I’m for peace. I’ve yet to see a man wake up in the morning and say “I’ve just had a good war.”
— Mae West
Category: War And Peace
bookmark_borderBombing Of Tokyo
On March 10, 1945, the United States sent 334 B-29 bombers to raid Japan with 279 of the planes dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. Approximately 15.8 square miles of the city was destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died.
Operation Meetinghouse — “The bombs were mostly the 500-pound E-46 cluster bombs which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2,000–2,500 ft. The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground; in either case they ignited 3–5 seconds later, throwing out a jet of flaming napalm globs.” (Wikipedia)
bookmark_borderCopyrights And Patents
by Daniel Brouse
Though copyrights and patents are generally thought to protect the creator from the public, sometimes they may be thought to protect the public from the creator.
A copyright offers protection to literary and musical works. In the United States a copyright’s duration is usually for the life of the author plus 70 years. The laws vary from country to country. Mein Kampf is a book written by Adolf Hitler while he was in prison. When Hitler died, the rights passed to the Bavarian authorities. Some people consider Mein Kampf to be the most dangerous book ever written. The expiration of the copyright is in December 2015. “The Bavarians have used copyright to control republication of Mein Kampf but that control is coming to an end – what happens next? This is still a dangerous book – there are issues with neo-Nazis, and a danger of people misinterpreting it if it’s not put into context,” says John Murphy, whose grandfather translated the first unabridged English language version in 1936.
In the United States, a utility patents’ term is 20 years. Monsanto says, “The first-generation Roundup Ready® soybean trait – the world’s most widely adopted biotech trait, planted by farmers on billions of acres since 1996 — comes off patent in 2015.”
bookmark_borderTorture = Enhanced Interrogation Techniques
The United States’ Senate Intelligence Committee released a 6,000 page report detailing how the CIA tortured prisoners at Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib. A 480 page summary gives a troubling overview. The BBC reports:
- Were the interrogation methods – torture if you like – more extensive and more brutal than previously admitted? It looks like the conclusion is “Yes”
- Did these interrogation techniques deliver life-saving intelligence to the US? That answer appears to be “No”
- Were CIA officials at the time honest with the White House about the program? Again, “No”
Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, referred to “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” as torture.
bookmark_borderKing Richard III
The BBC reports on King Richard III:
- Richard was born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire
- His coronation took place in Westminster Abbey in 1483
- Richard had one of the shortest reigns in British history – 26 months
- He was the last English king to die in battle, killed at Bosworth in 1485
King Richard III was probably killed by two blows to the head during a “sustained attack”, according to new scientific research. Forensic teams studied the skeleton to determine the nature of the injuries and weapons that were used.
The English king was killed at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August, 1485.
Forensic teams at the University of Leicester have now revealed he suffered at least 11 injuries, some possibly inflicted after death.
CT scans were used on his 500-year-old skeleton to help determine his injuries and the medieval weapons used.
His remains were found under a car park in Leicester in 2012.
The results of forensic analysis, published in The Lancet, show he had nine wounds to the skull and two to the postcranial skeleton.
Researchers said three of these “had the potential to cause death quickly”.
Sarah Hainsworth, study author and professor of materials engineering, said: “Richard’s injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants with weapons from the later medieval period.
“Wounds to the skull suggest he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive wounds on his arms and hands indicate he was still armoured at the time of his death.”
Guy Rutty, from the East Midlands pathology unit, said the two fatal injuries to the skull were likely to have been caused by a sword, a staff weapon such as halberd or bill, or the tip of an edged weapon.
He said: “Richard’s head injuries are consistent with some near-contemporary accounts of the battle, which suggest Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies.”
Investigators said they believed damage to the pelvis was caused by a thin dagger stabbed into the buttocks. While this injury could in theory have caused fatal bleeding, it was unlikely to have been the cause of death as Richard’s armour would have protected this part of the body.
They suggested this wound, along with another to a rib, was likely to have been inflicted after death, possibly when the body was slung over a horse.
Researchers said there could have been more wounds to soft tissue which left no trace on the skeleton.
King Richard’s skeleton is due to be reinterred at Leicester Cathedral in March.
bookmark_borderWar Declared
Washington DC — On September 10, 2014 between 9PM and 9:15PM, President Obama declared war on the Islamic State (ISIS).
“Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy.”
Critics raised debate on the irony of Obama going into Iraq after his position on getting out of Iraq.
bookmark_borderFranz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914. Franz Ferdinand was the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination started the chain of events that led to World War I.
His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia or Serbia’s allies) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.
— Wikipedia
World War I lasted until November 11, 1918. 9 million soldiers died in the war.
In 2002, a Scottish Indie band was formed that took the name Franz Ferdinand. “Mainly we just liked the way it sounded,” says Bob Hardy (bass guitar). “We liked the alliteration.” “He was an incredible figure as well,” continues Alex Kapranos (lead vocals). “His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world and that is what we want our music to be. But I don’t want to over-intellectualize the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good … like music.” Paul Thomson (drums) offered, “I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure”
bookmark_borderRussia, Ukraine, Crimea and the USA
A couple of interesting facts:
1) On March 29, 1867, Stoeckl informed Secretary of State William Henry Seward that the Czar had agreed to sell Russian interests in Alaska to the United States.
