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Tag: Endless War

Foreign Policy ‘Hypocrisy’: Canada Becomes Second-Largest Weapons Exporter To Middle East
August 6, 2015. A city street in Sa'ada, Yemen lies in ruins after heavy bombing by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia. (Flickr / United Nations OCHA)
June 24, 2016
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Foreign Policy ‘Hypocrisy’: Canada Becomes Second-Largest Weapons Exporter To Middle East

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite its reputation as our less war-inclined neighbor to the north, Canada has become second only to the United States in weapons exports to the Middle East.

The increase in military equipment and weapons sales was noted by IHS Jane’s in its annual “Global Defence Trade Report,” published June 13 by IHS, Inc., a corporate data analysis think tank.

“Canada is the second-largest exporter of defence equipment to the Middle East with $2.7 billion in sales, moving the UK down the table to fourth place, just behind France,” IHS reported in a press release.

Read moreForeign Policy ‘Hypocrisy’: Canada Becomes Second-Largest Weapons Exporter To Middle East
‘A Fig Leaf For The Occupation’: Israeli Human Rights Group Ends Cooperation With Israeli Military
Palestinian volunteers with the B’Tselem human rights organization learn how to use video cameras to document the actions of the IDF and Israeli settlers in the West Bank, in 2014. (B'Tselem)
June 3, 2016
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‘A Fig Leaf For The Occupation’: Israeli Human Rights Group Ends Cooperation With Israeli Military

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

An Israeli NGO that protects the human rights of Palestinians announced last month that it would cease cooperating with the Israeli military in investigating soldiers’ crimes.

Founded in 1989, B’Tselem is dedicated to “promoting a future where all Israelis and Palestinians will live in freedom and dignity.”

One of the group’s major activities is exposing murders and other war crimes by members of the Israeli military assigned to enforce the country’s apartheid policies against the indigenous Palestinian population, including restrictions on freedom of movement. After collecting evidence of crimes against Palestinians, often through hidden cameras and other surveillance technologies, the group seeks legal justice for the victims.

“Ever since B’Tselem was established more than 25 years ago, it has applied to the Military Advocate General Corps (MAG Corps) regarding hundreds of incidents in which Palestinians were harmed by soldiers, demanding the incidents be investigated,” wrote B’Tselem in “The Occupation’s Fig Leaf: Israel’s Military Law Enforcement System as a Whitewash Mechanism,” a report issued May 25.

Read more‘A Fig Leaf For The Occupation’: Israeli Human Rights Group Ends Cooperation With Israeli Military
Remember The ‘Used & Betrayed’ Veterans Subjected To Horrific Experimentation
File: An unidentified Canadian soldier with mustard gas burns, photographed during World War I. (Wikimedia Commons)
May 30, 2016
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Remember The ‘Used & Betrayed’ Veterans Subjected To Horrific Experimentation

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Every Memorial Day, American leaders make passionate speeches about their love and admiration for the sacrifices made by the country’s brave military veterans.

“There’s no phrase U.S. politicians love more than ‘support the troops,’” journalist Abby Martin declared on a recent episode of her show, “The Empire Files.”

Yet, as Martin noted, “A dark hidden history shows that [politicians are] no friend to service members, but rather their greatest enemy. An easy way to prove this is to look at how quickly they abandon their soldiers after ruining their lives, even after using them as literal lab rats.”

Read moreRemember The ‘Used & Betrayed’ Veterans Subjected To Horrific Experimentation
Come To Guantanamo & See The Iguanas: Snowden Files Offer Glimpse Inside NSA Culture
A captive is escorted by two guards in Guantanamo Bay detention camp on December 2007. (Navy / Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Billings / Wikimedia)
May 25, 2016
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Come To Guantanamo & See The Iguanas: Snowden Files Offer Glimpse Inside NSA Culture

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Water skiing in the morning, supervising the torture of a prisoner of the global war on terror in the afternoon — that’s just a typical day for National Security Agency personnel.

That’s one of the many glimpses of National Security Agency life found in newly released documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden’s leaks, which reveal the NSA’s intimate involvement with Guantanamo Bay interrogations and the Iraq War, as well as the dramatically increased demand for intelligence after 9/11.

On May 16, The Intercept released 166 new documents from the thousands leaked by Snowden, comprising a partial archive of an internal electronic newsletter called SIDtoday.

In an introduction to the release, Peter Maass describes the publication as resembling a “small-town newsletter” for the Signals Intelligence Directorate, one of the most important departments within the NSA. SIDtoday opens a window into the NSA’s internal corporate culture, and because they were written purely for NSA employees, the documents include some surprisingly candid disclosures about employees’ actions around the world from an underground bunker in Belgium to Guantanamo Bay and the Middle East.

Read moreCome To Guantanamo & See The Iguanas: Snowden Files Offer Glimpse Inside NSA Culture
After Iraq War, Monsanto, Cargill & Dow Chemical Took Over Iraqi Agriculture
U.S. Army Soldiers patrol through farm land during a combined mission with Iraqi Army near Yusufiyah, Iraq, April 21, 2007. (Flickr / U.S. Army / Staff Sgt. Martin K. Newton)
May 23, 2016
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After Iraq War, Monsanto, Cargill & Dow Chemical Took Over Iraqi Agriculture

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In the aftermath of the Iraq War, Iraq’s seed and agriculture industry was destroyed by U.S. corporations, with the aid of the U.S. government.

In May 2003, after the war officially ended, U.S. diplomat Paul Bremer became the head of the occupational authority, essentially controlling Iraq’s government. He issued 100 orders that set the strategy for rebuilding efforts, including Order 81, “Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law.”

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, a physician and environmental activist, explained the devastating impact of this order in a 2008 speech.

“Before 2003 they had a well functioning, centrally-controlled seed industry that had developed over the years a rich seed variety for almost variation of wheat in the world today,” she said.

Read moreAfter Iraq War, Monsanto, Cargill & Dow Chemical Took Over Iraqi Agriculture
US Debates The Draft’s Future As House Committee Votes To Include Women
A female soldier with the Minnesota National Guard buttons her chin strap before heading out on a mission on May 13, 2006 in Iraq. (Flickr / Minnesota National Guard)
April 29, 2016
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US Debates The Draft’s Future As House Committee Votes To Include Women

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The House Armed Services Committee voted on Wednesday to require women to register for the draft.

Virtually all men living in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday. However, amid calls for the military to open all jobs to all genders, some have argued that the draft should also become more inclusive.

Duncan D. Hunter, a Republican representative from California, filed an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that would also require women to register with the Selective Service, the government agency which maintains records of who is eligible for military conscription.

“Right now the draft is sexist,” he said, according to The Washington Post on April 28.

Read moreUS Debates The Draft’s Future As House Committee Votes To Include Women