US-AFGHANISTAN: Bagram, Worse Than Guantanamo?

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

By William Fisher

NEW YORK, Jan 12 (IPS) – While millions know that the administration of George W. Bush has left Barack Obama with the job of closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, relatively few are aware that the new president will also face a similar but far larger dilemma 7,000 miles away.

That dilemma is what to do with what has become known as “the other GITMO” — the U.S.-controlled military prison at Bagram Air Base near Kabul in Afghanistan — and the estimated 600-700 detainees now held there.

The “other GITMO” was set up by the U.S. military as a temporary screening site after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan overthrew the Taliban. It currently houses more than three times as many prisoners as are still held at Guantanamo.

Bush: I Personally Authorized Torture Of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Fox News Sunday, President Bush admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He said he personally asked “what tools” were available to use on him, and sought legal approval for waterboarding him:

BUSH: One such person who gave us information was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. … And I’m in the Oval Office and I am told that we have captured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the professionals believe he has information necessary to secure the country. So I ask what tools are available for us to find information from him and they gave me a list of tools, and I said are these tools deemed to be legal? And so we got legal opinions before any decision was made.

Watch it: video

Bush staunchly defended the program, saying it saved American lives — despite interrogators’ claims to the contrary. He waved away the debate over torture by saying dismissively, “Look, I understand why people can get carried away on this issue.”

Last year, Bush admitted that he was “aware” that his national security team met to discuss KSM’s interrogation, and that he approved of the meeting. His admission today suggests Bush had a far more direct role in developing the specific torture program, which included waterboarding, a freezing cell, and long periods of standing and stress positions (all of which have long been considered torture).

What’s more, a former Pentagon intelligence analyst told Vanity Fair that “K.S.M. produced no actionable intelligence“; another former CIA official, who read all the reports from KSM’s interrogation, said, “90 percent of it was total f*cking bullsh*t.”

source: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/11/bush-authorized-torture/

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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

BOYCOTT STARBUCKS

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

September 27, 2006 8:51 PM

Howard Shultz, the chairman of Starbucks is an active zionist.

In 1998 he was honoured by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah with “The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award” for his services to the zionist state in “playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel”. The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah funds israeli arms fairs chaired by the butcher of Jenin – General Shaul Mofaz, and the zionist propaganda website honestreporting.com.[1]

Howard Shultz,
Chairman of Starbucks

His work as a propagandist for Israel has been praised by the Israeli Foreign Ministry as being key to Israel’s long-term PR success [2].

Recently whilst the Israeli army was slaughtering Palestinians in Jenin, Nabulus and Bethlehem he made a provocative speech blaming the Palestinians of terrorism, suggesting the intifada was a manifestation of anti- Semitism, and asked people to unite behind Israel [3].

At a time when other businesses were desperately pulling out of Israel, Starbucks decided to help Israel’s floundering economy and invest in Israel – a joint venture with Israeli conglomerate Delek Group for Starbucks outlets in Israel ( Shalom Coffee Co).[4][5][6]. A bad business decision – Starbucks made heavy losses and in April 2003 Starbucks were forced to announced that all 6 Starbucks cafes in Israel will be shut down and its partnership with Delek end.[14]

It has been revealed that Starbucks still continues to support Israel by sponsoring fund raisers for Israel.[15]

See [11] for suggested action against Starbucks..

Oxfam has misguidedly partnered with Starbucks in return for £100,000 – please support our “Campaign Against Oxfam Agreement with Starbucks“.

Starbucks fully supports Bush’s war of terror and has opened a Starbucks in Afghanistan for the US invaders – they like to do there bit to help the occupation.[17]

source: http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=9074&pst=577682
http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-starbucks.html

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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Interbrand Magazine lists Starbucks as one of 25 great global brands in the 21st century

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Interbrand Magazine lists Starbucks as one of 25 great global brands in the 21st century

One of “100 Best Corporate Citizens” – Business Ethics Magazine – 2000

“Best Cup-O-Joe” – KING-TV’s Evening Magazine, “Best of Western Washington” edition – 1998, 1999 and 2000

“Corporate Citizenship Award” for varied community service programs – Citizen’s Fund – April 19, 2000