2) In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave Ukraine a gift: Crimea.
bookmark_borderThe *White Army* Militia Marches
SOUTH SUDAN, AFRICA — A group of armed militants is marching to fight in the growing crisis in South Sudan. The White Army is named from the white ash used to cover their bodies. They are a group of disgruntled young and under-employed men.
The Washington Post reports, “Twenty-five thousand young men who make up a tribal militia known as the “White Army” are marching toward a contested state capital in South Sudan, an official said Saturday, dimming hopes for a cease-fire.”
However, the BBC reports that the group is not made up of a tribe or ethnic group.
Wikipedia defines the White Army as follows: The Nuer White Army, sometimes decapitalised as the “white army”, is a semi-official name for a militant organisation formed by the Nuer people of central and eastern Greater Upper Nile in modern-day South Sudan as early as 1991. According to the Small Arms Survey, it arose from the 1991 schism within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) for the dual purpose of defending Nuer cattle herds from neighbouring groups and fighting in the Second Sudanese Civil War between the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government.
The White Army was so named due to the Nuer practice of smearing one’s skin with a light-coloured ash as a protection against biting insects, according to a Small Arms Survey report published in June 2007, though other sources contend the name was merely intended to draw a distinction between the Nuer militia and the Sudan Armed Forces.
The BBC reports they don’t know exactly why the White Army is on the move at this time. They report, “Thousands of youths loyal to South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar are marching on the strategic town of Bor, according to government sources.
Government troops are currently in control of Bor, the capital of Jonglei state they had taken from the rebels.
The government has offered to cease hostilities, but an army spokesman told the BBC that its forces were still battling over oilfields in the north.
At least 1,000 people have died since fighting broke out earlier this month.
More than 121,600 are believed to have fled their homes.
What began as a power struggle between Mr Machar and President Salva Kiir has taken on overtones of a tribal conflict. The Dinka, to which Mr Kiir belongs, are pitted against the Nuer, from which Mr Machar hails.
The White Army is a name that inspires fear in South Sudan.
This loose grouping of armed youth from the Nuer ethnic group was at least partly responsible for the 1991 Bor massacre, in which at least 2,000 people were killed. Then, the White Army fought alongside Riek Machar, who had split away from the main southern Sudanese rebel group fighting Khartoum.
In 2011 and 2012 a new incarnation of the White Army went on the rampage, killing hundreds of civilians from the Murle ethnic group. At the time, Mr Machar was vice president – and although he travelled to meet them, he was unable to stop their advance.
Now the South Sudanese government says thousands of White Army members are marching on Bor – under Mr Machar’s command. This is an explosive claim – particularly as Mr Machar is under international pressure to stop fighting and begin negotiations by the end of the year.
Tens of thousands of civilians have sought refuge in UN camps and reinforcements have been arriving to give them extra protection.
Joe Contreras, a spokesman for the UN Mission in South Sudan, told the BBC World Service Newshour programme that the reported advance of the armed youths was a dangerous development.”
bookmark_borderUSA Drone Strike War Crimes
Amnesty International has released a statement:
New evidence indicates that the USA has carried out unlawful killings in Pakistan through drone attacks, some of which could even amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said in a major new report released today.
The report, “’Will I be next?’ US drone strikes in Pakistan”, is one of the most comprehensive studies to date of the US drone program from a human rights perspective.
It documents recent killings in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas and the almost complete absence of transparency around the US drone program.
“Secrecy surrounding the drones program gives the US administration a license to kill beyond the reach of the courts or basic standards of international law. It’s time for the USA to come clean about the drones program and hold those responsible for these violations to account,” said Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty International’s Pakistan Researcher.
“What hope for redress can there be for victims of drone attacks and their families when the USA won’t even acknowledge its responsibility for particular strikes?”
The report was released in a joint news conference with Human Rights Watch, which issued its own report on drone and other air strikes in Yemen.
Amnesty International reviewed all 45 known drone strikes that took place in North Waziristan in northwestern Pakistan between January 2012 and August 2013. The region that has seen more strikes than any other part of the country.
The organization conducted detailed field research into nine of these strikes, with the report documenting killings, which raise serious questions about violations of international law that could amount to war crimes or extrajudicial executions.
In October 2012, 68-year-old grandmother Mamana Bibi was killed in a double strike, apparently by a Hellfire missile, as she picked vegetables in the family’s fields while surrounded by a handful of her grandchildren.
In July 2012, 18 laborers, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed in multiple strikes on a impoverished village close to the border with Afghanistan as they were about to enjoy an evening meal at the end of a long day of work.
Contrary to official claims that those killed were “terrorists”, Amnesty International’s research indicates that the victims of these attacks were not involved in fighting and posed no threat to life.
“We cannot find any justification for these killings. There are genuine threats to the USA and its allies in the region, and drone strikes may be lawful in some circumstances. But it is hard to believe that a group of labourers, or an elderly woman surrounded by her grandchildren, were endangering anyone at all, let alone posing an imminent threat to the United States,” said Qadri.
International law prohibits arbitrary killing and limits the lawful use of intentional lethal force to exceptional situations. In armed conflict, only combatants and people directly participating in hostilities may be directly targeted. Outside armed conflict, intentional lethal force is lawful only when strictly unavoidable to protect against an imminent threat to life . In some circumstances arbitrary killing can amount to a war crime or extrajudicial execution, which are crimes under international law.
Amnesty International also documented cases of so-called “rescuer attacks” in which those who ran to the aid of the victims of an initial drone strike were themselves targeted in a rapid follow-on attack. While there may have been a presumption that the rescuers were members of the group being targeted, it is difficult to see how such distinctions could be made in the immediate and chaotic aftermath of a missile strike.
The USA continues to rely on a “global war” doctrine to attempt to justify a borderless war with al-Qa’ida, the Taliban and those perceived to be their allies.
The USA’s promise to increase transparency around drone strikes, underscored by a major policy speech by President Barack Obama in May 2013, has yet to become a reality, and the USA still refuses to divulge even basic factual and legal information.
This secrecy has enabled the USA to act with impunity and block victims from receiving justice or compensation. As far as Amnesty International is aware, no US official has ever been held to account for unlawful killings by drones in Pakistan.
In addition to the threat of US drone strikes, people in North Waziristan are frequently caught between attacks by armed groups and Pakistan’s armed forces. The local population lives under constant fear of inescapable violence by all sides.
The US drone program has added to local suffering, with people in the region now also living in terror of death from US drones hovering in the skies day and night.
“The tragedy is that drone aircraft deployed by the USA over Pakistan now instill the same kind of fear in the people of the tribal areas that was once associated only with al-Qa’ida and the Taliban,” said Qadri.
As the report documents, local men and women have little control over the presence of groups like the Taliban and al-Qa’ida in their villages and districts.
Al-Qa’ida-linked groups have killed dozens of local villagers they accused of being spies for US drone strikes. Residents of Mir Ali told Amnesty International that bodies are routinely seen dumped by the side of streets with written messages warning that anyone accused of spying for the USA will meet the same fate.
Residents also told Amnesty International they could not report abuses by armed groups to local authorities for fear of retaliation. Many residents were also fearful of talking about drones strikes to Amnesty International. Some of those who did speak openly received threats afterwards.
While the Pakistan government maintains it opposes the US drone program, Amnesty International is concerned that some officials and institutions in Pakistan and in other countries including Australia, Germany and the UK may be assisting the USA to carry out drone strikes that constitute human rights violations.
“Pakistan must provide access to justice and other remedies for victims of drone strikes. The authorities of Pakistan, Australia, Germany and the UK must also investigate all officials and institutions suspected of involvement in US drone strikes or other abuses in the tribal areas that may constitute human rights violations,” said Qadri.
“The Pakistani authorities must disclose information on all US drone strikes they have documented and what measures they have taken or will take to assist victims of these strikes.”
The report also documents the failure of the Pakistan state to protect the human rights of people in North Waziristan. This ranges from deaths, injuries and displacement of residents due to bombardment by the military, to the absence of justice mechanisms and lack of adequate medical assistance.
The Pakistani authorities have a very poor record in bringing al-Qa’ida, Taliban and other perpetrators of human rights abuses from the region to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are jointly calling on the US Congress to fully investigate the cases the two organizations have documented and other potentially unlawful deaths, and to disclose any evidence of human rights violations to the public.
Amnesty International is calling on:
The US authorities to:
Publicly disclose the facts and legal basis for drone strikes carried out in Pakistan and information about any investigation into killings by US drones.
Ensure prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all cases where there are reasonable grounds to believe that drone strikes resulted in unlawful killings.
Bring those responsible for unlawful drone strikes to justice in public and fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.
Ensure that victims of unlawful drone strikes, including family members of victims of unlawful killings, have effective access to justice, compensation and other remedies.
The Pakistani authorities to:
Provide adequate access to justice and reparations for victims of US drone strikes and attacks by Pakistan forces, and seek reparations and other remedies for drone strikes from the US authorities.
Bring to justice, in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty, individuals responsible for unlawful killings and other human rights abuses in North Waziristan. This should include US drone strikes, attacks by the Pakistan armed forces, or groups like the Taliban and al-Qa’ida.
Publicly disclose information on all US drone strikes that the Pakistani authorities are aware of, including casualties and all assistance provided to victims.
The international community to:
Oppose US drone strikes and other killings that violate international law and urge the USA and Pakistan to take the measures outlined above. States should officially protest and pursue remedies under international law when lethal force is unlawfully used by the USA or other states.
Refrain from participating in any way in US drone strikes that violate international law, including by sharing intelligence or facilities.