STOP WAR ON IRAN
From the anti-war movement and all movements for social change, to religious and grassroots organizations, unions and schools, let us join forces to demand “No war on Iran, U.S. out of Iraq, Money for human needs not war! ”
http://stopwaroniran.org/aug2.shtml
EX-AGENT SAYS CIA IGNORED IRAN FACTS
A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063001940.html
PALESTINE
FLIGHT: PALESTINIAN GROUP ASKS SNOOP DOGG TO CANCEL ISRAEL CONCERT
How can an artist whose name is prominently associated with this form of popular and freedom based musical expression, rap, be apathetic to the monstrosity of Israel’s current war crimes in Gaza, its Apartheid Wall, declared illegal by the International Court of Justice at the Hague, or it’s continued violation of fundamental Palestinian rights?
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=782_0_1_0_C
10-YEAR-OLD SUBJECTED TO TORTURE BY ISRAELI SOLDIERS
A 10-year-old boy was subjected to physical abuse amounting to torture for 2.5 hours by Israeli soldiers who stormed his family’s shop on 11 June, seeking information on the location of a handgun. The boy was repeatedly beaten, slapped and punched in the head and stomach, forced to hold a stress position for half and hour, and threatened. He was deeply shocked and lost two molar teeth as a result of the assault.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=811&CategoryId=1
PALESTINIANS WHO APPROACH GAZA FENCE WILL BE SHOT, SAYS IDF
Earlier this week the United Nations sources reported eight cease-fire violations by Israel. Most of these violations apparently consisted of Israeli troops firing at people who approached the fence. The information relies mainly on Palestinian accounts. . . . Throughout the second intifada Israel declared areas along the fence as “security zones.” Soldiers were instructed to fire warning shots at people approaching the fence, and for certain periods were allowed to shoot even at unarmed people.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/997897.html
ISRAELI DOCTORS COMPLICIT IN TORTURE -RIGHTS GROUPFIGHT
Palestinian prisoners undergo medical examinations before, during and after their interrogation, but doctors in detention facilities fail to report such symptoms, making them complicit in “prisoner torture”, the PHR said in a statement.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26620681.htm
DISMANTLING ISRAEL’S RACIST INFRASTRUCTURE IS THE KEY TO PEACE IN MIDDLE EAST
Separation will always require threats or actual violence; a genuine peace will come not with more separation, but with the right to return to a land in which all can live as equals. Only a single democratic, secular and multicultural state offers that hope to Israelis and Palestinians, to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/smakdisi20080626