One of “The 100 Best Companies to Work For” – Fortune – 1998, 1999 and 2000

Ranked the “Number One Restaurant Chain,” in Tokyo, Japan — Nikkei Restaurant magazine — July 2000

“National Leadership Award” for philanthropic and educational efforts to battle AIDS – AIDS Action, Washington, D.C., – April 5, 1999

“The Pacific Northwest Good Works Education Award” for regional businesses which give back to local communities – KCTS-TV, Seattle, – February 18, 1999

Howard Schultz presented with “The Business Leader of the Year Award” – Georgetown University School of Business – November 14, 1998

Howard Schultz presented with “The Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award” – The Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah – August 27, 1998

One of“The Best Companies to Work For in America for People with Disabilities” – We Magazine – May 24, 1997

“The Stafford Award for Corporate Leadership” in recognition of the company’s sensitive reuse of older spaces within cities – Scenic America – May 13, 1997

“Living and Giving Award” for significant contributions made in support of diabetes research – Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Greater Seattle – March 22, 1997

Frappuccino® blended beverage recognized as one of “The Best New Products” of 1996 – Business Week – January 13, 1997

1996 Corporate Conscience Award for International Human Rights – Council on Economic Priorities – June 4, 1996

1996 International Humanitarian Award – CARE – May 10, 1996

1996 American Business Ethics Award – American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters and Chartered Financial Consultants – March 7, 1996

Business Enterprise Trust Award for innovative benefits plan – December 6, 1994 source: http://web.archive.org/web/20010502093522/www.starbucks.com/aboutus/recognition.asp?cookie_test=1

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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Starbucks CEO Calls Himself ‘an Active Zionist,’ but Can You Find It Anywhere on the Web?

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

WASHINGTON, 4 August 2006 — It started out as an Internet parody of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz thanking customers for supporting Starbucks and Israel. The spoof read, in part: “I want to thank you for making Starbucks the $6.4 billion global company it is today… Every latte you drink at Starbucks is a contribution to the close alliance between the United States and Israel, in fact it is — as I was assured when being honored with the “Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award” — key to Israel’s long-term PR success. Your daily frappucino helps pay for student projects in North America and Israel, presenting them with the badly needed Israeli perspective of the Intifada.” This parody caught fire throughout the Middle East. But, was it true? And how much of Starbucks does Schultz own.?

ALPHABETIZED BOYCOTT LIST OF ISRAELI CORPORATIONS/AFFILIATES and BANKING INSTITUTION …

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

ALPHABETIZED BOYCOTT LIST OF ISRAELI CORPORATIONS/AFFILIATES and BANKING INSTITUTION … TO E-MAIL/PRINT OUT & PASS OUT

Posted by Cee Miracles on January 14, 2009 at 12:31am

As a convenience for e-mails, print-outs/pass-outs, I alphabetized the Boycott labels/products/services.

If you know of others, let us all know, so we can add them to the list. [See list below.]

Also boycotting Israeli-related banking institutions, investment firms, mortgage lenders, credit cards can be very effective and influence choices in the U.S./Israel/United Kingdom/Europe/India/Mid-east/Asia/Australia/South America — obviously everywhere.

If where you do your financial business is Israeli-related, withdraw your money and handle your financial business elsewhere. Find out who is the “parent” bank of whatever branch, investment or mortgage firm you are dealing with and choose accordingly [See list below.] or find alternatives or hide your money under your mattress or in a container in the ground. /cm

APPEAL FROM NEW MUSLIMS TO “ALL UMMATHUL ISLAM” TO BOYCOT PRODUCT OF ENIMIES

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

APPEAL FROM NEW MUSLIMS TO “ALL UMMATHUL ISLAM” TO BOYCOT PRODUCT OF ENIMIES

1. The Chairman and CEO of  STARBUCKS, Howard Schultz, is an active Zionist.

In 1998 he was honored by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah with “The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award” for his services to the Zionist state in “playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel”..
At a time when other businesses were desperately pulling out of Israel, Starbucks decided to help Israel’s floundering economy and invest in Israel.
It has been revealed that Starbucks still continues to support Israel by sponsoring fund raisers for Israel.
Starbucks fully supports Bush’s war of terror and has opened a Starbucks in Afghanistan for the US invaders – they like to do there bit to help the occupation.

Israel may face UN court ruling on legality of Gaza conflict

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Afua Hirsch, legal affairs correspondent

The Guardian, Wednesday 14 January 2009

Israel faces the prospect of intervention by international courts amid growing calls that its actions in Gaza are a violation of world humanitarian and criminal law.

The UN general assembly, which is meeting this week to discuss the issue, will consider requesting an advisory opinion from the international court of justice, the Guardian has learned.

“There is a well-grounded view that both the initial attacks on Gaza and the tactics being used by Israel are serious violations of the UN charter, the Geneva conventions, international law and international humanitarian law,” said Richard Falk, the UN’s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories and professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University.

“There is a consensus among independent legal experts that Israel is an occupying power and is therefore bound by the duties set out in the fourth Geneva convention,” Falk added. “The arguments that Israel’s blockade is a form of prohibited collective punishment, and that it is in breach of its duty to ensure the population has sufficient food and healthcare as the occupying power, are very strong.”

Kuwaiti MPs Says Abbas ‘Not Welcome’ at Eco Summit

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

13/01/2009 A group of 21 Kuwaiti MPs said on Tuesday that former Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term expired on January 9, was “not welcome” at a planned Arab economic summit next week in Kuwait City, criticizing his response to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. The deputies in the 50-member house rejected his visit for the summit due to start on Monday as “undesirable”. Abbas has shown “negative and weak stances over the Zionist onslaught on the Palestinian people besieged in Gaza,” the deputies said in a statement, urging the government to declare his visit to the oil-rich country as “unwanted”. The 18-day-old Israeli offensive has killed more tha

source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=70115&language=en

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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Warsaw Poland WWII 1944 Gaza Palestine today 2009

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

You want to stop terrorism do not participate in it.when you occupy land of the Palestinian they have all the right to rezist. Like Polish peole rezist Hitler and Stallin. It is time we all stood up to the liars in our media and in our congress, senate and in the White House and say, No more, no more—Israel must stop this barbarism, this Hitlerian behavior or must be condemned and cut off from any aid from the United States and its allies in the world. If we do any less, then we are complicituous in this new holocaust, and no parades, moral duty to stand up and demand this stop.

Rising – The Forgotten Soldiers of WWII 1944 Gaza Palestine today 2009

By Lech Alex Bajan – Jan 13th, 2009 at 12:40 pm EST

RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY, 30 July 2007 — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday announced a new $30 billion US defense aid package to preserve Israel’s regional military superiority, as he appreciated Washington’s wishes to boost moderate Arab states through weapons sales.

“This is an increase of 25 percent for the military aid to Israel from the United States. I think this is a significant and important increase in defense aid to Israel,” Olmert said at the opening of the weekly Israeli Cabinet meeting.

Olmert added that the aid package was offered during his meeting with US President George W. Bush in Washington on June 20.

“This would mean a lot to Israel’s security, and this is a good opportunity to thank President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,” Olmert said.

Hear, O Israel!!

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Stefano Sarfati Nahmad

Jan 13, 2009 Hear, Hear O Israel! You have massacred infants and blamed their parents for it saying that they used them as shields. I can think of nothing, nothing more disgraceful. Only in the space of a generation, in the name of that suffering, you have caused suffering to others: you have hermetically sealed them in a territory, and you started to slaughter them with the most sophisticated of arms, indestructible armoured tanks, state-of-the-art helicopters brightening the night-time sky as if it were day, to strike them more efficiently. But 668 dead Palestinians and 4 dead Israelis is not a victory, it’s just a defeat for you and for humanity as a whole.

Israel Fakes Rocket-Fire Fatalities in Order to Launch Offensive Against Palestinians

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Friday, January 09, 2009

For years there were no fatalities in Israel from the thousands of rockets fired over the border from Gaza, but after the Israeli Defense Forces launched a major offensive on December 27th against the Hamas militants responsible for the missiles, suddenly Hamas “got lucky,” killing four people in Israel in three days.

But—Cui bono—it was Israel who needed Jewish fatalities to justify its aggression against the Palestinians of Gaza, and I submit an examination of the public record, along with a little common sense, will prove that Israel either faked these deaths or was actually responsible for the killings themselves.

In an interview with the Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua conducted by Todd Hasak-Lowy, a professor of modern Hebrew literature at the University of Florida, and first published at JBooks.com in June 2006. The deeply sensitive and aware Yehoshua said:

“Saddam Hussein’s 40 Scuds in the Gulf War and all the Kassem rockets that have been fired at Israel since the withdrawal from Gaza haven’t killed a single Israeli civilian.”

I had suspected that this, or something close to it, was the truth, but I lacked the ability to verify the fact, or the moral or intellectual authority to express it to any purpose. But what I could help with is acting lessons.

An Israeli perspective is found on a timeline put out by the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C., which says that “since December 27, four Israelis have been killed by rocket and mortar fire from Gaza.”

Dec 27, 2008 - Beber Vaknin, 58, of Netivot was killed when a rocket fired from Gaza hit an apartment building in Netivot.Dec 29, 2008 - Hani al-Mahdi, 27, of Aroar, a Beduin settlement in the Negev was killed when a Grad-type missile fired from Gaza exploded at a construction site in Ashkelon. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Dec 29, 2008 – Irit Sheetrit, 39, of Ashdod was killed and several wounded when a Grad rocket exploded in the center of Ashdod. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

Dec 29, 2008 - Warrant Officer Lutfi Nasraladin, 38, of the Druze town of Daliat el-Carmel was killed by a mortar attack on a military base near Nahal Oz.

Israeli politician calls for nuclear strike on Gaza

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Ma’an news

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Right-wing Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman proposed a “solution” to the war in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday saying, “Israel won’t be secure so long as Hamas is in power, and therefore we need to come to a decision that we will break the will of Hamas to keep fighting.”

“We must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II,” Lieberman added.

According to reports in Israeli media, he said the US nuclear strikes had rendered an “occupation of the country … unnecessary.”

Avigdor Lieberman, a member of parliament and the chairman of the Israel Beiteinu party, was speaking at at Bar-Ilan University.

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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

IS ISRAEL EXECUTING HAMAS AND PALESTINIAN PRISONERS? WHO IS DOCUMENTING THE ISRAELI WARCRIMES?

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative and Qaddoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, have recently inferred that Palestinian prisoners taken by the Israelis are being executed after capture during the present invasion. There seems to be many unaccounted for fighters who Mr Fares says “…gives the army the opportunity to execute them, throw their bodies in the streets, and claim that they were killed in during clashes”.

These are very grave accusations and, if true, amount to extremely serious war crimes being perpetrated, not as some spontaneous reaction by frustrated soldiers, which is bad enough in itself if they were being executed summararily immediately after capture, but as an organised and pre-planned deliberate action that was conceived by at least high-ranking officers and could go all the way up to the Prime Minister certainly to Barak the Defence Minister and Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Israeli Defence forces.

Gaza clinics destroyed by raids

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

Israeli warplanes have attacked two fully equipped medical clinics in Gaza, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage, the Christian organisations which fund them reported yesterday. The Catholic relief group Caritas said its clinic in the al-Meghazi area of Gaza had been “completely destroyed” by a missile on Friday, and that 20 nearby homes had been damaged. Because local families had already fled their homes, no one was hurt, Caritas said, but equipment worth $10,000 (£6,700) was lost.

Twenty-fours later, another clinic funded by Christian Aid was also demolished in an air strike; it followed a telephone warning to the building’s owners to leave within 15 minutes. Janet Symes, Christian Aid’s head of Middle East Region, said the clinic had “standing room” only for mothers bringing their children for check-ups when she visited it last year. She added: “Now the whole clinic lies in ruins.”

Little more than a sixth of the 1,200 Egyptian hospital beds being reserved for injured Palestinians have been filled, despite estimates that more than 4,000 have been wounded. With a World Health Organisation report saying that Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital remains “overwhelmed”, the dangers of evacuating patients through southern Gaza have severely reduced the flow of patients to hospitals in Egypt. The Red Cross has decided to keep its evacuations under review after one of its lorries was shot at by Israeli troops.

source:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-clinics-destroyed-by-raids-1332022.html

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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW